Photo Essay: In Israel, Two Exhibitions Honor Victims, Heroes of Oct. 7

Two exhibitions commemorating survivors and victims of the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas opened ahead of Israel’s Memorial Day on Sunday evening.

The first opened at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem on Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon in attendance. The exhibition, called “06:29- From Darkness to Light” — in reference to the exact moment that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel’s border with Gaza — features personal testimonies from 25 women who went through the horrors of the day that became known as Black Shabbat.

The exhibition’s producer, Malki Shem Tov, is the father of Omer Shem Tov, who is being held hostage in Gaza.

Visitors can walk through mockups of mobile shelters, where recordings of sirens and communication devices used on Oct. 7 can be heard.

Among the featured women are Yasmin Porat, who escaped the Nova music festival to Kibbutz Be’eri, where she was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists; Noam Ben David, who played dead for hours in a dumpster at the Nova festival; 15-year-old Ela Shani, who founded a public diplomacy project in memory of her father Yitzhak, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists, that caught the attention of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone; Ricarda Louk, mother of the late Shani Louk, who was murdered at the Nova festival; Miriam Beit Talmi, a Holocaust survivor from Kibbutz Zikim who was rescued under fire; Chen Almog Goldstein from Kfar Gaza, who was taken captive into Gaza with her children after her daughter and husband were murdered in their home; Mali Shoshana, the commander of the Sderot Police Station on that Saturday; and Lt. Col. Or Ben Yehuda, commander of the Karakal battalion on the Egyptian border who fought against dozens of terrorists in the Gaza Envelope, the areas of southern Israel near the Gaza border.

“For far too many months, weeks, and days, the light has been blocked by the dark shadows of a cloudy sky,” Herzog said at the exhibition’s opening. “And even though the sun seems to keep shining, we wake up to this cruel darkness each morning, which stays with us throughout the day. In this harsh reality, this important exhibition — here, in the Museum of Tolerance — brings such a precious and important voice that must be heard loud and clear.”

Museum of Tolerance CEO Yoni Riss said the testimonies presented in the exhibition are “proof of the strength that the citizens demonstrated” on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and abducted over 250 others amid other mass atrocities against the Israeli people.

“Alongside the great darkness, the shock, and the sorrow, the great light of Israeli society has been revealed. The volunteers, the fighters, the rescue teams, and defense forces — everyone rallied and demonstrated solidarity that gives us hope for the future,” he added.

A second exhibition, “Humans of October 7,” opened a day later at the German embassy in Tel Aviv

The ongoing project by photojournalist Erez Kaganovitz is part of a traveling exhibit that will be shown all over the world, including on college campuses such as Harvard, MIT, and Penn State.

It will mark Kaganovitz’s fourth photographic venture in the “Humans” series, after Humans of Israel, Humans of Tel Aviv, and Humans of the Holocaust, all of which received widespread praise in exhibitions globally.

Kaganovitz said he launched the project to “fight back” against rising antisemitism and misconceptions about the Jewish state “by showing the human side of Israel” and to serve as a “reminder of what Israeli society is all about and what we are actually fighting for.”

Among the 30 Israelis featured in the series are survivors of Oct. 7 as well as people who have turned into national heroes, such as Rami Davidian, a farmer who rescued hundreds of people from the Nova festival. “I got into places where the army wouldn’t go — under fire and without weapons or bulletproof vests for protection. I had a goal to save as many people as I could,” he said.

Another portrait is of Hamid Abu Arar, a Bedouin from Gaza who saved the life of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers after his wife and another passenger in his car were murdered by Hamas terrorists. “I told myself: Hamid, you have to make a snap decision. I grabbed my baby, opened the electric cabinet doors, and ran toward the soldiers. I warned the soldiers that they were walking straight into an ambush,” he said. “If they had advanced five more meters, they would all have been shot dead on the spot. No question about it. It was a miracle that me and my baby survived and that the soldiers were saved.”

In late February, Abu Arar was granted permanent residency status by Israel in light of his heroism.

Kaganovitz said he hopes the exhibition will highlight “the unique Israelis who stood up against terrorism.”

“It shows Israeli DNA at its best and the incredible spirit and resilience of the Israeli people,” he told The Algemeiner.

Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel, praised Kaganovitz for his ability to tell “the human stories behind this tragic day.”

“The 7th of October has left deep wounds in the Israeli psyche. But the courage and solidarity many Israelis have demonstrated during or after this horrific attack also convey a strong message of community and hope,” he said.

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