As a child in France during the Nazi invasion, Daniel Luz, 92, experienced the horrors of war and persecution. Years later, Hamas terrorists nearly reached him while he was in his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. “You see me in the picture happy and smiling, but my health is really not good,” he said in an interview with ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth. “Soon I will have to return my soul to the Creator, but for the camera I make an effort,” he joked.
Luz has lived through a turbulent history in which his life was saved twice. As a child in France in 1940, he experienced the terror of war, Nazi occupation and persecution. Years later, after building a life in Israel, he moved to Kibbutz Be’eri and it seemed the past was behind him. But during the October 7 massacre, he once again found himself in a brutal reality. “That’s why I am a Holocaust survivor twice — both from France during World War II and from Be’eri in 2023.”
2 View gallery
Holocaust survivor Daniel Luz lives in a nursing home on Kibbutz Yad Mordechai
(Photo: Tomer Shunam Halevi)
On October 6, the day before the Hamas attack, Luz had still been celebrating “Be’eri’s birthday” with friends in the kibbutz. He woke to the sound of sirens and gunfire and, together with his partner Edna, locked themselves in their safe room while terrorists massacred residents outside.
“We heard loud gunfire and shouting in Arabic. I was sure it was my last day. The fear I felt during the Hamas invasion — I didn’t feel even during the Holocaust,” he said.
Out of a kibbutz of about 1,200 residents, 101 people were murdered in Be’eri that day and 30 were abducted. A total of 132 homes were severely damaged and slated for demolition, while 338 were damaged and required renovation. In addition, 11 public buildings were designated for demolition and 43 require repairs. As of today, about two and a half years after the massacre, the community remains displaced — most are living in Kibbutz Hatzerim and have not yet returned, aside from a few families.
The trauma, Luz says, is still present. “I haven’t recovered from what we went through," he said. "Let’s stop all these wars. It leads us nowhere. I would like there to be peace here. I no longer deceive myself that I will live to see it, but that my grandchildren will — that is what matters most.”
On Tuesday he will light a torch at the traditional Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony held at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, where he now resides in a nursing home. It will be the 79th year the ceremony is held, with hundreds expected to attend. For the Holocaust survivor it is not just a ceremony, it is a summation of a life, of testimony and of hope.