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‘I never imagined that something like this could ever happen again’: Holocaust survivors share their Oct. 7 experiences
(JTA) — Eighty-four years after Dov Golebowicz fled Poland with his family days before Germany invaded, the Holocaust survivor found himself facing an invasion once again when Hamas terrorists stormed his kibbutz of Nirim on Oct. 7.
For 12 hours, Golebowicz was trapped with his son, Gideon, in his safe room. His son fashioned a basic wooden contraption to secure the door, which does not have a lock. Five people from the kibbutz were murdered and five were kidnapped, of whom two remain hostages in Gaza. Zvi Solow is another Holocaust survivor to survive the attack on Nirim.
In the weeks after Oct. 7, Golebowicz was the subject of multiple news reports, including CNN, which invariably linked his Oct. 7 survival to his experiences in the Holocaust. Others who experienced horrors on that day — when 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 250 taken hostage — made similar comparisons.
Yet Golebowicz has significant reservations about making such a connection, saying it diminishes the memory of the Holocaust as a singular event in history.
“I’ve always felt we shouldn’t mix the two,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “While of course it was vicious, barbaric and horrendous, [Oct.7] was a one-day terrorist attack.”
Dov Golebowicz, pictured here with his daughter, survived the Budapest Ghetto and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on his kibbutz, Nirim. (Courtesy Golebowicz)
Golebowicz is one of several Holocaust survivors to be caught up in the carnage on Oct. 7. All elderly — the youngest survivors are in their late 70’s — they say they have an important perspective to share, though they don’t all believe the same things.
Haim Raanan, who as a child survived the Budapest Ghetto, has no reservations about calling the Oct. 7 massacre “a second Holocaust.”
A founder of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the Gaza envelope communities that was struck hardest on Oct. 7, Raanan said it was “pure luck” that he and his family members survived. More than 100 Be’eri residents died that day.
“I never thought that as a Holocaust survivor, I would need to hide for my life again,” Raanan said at an event on Tuesday at the residence of EU Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“I was shocked to see that eight decades after the Holocaust, the Star of David symbol has been painted once again on Jewish homes all across Europe and the United States to target and frighten them amid the devastating Oct. 7 massacre,” he said, referring to graffiti found in some cities that in some cases authorities have attributed to Russian agitators.
“It echoes the antisemitic persecution I suffered as a child,” Raanan said. “I never imagined that something like this could ever happen again.”
(L-R, sitting) Aharon Pacirkovsky, Haim Raanan and Menachem Haberman, all Holocaust survivors, pose with Erez Kaganovitz, photographer of the Humans of the Holocaust project, in Tel Aviv, Jan. 23, 2024. (Efi Yosefi)
Raanan called on the European diplomats in attendance to do more to combat antisemitism. The event also launched a new installation of the Humans of the Holocaust photo exhibition, in which Raanan features.
Erez Kaganovitz, the photographer behind the project, said attendees at the event were “awestruck” as Raanan recounted his stories of survival.
“How much suffering can one person go though in one in lifetime?” Kaganovitz told JTA. “Listening to him made me realize that when we say never again, it has to mean something.”
Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev, 88, shot to fame during COVID-19 when he became a star on TikTok. He launched his account, which racked up over 460,000 followers and millions of likes, together with his life partner Julie Gray in an effort to combat Holocaust disinformation and to promote his book. Three years later Lev closed the account, citing antisemitic harassment in the wake of Oct. 7 and the social media giant’s reluctance to take action.
“Before the war, we got antisemitic hate from garden-variety Nazis. Oh, how I long for those days. That was easy to refute and dispute,” Gray told JTA. But after Oct. 7, the “turning of the tide was abrupt and powerful,” she said.
“The same young people who had been following Gidon and cheering on his Holocaust education and messages of tolerance and critical thinking started calling him a supporter of genocide and even a ‘baby killer,’” Gray said.
“We both felt utterly defeated. We saw that many Jewish creators on TikTok stood up to this abuse and stuck it out but for us, living in Israel, dealing with the shock of all of it, and the sirens and the running to our shelter, it was too much,” she said. “It wasn’t the worst thing that happened, Oct. 7 was the worst thing that happened, but it really hurt. All the work we’d done seemed to have been meaningless.”
Elon Musk speaks with Holocaust survivor Gidon Levy at Auschwitz in Poland, Jan. 22, 2024. (Courtesy Julie Gray)
On Wednesday Lev and Gray returned from a trip to Poland, where he accompanied billionaire mogul Elon Musk and the conservative American pundit Ben Shapiro on a visit to the Auschwitz death camp.
After the visit Musk claimed that had social media been around during the time of the Holocaust, it would never have occurred. Like TikTok, Musk’s social media platform, X, has also come under fire for not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
Musk “struck me as a dangerous teenager,” Gray said, “drunk with power. He is of the ‘burn it all down’ ilk.” While he was attentive at Auschwitz, “greet[ing] Gidon politely and listen[ing] to him — sort of,” his talk afterward, in which he described himself as “aspirationally Jewish,” was a crushing disappointment and exposed a “real disconnect,” she said, adding, it was “like inviting an arsonist to a firefighting convention.”
After Oct. 7, Gray wanted to leave on one of the evacuation flights for American citizens. But Lev, whose son and grandson were serving in the reserves, insisted on staying. “I will not run again,” Lev told Gray.
The first time Mira Talalayevsky’s life was saved was on Sept. 29, 1941, when she was not yet 2 years old. Mira’s mother escaped with her from their home in the Kyiv ghetto the night before Jews were ordered on a death march to Babyn Yar.
The second time occurred on Oct. 8, 2023, when Talalayevsky’s home in Ashkelon received a direct hit from a Hamas rocket. Talalayevsky miraculously survived the rocket attack but sustained shrapnel cuts to her face and burns on her body from a fire that broke out in the house after the impact. Her house, and all her possessions, were completely destroyed.
“In my old age I am left with nothing and I have to start over,” Talalayevsky said.
Talalayevsky, 85, was too young to remember the night she was spirited away from the clutches of the Nazis, but said that over the years her mother had revealed every detail to her. When the Jews of Kyiv were rounded up to be transferred to the ghetto, Ukrainian guards were ordered to collect all their valuables. Her mother, an educated woman who knew German, was instructed to record every item that was taken.
Left; Photographer Erez Kaganovitz at work on his Humans of the Holocaust project. (Courtesy of Erez Kaganovitz); Right: Portrait of Michael Sidko, the last survivor of the Babyn Yar massacre, surrounded by bullets. (Erez Kaganovitz)
Her mother built a rapport with a guard she had witnessed secretly pocketing some of jewelry for himself. The guard later warned her that the Germans were coming in the morning to kill everyone in the ghetto and that night helped Talalayevsky’s mother escape on a freight train. “I only remember the constant feeling of hunger and cold from those years. My childhood was taken from me, but at least I stayed alive,” Talalayevsky said.
Eighty-two years later, Talalayevsky climbed into her bathtub when she heard the rocket siren. It seemed like the safest place to be in her apartment, which was old and without a safe room. A violent explosion shattered her house and Talalayevsky lost consciousness. She was eventually rescued from the rubble by her neighbors. The event has left her with lasting nightmares and without eyebrows, she said.
Three months later, Talalayevsky is still waiting for her apartment to be rebuilt. In the meantime, the government has transferred her to a newer apartment in the city. Talalayevsky credits the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews with being the first organization to reach out after the attack, providing Talalayevsky with material and emotional support. “As a woman of faith, it is very moving to hear that there are many Christians in the United States who care for me.”
Golebowicz, too, is living in temporary accommodations — a retirement home near the coastal city of Netanya, together with some of the other evacuated residents of Nirim. He said he fully intends to go back and live in Nirim as soon as possible.
“I shall return to my home where I have lived for 70 years and help in its restoration,” he said. “All the destroyed kibbutzim will be rebuilt and will flourish again, because the determination and spirit in Israel is strong.”
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The post ‘I never imagined that something like this could ever happen again’: Holocaust survivors share their Oct. 7 experiences appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
The post Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
The post Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
The post Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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