Here Lived
This is our home – Hadar Bar (44), Yonatan Bar (44), Uri Bar (14), Yoav Bar (11), Noam Bar (9), and Bell, our dog.
We lived in this house for seven years.
Hadar was born and raised in the Kibbutz, and Yonatan arrived from Kefar Shemaryahu. For three years we lived in the center of the country, and we returned to the kibbutz in 2012, almost a year after Uri was born, because we wanted to be at home.
We lived blissfully and happily in our home, and Yoav said that Nir Oz was the best place to live in.
We lived next to grandpa and grandma (Baruch and Bat Sheva), and Rotem (Hadar’s sister) and Yakir and their three children.
The children grew up in a large, loving family, with joint meals, holidays, and warm family moments.
We are a sport-loving family – the boys playing soccer and Hadar jogging. We enjoyed kibbutz life, the open spaces, the sprawling lawns, and the soccer field, which was the children’s favorite place where they spent most of their time from an early age with their friends, the delightful playgrounds, and the little grocery, which served as a communal meeting place.
October 7th
On October 7, we woke up to the sounds of sirens. Yoav had a sleepover at his friend’s house in the kibbutz, so he wasn’t with us. We entered the safe room, and quickly realized from friends in the various WhatsApp groups that there were terrorists in the kibbutz. We locked the safe room with the internal bolt, which we had installed several years earlier. At first, we managed to keep in touch with family and friends, trying to call for help in every possible way. As the hours passed, we heard the sounds of war: screaming, explosions, and fighting. At 9:00 a.m., after the terrorists had walked around the neighborhood for hours, they broke into our home, turned the house upside down, stole everything they could lay their hands on, and tried to break into the safe room. Fortunately, the bolt in the safe room kept them out. At the same time, the terrorists arrived at the house where Yoav was. Fortunately and thanks to the obstinacy of the father of the family, they failed to break the safe-room door.
As the day progressed, communication was sporadic and we were cut off. For hours, we didn’t know what was happening with the family and with Yoavi. Those were nerve-racking moments. At 3:30 p.m. we heard sounds outside. Hadar’s mother arrived at the window of the safe room and said that she and Baruch were with soldiers, and that their home had been burned down, but that they were alright. We came out of the safe room after the soldiers made sure that the door wasn’t booby trapped. The children were bare footed and in pajamas. Yonatan and I managed to find a few items of clothing among the chaos in our home. We took our dog with us and a charger that we managed to find in the mess that was in the house.
As we left the house, Hadar bumped into soldiers next to our house and directed them to rescue the families in the neighborhood. We were all taken to the operations room, which was at the other side of the kibbutz, and then to the safe-guarded kindergarten in the kibbutz, where we spent the night. The following afternoon we traveled to Eilat.
Since October 7, Hadar has been working as the director of the kibbutz’s health and welfare system, in order to improve care within the community, both inside and outside the kibbutz.
On that Saturday of October 7, our family was extremely fortunate to survive the massacre. Some of our friends were missing that day. As time passed, we discovered what had happened to them – some were abducted, some survived, and after a time, returned from captivity. Some were murdered there. We lost neighbors, good friends, members of the community, a home and the rich and fulfilling life that we had for so many years.
What Happened Since
Today we live in Karme Gat with most of the community members. We long for our simple, good community existence. In our hearts we remember those who are no longer with us.
