October 7 testimonies

 Interviewed on October 12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BToj4TQ5Z8c&list=PLeTp2qYNR7W5bpEVdY-y_3OURPPUmVF01&index=6 how I can't call them animals did it to innocent people people who can't to dance people who come to to enjoy from their lives and slow bother them by Cold Blood I saw my friends falling like a Ducks I saw RPGs flying behind my head this they're trying to actually only kill us and we don't have any weapons to defend ourselves can I ask you we heard about people running for bunkers running for shelters and they didn't realize that running for shelters would turn them into execution Chambers understand it I understand it in the same moment what happened I don't go to shelters I go to the land the open land with my Jeep behind the trees we're hiding and driving hiding and driving and after that a squad of eight motorcycles with two cars with machine guns on them chasing after me and shooting bullets to my car my friend get shoot in the...

  Interviewed on October 9 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMISiqq-s4&list=PLeTp2qYNR7W5bpEVdY-y_3OURPPUmVF01&index=5 Canadian Israeli Shai Weinstein said and his friends raced to get away from that Festival making a nail-biting flight to Tel Aviv and shy is joining me now for more on this Shai first of all I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through and for what you you know your friends and loved ones are going through talk me through this because you say when you first heard the Rockets you thought that's not so strange living in Israel so when did you realize that this was different um at some point the Rockets picked up and they just wouldn't stop and there was a lot there was Rockets from Gaza there was Rockets from the Iron Dome and at some point I thought I heard gunfire in the distance and and I told my cousin but I wasn't sure and it made me want to pick up when we all started going a bit faster and then uh we heard it get closer and we r...

  She was interviewed on October 11.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueANRf7_3w4&list=PLeTp2qYNR7W5bpEVdY-y_3OURPPUmVF01&index=4 Danielle was actually working at that music festival in the south of Israel when Hamas terrorists attacked everybody there she says she actually ended up hiding for more than 6 hours up in a tree before she was finally able to escape and Danielle Levy joins us live from Central Israel with more Danielle we are so glad that you're okay hi thank you for being with us uh thank you sending these well tell us what happened what what you went through when the attack started and how you were able to escape um we are a bit DeLay So when you hear me you hear me on delay so try to to to wait up until I finish um when when the rocket started when the rocket started um it was 6:30 a.m. and they just started shooting and the sky was full of rockets and we are drill with it I lived in the Norse we've been to leanon War I and we know that we need to stay i...

  The interview was conducted October 12 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO1ji7le_x0&list=PLeTp2qYNR7W5bpEVdY-y_3OURPPUmVF01&index=3 I want to make it clear. First thing first, it was a peace festival and we, and we did nothing to provoke them. We just was dancing and having fun. I can't, I can't forget the moment that when I got in the festival and I don't know any about anyone there. It was something like 30 or thou 4000 people and just uh got into the entrance and uh just a guy that I don't even know came to me and start to hug me and bless me for coming for the festival. We had a uh a small camp next to us of a German people from German. Just a tourist who came all over the way from Berlin or wherever they came. And uh we make drinks together. We had laugh. It just so much happiness. How did you get wounded What happened to you? Tell me how you got wounded. I forgot to write a big story. And the first moment that we realized that there is missiles, I w...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z-q3jjOkC0 On October 7, 2023, Aviva Siegel was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists with her husband, Keith Siegel, and held in captivity. Aviva was released on November 26, 2023, and forced to leave her husband behind. Upon her release, Aviva met with lawmakers and leaders to share her story and fight for Keith's freedom, which came on February 1, 2025. Aviva shared her testimony with the USC Shoah Foundation in 2024 as part of the Contemporary Antisemitism Collection, which documents and preserves antisemitic experiences since 1945. CREW: Okay. INT: Running? Today is October 21, 2024. I'm Natalie Mann, interviewing Aviva Siegal for the USC Shoah Foundation. We're at the Hostage Family Forum in Tel Aviv, and the interview will be in English. AS: And just be careful. If you go backwards, you'll fall. INT: Yeah. [SIGHING] AS: Thank you. Okay. INT: So, first of all... AS: Sorry. INT: Thank you very, very much for taking the time to be with...