Here Lived
Geula Zilberman arrived in Nir Oz with the Shomdi youth group (1976). This is the home where she lived for about 40 years with her family – her then husband, and her only daughter. Even before the family sleeping arrangements were introduced in the kibbutz, they sectioned off an area in the house for their daughter, who couldn’t adjust to sleeping with in the children’s house, which was customary at the time. The dense wooden wall partition that divided the sleeping area eventually extended to the front porch by the house’s front door. In the front porch, there was an iron swing that was cast into poured concrete. It was the work of Moshe Zilberman, her husband at the time. The swing was removed for safe-keeping until it could be placed in a new location. Over the years, Geula filled various active roles in the kibbutz. She worked as a bookkeeper and the cultural coordinator. For the past 25 years, she worked as a court-appointed social worker at the Eshkol Regional Council and as a therapist at Telem in Be’er Sheva. She travelled often between Nir Oz and Kibbutz Hatzerim, where her partner lives. This year, Geula retired from her work as a social worker in the Eshkol regional welfare department and continues to work as a therapist in the Telem clinic in Be’er Sheva.
October 7th
Geula’s pregnant daughter, Yarden Zilberman, her partner, and their three-year-old son arrived on October 5 for a visit, intending to stay for the holiday. But at the last moment they decided on a change of plans and returned home. As a result, Geula also decided to spend the holiday in Hatzerim and was saved. Because of the war that broke out in the north, her daughter decided to move to a safer place, and it was there, in Cyprus, that Geula’s granddaughter was born. This year, Geula was blessed with a third grandchild.
From the first documentation that arrived after the massacre, we learned that the terrorists broke into the empty house, where they threw stun grenades, which caused the collapse of the front wall. The walls of the house are silent witnesses of the sprayed shrapnel, and the great destruction was proof of the terrible plunder. But above all, the house tells the story of the miracle that happened to Geula and the family; their spontaneous change of plans saved their lives. Geula’s fate would have been the similar to those of many from the kibbutz, who were taken hostage or murdered. Due to the extreme internal destruction and because the houses on both sides were burned to the ground, the house was condemned to be demolished.
What Happened Since
Since that horrific Saturday massacre, Geula moved to live as a resident with her partner in Hatzerim. Her daughter’s father, Moshe Zilberman, passed away due to severe mental and physical deterioration, resulting from the trauma of that day’s events. Geula retired from the welfare department of the Eshkol Regional Council, and she continues to work as a therapist for victims of terror attacks and trauma. Yet most importantly, she is a proud grandmother of three.
