dailyloe.com – Rachel Goldberg-Polin is an American-Israeli mother whose son was murdered by Hamas after being taken hostage. Her only son, Hersh, was badly wounded and abducted during the October 7th terror attack on Israel. He was executed in a tunnel in Gaza on the 328th day of his captivity. Now, she is trying to figure out how to live after her child has died.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin described the agony of knowing her son was tortured and tormented. She said to know your child is being starved and abused is an excruciating form of suffering. She realized the 330 days of his captivity were the good part because he was alive. Now she is in a place that constitutes the rest of her life.
She is trying to reunderstand what it means to be in this world. Rachel Goldberg-Polin stated there are millions who have buried children. She said there is nothing unique about her situation. But it creates light for her to try to give words to the pain.
When asked what Hersh was like, Rachel Goldberg-Polin simply said ‘easy’. She felt the universe knew what it was doing giving her one son. She stated she was really blessed. Hersh and his best friend Aner Shapira were at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th.
Hamas terrorists attacked the festival near the Gaza border that morning. They slaughtered 378 people and wounded hundreds more. The attack launched the ongoing war in Gaza two and a half years ago.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin remembers sirens starting on the morning of October 7th. She went and turned on her phone at 8:11. Two messages had come in from her son Hersh. The first said ‘I love you’ and the second said ‘I’m sorry’.
She said that was it, and everything from her birth until that second was over. Hersh sent those texts from inside a bomb shelter crammed with more than two dozen people. A photo shows Hersh against the wall and Aner nearby.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her husband Jon worked tirelessly to bring Hersh home. They moved to Jerusalem 18 years ago with their three children. Far too many mothers, Palestinian and Israeli, have lost children since the war began. This is one mother’s story of profound loss and grief.
