72 hours after the terrible Saturday of October 7, when the scale of the tragedy was just beginning to be revealed, a civilian headquarters for the families of the abductees and missing was established.
The evening after the news, Kan 11 will broadcast the film "Until Everyone Returns", a documentary that presents behind the scenes of the struggle of the families of the abductees, and the story of the civilian headquarters working to return the abductees to Israel. The film accompanies the families going through hell, the volunteers and activists, and the personal story of the family of Yaffa Adar, who was kidnapped from Nir Oz and returned home.
One of the family members is Oriane Adar, 34, from Moshav Luzit, Yaffa's granddaughter who appears in the film. Orian, who was delighted with her grandmother's return from captivity, received the sad news last week of the death of Tamir Adar, her cousin who was kidnapped to Gaza and murdered there, and whose body is still in Hamas hands.
"My whole family lives in Nir Oz, everyone experienced the inferno in one way or another, everyone doesn't have a home, and they're building a new life," she describes the new normal in her life. "Two days after that Saturday, I was interviewed by one of the channels, and the reporter told me that a headquarters had been established. I didn't know and asked for the details, and I immediately joined a WhatsApp group, which in the first days was very difficult, because there were a lot of missing people and at every moment someone was informed of the worst of everything.
Shabbat meal in front of a court in The Hague set up by the families of the abductees, photo: AP
I sat with my brothers and felt that we were lost in the situation, not knowing who to interview, who to talk to, what to do. I sent a message to Chaim the headquarters spokesman. He sent me a colleague from headquarters, who helped us fax things and insisted that I go there. I got there the next day and my life changed in an instant."
Explain.
"A colleague took me downstairs and suddenly I realized that in the midst of all the inferno we are going through, there are good people who want to help us get out of this nightmare. That was the first moment I felt there was any hope. There was no support or accompaniment from the state, which did not understand the magnitude of the matter. The headquarters was there for us and for other families as a unifying body, supporting and providing a solution for everything we asked for."
Your grandmother came back in the first beat, how much do you think the staff action helped that?
"We can never know the direct connection between things. A lot of actions were taken that ultimately mobilized the people to be with us, the government to be with us, because in the end it worked. I have no doubt that many of the actions that were taken had an impact. Today, unfortunately, I'm less there because I have two children and a job, otherwise probably like my little brother I would have left everything, slept in the square and devoted all my time to it. The fact that they continue their routine when there are 136 people there is painful and difficult, so I do what I can."
How is your grandmother today?
"All in all, I'm bravely coping with the difficulties there are, whether it's starting a whole new life at the age of 85, or finding out that her grandson didn't survive what she did. She is really strong, amazes us every moment, but unfortunately she faces a harsh reality. She didn't quite realize how much she had become an icon. Last week at an event we held in honor of Tamir, when we still didn't know about the tragic ending, she asked why so many photographers came to photograph her, she doesn't know how powerful she conveys to people."
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