Cecilia Gallardo, an art psychotherapist from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, has experienced quite a few tragedies throughout her life. She remained steadfast when she was kidnapped at the age of 17 in Chile by security services after her family opposed the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet. She maintained the same composure on 7 October, when she was in the safe room with only her son's dog while the terrorists banged on the door hard and tried to open it while shouting "Allahu Akbar."
Additional documentation from the day of the massacre: Terrorists shoot residents on the run | Photo: "In cooperation with Shomer Israel on Telegram"
The tranquility did not leave her even when she was uprooted from her home and transferred to temporary housing in Kibbutz Yotvata, where she is busy explaining the war in Gaza to Spanish speakers around the world.
Only one thing manages to break her every time: "How can I look into the eyes of the Nahal Oz children, whom I guide?" "We, as kibbutz graduates, could not help them on Black Shabbat. They saw their friends and families murdered and kidnapped, and there was no one to save. My house was vandalized by the terrorists, but concrete can be built again – how can I fix the children? What security will I give them now? I don't know how I'll be able to look into the eyes of the Nahal Oz children who were kidnapped."
Electric shocks in a torture facility
Cecilia (63) looks a decade younger and has three children: Nico (40) and Anai (34), who lived in Nahal Oz, and Ilan (30), a student from Rehovot. She grew up in Santiago with two sisters and a brother, and her parents opposed the country's military coup and Pinochet's junta.
"We used to demonstrate against the regime. One day I was caught on the street while I was spraying graffiti against Pinochet," she recalls. "They blindfolded me and led me in a large vehicle to a secret security force facility. I was there for three days in a cell, and they didn't take off my blindfold. They beat me and put me on an iron bed, and then shocked her. Anyone who has received a small shock does not understand what electricity is all over the body. It's hard to describe the immense pain. I was tough. I learned to put sensations in a corner of my brain. Even if the body hurts, the thoughts do not hurt. I kept denying that I was against the government, and I made myself naïve. Luckily I looked 12 years old, so they let me go because they thought I was a girl."
Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, during an iron sword war20/10/2023, photo: Jonathan Zindel/Flash90
When she returned home, Cecilia faced the devastating news: "My brother, who was 11 years old, was murdered. Pinochet's soldiers shot him in the head in front of his parents. My mother didn't last and committed suicide a month later. In Chile I got married, and that's where the children were born. In 1993, when Ilan was only 23 days old, we immigrated to Israel."
Accidental choice in the right safe room
The red color alarms of Black Saturday caught Cecilia in bed. "It's a gift that I was alone at home," she continues. "I don't want to think what would have happened if the children and grandchildren had been on the kibbutz, and not on vacation. Nico left the dog at his house, which is next door to mine, and asked me to take care of her. During the first pause between the mortar shells, I ran to the door separating the houses to get it, and then the siren went off again. I had half a second to decide which safe room I was going to. The decision to enter Nico's safe room saved my life. He has a special device on the door that locks it from the inside, and it is impossible to open it from the outside. Just in case, I took the children's toy and put it on the handle, so it couldn't be moved.
Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, during an iron sword war20/10/2023,
"The terrorists entered my house and broke everything they found. I heard their footsteps coming toward me. They tried to open the safe room and shouted in Arabic. It was clear that they were coming to murder me. The dog barked so loudly that she scared me more than the terrorists."
Didn't they shoot at the door?
"Nico's safe room is reached through a nook, so there's no way to shoot at her without getting hit. After a long time, they gave up and left. I stayed with the dog for 22 hours, without food, water or toilet. We left at 4:00 A.M., when Givati fighters came to free me. At first I was with all of Nahal Oz at Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, but when they transferred the children from Eilat to Litvata, I joined them."
210 evacuees are currently staying at Kibbutz Yotvata, which finances their stay with the Hevel Eilot Regional Council and the Economic Society. "We were received so well here, and they took care of me with a sweet student apartment and food. It's not a given, because the government doesn't take care of us right now," Cecilia says. "I was even offered to guide Yotvata children, but after three hours I broke down. It was hard for me. I feel guilty that I couldn't help the Nahal Oz children, not even my 8-year-old student who was kidnapped to Gaza."
What do you think of the kidnapping deal?
"She scares me. Not everyone will return, and there will be many difficult moments. My heart is with the families who will be disappointed."
Do you find hope in the darkness?
"Not yet. I go on day by day, and I have no idea if I'll go back to Nahal Oz. I fill my time translating articles from Hebrew to Spanish, and do advocacy on social media. It's important to me that the world sees who we are, and that they know how Hamas operates. Sometimes there are those who confront me, but I know history, so I confront them with the facts. I spend ten hours a day in front of the computer. It is important for me to explain to the world that the fighting is not only in Gaza, but also on international consciousness."
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