Ramaz freshmen received a powerful visit from Mr. Eitan Halley, who shared his harrowing story of surviving the Nova Festival massacre. When Hamas attacked, Eitan and three friends ran from the festival and hid in a concrete shelter with 25 other people. Among the tightly-packed group were Hersh Goldberg-Polin and IDF soldier Aner Shapira. Then, terrorists surrounded the shelter.
Students listened attentively as Eitan explained his experiences, from new insights to famous moments told from his perspective. As Eitan recounted, a Muslim man bravely left the shelter and attempted to reason with the terrorists. The terrorists tortured and killed him. Then, they began throwing grenades into the shelter. Eitan explained how he saw Aner heroically throw seven grenades out of the shelter before one finally exploded inside, and everyone flew backward, Eitan being knocked unconscious. A few moments later, Eitan awoke to see Aner dead and Hersh badly injured. Eitan stepped forward, standing where Aner had stood, and took charge of throwing the grenades from the shelter. Eitan threw out three grenades before another landed in the center of the crowd, detonating and blasting everyone backward. Eitan was knocked unconscious again, and when he woke a few moments later, a terrorist was entering the shelter. He saw the terrorist point a gun at Hersh and take him away. Then, Eitan closed his eyes. Soon, a terrorist stood over Eitan, lifted him by his hair, and shook him to see if he was alive. Just then, someone behind Eitan moved, and the terrorist dropped him, killing the person behind him instead.
Of the 29 people who had entered the shelter, only seven escaped: Hamas kidnapped five and murdered the rest on the spot. Only one of Eitan’s friends survived with him. Eitan spoke candidly with the students and answered their questions about the attack, its aftermath, and his hopes for the safe return of the hostages. While Eitan’s road to recovery is long, he is dedicated to teaching people the truth about October 7, and Ramaz students were grateful to hear such an important account firsthand.
