Here Lived
Ditza Heiman and Tzvi Shdema.
We lived in this house from 1995. Until 2006 we lived here together, and in 2006 Tzvi passed away. In recent years I have been joined by my black cat, Mia.
Outside the house grows a jasmine vine, just like the one we had in every house we ever lived in at Nir Oz. A few years ago we had to uproot it to build a shed for a mobility scooter, and my attempt to replant it near another wall never took.
At the front of the house, there is also a myrtle bush and a fragrant white-rose bush. In the back, a large rosemary shrub fills the air with a strong and pleasant scent whenever water is sprayed on it.
At the front stand two large sculptures and several smaller ones, the work of Tzvi z”l, along with a few smaller pieces on the back porch. Front and back, there are ground-cover plants and pots of seasonal flowers, which in recent years have been lovingly tended each season by my daughter Dafna and my grandson Einav.
Inside, paintings by Tzvi were on every wall, and on the living room shelves stood many wooden sculptures made by his gifted hands, expressions of his spirit and creativity.
The house was also full of children’s toys for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren who came to visit and fill it with joy.
All of this gave the house its soul.
October 7th
On that horrific Saturday, I was alone when I was abducted from my safe room by an armed and masked terrorist. I was put on a vehicle and taken into the Gaza Strip, and returned after 53 days. The house was looted, doors, windows, and cabinets broken, and whatever was not stolen was thrown on the floor and defiled. They didn’t shoot and didn’t burn.
The house lost its soul.
What happened since
Today I live in an assisted-living facility in Ramat Efal. Some of the furniture that survived was brought to me, along with the sculptures and paintings, which carry with them something of the soul of the Nir Oz home. My cat, Mia, stayed in Nir Oz and is being cared for by the kind women there.
