The tragedy of the Baruch family: Today (Saturday), Kibbutz Be'eri announced that Sahar Baruch (25), who was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October <>, had been murdered in captivity. Sahar's aunt, Merav Barkai, tells of a "sharp, smart, realistic and humorous" young man who was murdered a week before he began his studies at Ben-Gurion University. On the same Shabbat, Idan and his grandmother were also murdered.
Sahar Baruch, murdered in Hamas captivity, photo: courtesy of the family
"Sahar was murdered when he was 25, he had his birthday in captivity," Merav says. "He was enrolled at Ben-Gurion, but didn't study for a single day. On the Wednesday after October <>th, we were supposed to go to Beersheba, choose an apartment and do a cafeteria tour. On the first day after Sahar, he was supposed to start studying."
She adds that about a month before that cursed Shabbat, he returned "from the big trip to South America, and before that he also did parts of the Israel National Trail." She says of her nephew that he was "an excellent chess actor, loved anime and science fiction films. He was sharp and smart and realistic, and had a nice dumb humor. He is the second of four siblings, to parents Tammy and Ronnie."
"On October 7th, he was at his mother's house, together with his brother Idan. They were just the two of them there," she says of that Shabbat. "At a relatively early hour in the morning, grenades were thrown into the house, and Idan was wounded by shrapnel. All the while, Sahar took care of Idan Ach. They entered the dimension and tried to lock from the inside, but couldn't, so they closed themselves from the inside with the help of a closet. The terrorists set fire to the house, and despite understanding the danger outside, they decided to jump out, Sahar still managed to tell his mother, 'Dying in a fire is more painful.'"
Sahar Baruch, murdered in Hamas captivity, photo: courtesy of the family
"Apparently, Idan jumped first, and Sahar stayed looking for Idan's inhaler. Contact with them was cut off at about 12 noon. A few days later we were informed of the definitive identification of Idan, who turned out to have been shot in the head. Sahar was considered missing all along, and only about three weeks after the seventh of October were we informed that he had been kidnapped, and other than that, no further details about him were known. On October <>, in another house, Sahar's grandmother was also murdered, and he apparently didn't know about it."
Earlier today, Kibbutz Be'eri announced his death: "It is with great sorrow and a broken heart that we announce the murder of Sahar Baruch (25), who was abducted from his home by Hamas terrorists to Gaza on Black Saturday and murdered there. His brother Idan was murdered by Hamas on Saturday, October 07, 10."
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