October 7 > Nova Festival > Testimony of Galit K
This post is crucial, and the sooner I tell my story, the better. I know that everyone is waiting for any piece of information. What did we go through and how did we survive? I believe everyone who was there should talk about it as much as possible to deal with the insane thing that happened to us.
So, it all started on Saturday morning. I’ll mention that up until that moment, everything was perfect. Damn! Everyone was having such a good time, everyone was dancing, having fun, smiling, and celebrating life. At around 06:15, the rocket barrage began. Noam said “Do you guys hear that? The Iron Dome”. Well, alright…so what, it’s the Iron Dome, we were used to it. After two minutes, the music stopped. Eden arrived and yelled at us that we were being too naive - why are we still sitting? “Come on, Red Alert, get up already!!” Okay… We got up, walked towards the exit, and lay down on the ground, looking up at the interceptions and praying that it would end as soon as possible, still not understanding the magnitude of what was about to happen.
After a few minutes, the police officers at the party started to move everyone from the area and told us to disperse. And us? We still didn’t understand what was really happening! We said, okay, it’s just a rocket, it’ll be okay, it’ll pass… Peacefully but scared, we went back to our canopied area and started packing everything up. We are so lucky we decided to wait and not leave immediately, many others who had already started to leave are sadly no longer with us.
“People got out of the car and yelled that someone was injured and that terrorists had shot her.”
After packing everything up we walked towards the parking lot and looked for our car for ten minutes without finding it. The parking lot is huge, everyone is stressed and starting to run. After ten minutes, we found the car, packed everything into it, and started driving. The traffic jams were insane at the exit, and when we got to the junction where we needed to turn North, we saw a lot of cars coming back from that direction, everyone was telling us not to turn North, but rather to the other direction - South. We turned left and we were barely moving because there were so many cars. After a minute, a car arrived at maximum speed and stopped a few meters from us. People got out of the car and yelled that someone was injured and that terrorists had shot her.
“They had no idea what to do, or where to go, everyone was helpless.”
I think at this point, we started to understand what was going on around us. We started hearing gunfire, there were a few police officers in front of us who were terrified but were still trying to stay calm for the people around them. They had no idea what to do, or where to go, everyone was helpless. They told us to leave the cars and run through the open field.
People were coming back [from the field to the road] and yelling that they were being shot at. Where should we run? Is it safer than waiting? Where should we hide? We had no idea what to do. We started to run while hearing gunshots from behind us. We just continued running for four hours! Thank you, God, for the power you gave me to continue running and not give up! Thank you for all the miracles you gave me on the way. The whole time I was praying for all our lives and yelling that there was no one to help us. We felt so much frustration, and helplessness during these moments, asking ourselves: Where are the helicopters? Where is the army? Where is the police? Where is the help we need? What the f*** is happening here??? We had no idea that our whole country had entered a serious war, that the magnitude of everything was more than anyone could process.
"'Start walking there, it’s safer', they told us. We started to walk, all the while still hearing gunfire behind us."
After around four hours, we reached the greenhouse. We were so dehydrated. For a moment I thought we would die from dehydration before we die at the hands of the terrorists. We discovered a faucet in the greenhouse and we drank water as people started to gather together. I’ve never seen people in such fear. Suddenly, a police officer appeared, but he couldn’t give us any answers and he did not know what our fate would be. After spending around an hour there, the first pick-up truck arrived and around 20 people got on. They told us that there was a village nearby, around 7 kilometers [4.3 miles] away, called Patish. “Start walking there, it’s safer,” they told us. We started to walk, all the while still hearing gunfire behind us. After around an hour, a civilian came to pick us up with his car. After that, everything started to calm down a bit. It was a bit safer. We were saved by a miracle!
I can’t imagine what the people who were slaughtered went through and what those kidnapped or missing are going through. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones and those who are still looking for them. We pray to hear good news and to know better days. Thank you everyone for your worry and care, I love you and thank God that I’m here now, telling you my story from the massacre. We all most likely are still scarred and will we ever be able to process it? I’m sure it will take some time.
Galit K.