Here Lived
I am the home of Shlomo and Hanna Margalit, and I have been for more than forty years.
I sit on the bypass road, between the turn toward the cemetery and the vineyard gate.
I started out very small. Then two rooms and a bathroom were added, and eventually a safe room too.
But they always called me “The Room”.
Shlomo and Hanna are among the kibbutz’s founders and longest-standing members.
Shlomo arrived in 1957 with the founding group “Nir Oz”, and Hanna in 1962 with the “Tzabar” group. Their three children, Niv, Shir, and Idit, were born and grew up here. I loved it most when everyone came together, all three children and nine grandchildren, and the house was filled with happiness.
October 7th
On October 7, 2023, everything shattered.
They shot through my front door, and there were screams in Arabic insides me. Three times the bastards came in, shooting, smashing, overturning, looting. They ripped the air conditioning unit off the wall and even tore the faucet from the sink, leaving me flooded with water.
I knew that you, Shlomo and Hanna, were alone in the safe room, fighting “the battle on the door handle”.
You were remarkable. You sat quietly in the dark for 12 hours. I was so worried about you. I wanted to keep you safe with everything I had. I was relieved they did not burn me down. I am sorry I could not do more.
I am a desecrated home.
What Happened Since
Thank you, our dear and beloved home. We survived the horror and the nightmare. We made our way to Eilat, and then to Karme Gat.
You will always be our truest home, the most wonderful and beloved place for us, our children, and our grandchildren.
One day we will have a new home in a rebuilt Nir Oz. But you will always live in our family’s memory as “Our Room”.
