The Heilbronners were a Jewish-German family who fled their home in Stuttgart following the Nazis’ rise to power. They arrived in the Land of Israel in the 1930s, with one of their sons later settling in Kibbutz Be’eri. A family diary, which documented the pre-war era in Germany, narrowly avoided destruction on October 7, 2023, as it was brought to the National Library shortly before.
Captain Wingate Learns Hebrew: How a British Officer Shaped Israel’s Defense Forces
Captain Orde Wingate was an elite soldier and a non-Jewish Zionist visionary who, in Mandatory Palestine, established one of the world’s first modern counterterrorism units. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with Jewish comrades, he successfully confronted the violent riots that had shaken the country and developed a doctrine of warfare that has been adopted across the globe. It was even used to counter the Hamas attack on October 7. Now, Wingate’s personal collection of documents from his time in the Land of Israel has arrived at the National Library of Israel.
“The Holocaust taught us: Testimonies matter” – The Story of an October 7 Testimony Project
“It is a profound privilege to listen to someone tell their story. We live in a country where listening is not our strongest trait. But in the end, every one of us needs someone to listen.” – Just two days after the October 7 attacks, filmmaker and educator Itay Ken-Tor understood that the stories of the survivors needed to be documented. Together with friends, he founded Edut 710 (“Testimony 710”), an initiative that has already gathered more than 1,700 accounts. The team hopes to collect many more.
“They were witnesses to everything that happened”: Preserving Objects from October 7
After October 7, five women, three of them childhood friends, came together to found “Comfort Object”, an initiative that gives new life to items rescued from the destroyed homes of residents of Israel’s western Negev. Along the way, it has managed to offer a measure of hope to people who lost nearly everything. Among the salvaged items are a bench that survived a fire, a bullet-riddled armchair that served as a silent witness to the horrors, and the only object that remained from the home of the late Yossi Sharabi.
David’s Light Still Shines
“To be able to have coffee whenever we want” – that was how David Meir, of blessed memory, defined economic independence. He worked to help those around him gain financial literacy. David grew up in the community of Kochav HaShachar, founded by his parents, and served in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit. On October 7, he was among the first to reach the Gaza border communities and was killed in battle at Kibbutz Be’eri. A special edition of the book “The Psychology of Money” has now been released in his memory.
Life On an American University Campus, in the Immediate Aftermath of October 7
Ayelet Glaser was a student at Columbia University on October 7, 2023. Her experiences during the days that followed led directly to her “Aliyah” – her immigration to Israel, where she lives today. Here she shares some of what she saw, heard and felt during that life-changing period.
The Song of the Sticker: Hope and Loss in Israeli Commemorative Culture
They cover the walls of train stations, the sides of bus stops, and the poles of street lamps. Smiling faces, a familiar phrase, and sometimes a QR code leading to a memorial website. The National Library is creating an archive that will collect and preserve the stickers commemorating the victims of the Nova festival and those who have fallen in the war. Why is it important to preserve these memorial stickers, how should it be done, and what meaning does this kind of documentation hold for bereaved families?
Michel Kichka Illustrates Our World
Great talent, optimism, sensitivity, compassion, and a deep love for this country, which he had longed to reach since childhood, all come together in Michel Kichka, making him one of Israel’s greatest graphic artists. We spoke with him about what led to the creation of his most personal graphic memoir, why he insists on keeping the family name “Kichka,” and what it was like working with Meir Shalev.
Remembering Jawad Amer: The War’s First Fallen Druze Soldier
On the third day of the ongoing war, Jawad, 23, was killed in battle, the first of 14 Druze-Israeli soldiers to fall. His family and his hometown of Hurfeish remember him with pride.
Yotam Haim’s “Wings of Spirit”
Without knowing how to read music, a heartbroken high school student composed a melody to words by Rabbi Kook that gave her strength. When the song spread its wings and began circulating widely, she could hardly believe how many others found in it the same strength and comfort it had offered her. This is the story of how that song, composed in the 1990s, made its way onto an album commemorating the late Yotam Haim, who was abducted by Hamas into Gaza.
