Gadi Mozes, 81, who was released from captivity two weeks ago, was held completely alone in a series of small cramped rooms in apartments, suffering from hunger, life-threatening situations, and cruel psychological terror. In an interview with Ynet, his daughter-in-law Einav Mozes-Orbach recounted what he experienced in the hell of Gaza. Gadi, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was rarely exposed to the news but he heard enough to know that many Israelis were murdered in the October 7 massacre and others were abducted. However, his captors told him that his wife, Efrat Katz, H’yd, was alive and “sends regards.” But later, during one of the rare times he was exposed to the news, he heard that she was murdered. “It was a major crisis for him,” Einav said. “He understood that he couldn’t believe anything they said.” “When there were battles between Hamas and IDF forces, he was in houses where windows were shattered from nearby bombings. It was a real life-threatening situation.” “Beyond the immense difficulty, being completely alone was terrible,” Einav said. “He speaks basic Arabic and sometimes he tried to communicate with the captors but they didn’t always communicate back. There were days he was in complete isolation. There were moments he thought that was it, that he needed to say goodbye to us. Sometimes he didn’t understand or misinterpreted what they were doing, and sometimes they gave him the feeling that that’s it, it’s over.” “The loneliness was one of the hardest things for him there. We hear about people who were held together, supporting each other to keep their spirits up. He had to keep his spirits up alone. He really needed that support. Today he meets with many family members and friends, and sometimes we tell him, ‘Wait, maybe we should slow down the visits,’ and he answers – I’m thirsty for human interaction, for human warmth.’ He has also met people from Nir Oz; every day he meets more and more people. The love and warmth he receives from family and friends strengthen him.” “Gadi had many difficult moments and days,” Einav said. “He dealt with a terrible reality of deprivation, psychological terror, and hunger. Sometimes he ate a piece of dry pita, sometimes with hummus, and at times he didn’t eat anything for 24 hours. At the same, he found ways to keep himself safe – cognitively, mentally, and emotionally. He managed to lift himself up time and again. The walks he took even in the smallest spaces, counting steps. He did mathematical calculations and calculated the Pythagorean theorem. He talked to himself, did various exercises. It kept him going. Whenever he had dark thoughts, he simply lifted himself up and began to pace.” The feeling of life-threatening danger continued, even more so, on the day of release, when a seething Gazan mob gathered around Gadi and Arbel Yehud. “They felt a real existential fear. He felt that the event was getting out of control and that they could be lynched at any moment. They heard all the voices and shouts, cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ shaking the car. He said to himself – what, I survived all this just to end like this? He really thought he wouldn’t emerge from there alive. It was a difficult and traumatic event.” Gadi […]