Even a month later, almost every building, every wall, path and especially the smell tell the tragic story of Kibbutz Be'eri. The largest kibbutz in the Gaza envelope, which was abandoned for many hours in the face of hundreds of terrorists and suffered a fatal blow. A tenth of the kibbutz members were injured, 96 kibbutz members were murdered, 32 were kidnapped and four are still missing.
Kingfisher forces in Kibbutz Be'eri and rescue of kibbutz residents // IDF Spokesperson
These days there is activity on the kibbutz – but not one related to hay, tractors and joy, but under painful circumstances. On the green grass there are vigilant reservists instead of happy children, and in the picturesque houses teams from the Ministry of Defense are now working to search for remnants of unexploded ordnance and bullets.
This week, a team from the Israel Antiquities Authority, working in cooperation with the Takuma Administration, arrived there with the most important goal of documenting, preserving and perpetuating forever the atrocities committed by Hamas murderers on 7 October.
"Must be documented and preserved"
The team gathers at the entrance to the kibbutz: Netanel Isaac, the energetic Director General of the Ministry of Heritage responsible for the Antiquities Authority, senior officials of the Israel Antiquities Authority and professionals, head of the Heritage Division Netanel Mazeh, as well as former MK Zvi Hauser, who initiated and established the National Heritage Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project and came to assist at the request of the Eshkol Council.
Hauser and Isaac on a tour of Bari,
"Only two weeks after the incident, we realized that we had to document and preserve," Isaac says. "What happened in the Holocaust took several years before they began to deny – what happened here is something that people around the world, and even in Israel, are trying to deny from day one. We won't let that happen. It's true that now it doesn't seem like the most important thing, we have soldiers in Gaza, there's a military operation, a mess in the south, rebuilding the envelope and the residents – but in 50 years we'll say it was one of the most important things we did."
Their challenge is not easy. Sometime in the near future the burnt houses will be demolished, the scattered toys will be collected, the kibbutz will be rehabilitated, the rain will wash away the gunpowder. Every day that passes creates wear and tear, and details that serve as evidence of the terrible massacre disappear. So far, no collection of personal and public belongings has been carried out on the kibbutz, which will probably be regretted later.
Isaac and his team intend to commemorate what happened on the kibbutzim in two ways: the first will be through physical documentation, visual photography and 3D photography; And the second way, which is currently being examined on a tour of Be'eri, and later on in the other kibbutzim, is to leave as many buildings as possible standing, especially damaged houses at the edge of the settlement - so that they can be preserved without turning the lively settlement into a sad monument.
"It's very symbolic." A doll among the ruins, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
The tour of the settlement is full of details and possibilities. Already at the entrance is the public area, where there was, among other things, a sewing workshop. The entire grounds were burned, chairs burned out and charred sewing machines on the floor. A few steps away are the town's accounting buildings, with a beautiful colorful mosaic, half of which has melted in the fire.
A short walk into the paths of the community shows signs of fierce fighting that took place there: a broken Israeli vehicle riddled with bullet wounds, a house bombed by an Israeli tank, walls perforated by bullets and grenades, toys thrown near the houses, and an ancient Seder bowl among the rubble. Everything needs to be preserved and remembered.
"Forward-looking"
Hauser walks between the trails and oscillates between jolt and mission. In one of the houses, he finds a doll lying on the floor, with a bullet hole and blood marks in the wall above it. "It's very symbolic," he says. "Everyone needs to see it. We need to focus on a forward-looking event. We need to work on gathering objects and on the idea of establishing a large museum, so that we will never forget what happened here."
Burnt houses in Bari, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
The IAA team tours, photographs, creates the moments and the place. Isaac concludes: "Unfortunately, a Holocaust took place here. The evil and cruelty are unimaginable. Everyone has to come here. Sitting at home and watching TV and videos on social media is good and important, but it's not like walking here between the paths, seeing the sights with your own eyes, stepping on the grass where the atrocities took place.
"When you're here, you feel more, and you need people to feel it for decades to come. We will have to preserve the memory. It is fitting that this place be like the 'Journey to Poland' of 2023, to remember and not to forget."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us