Captivity through a child's eyes: Emilia's drawings shine hope through despair

In depths of Hamas tunnels, 6-year-old Emilia Aloni created a world on paper Hamas terrorists didn't allow her to take with her; fellow hostage who was released after her managed to smuggle out three of her drawings
Lior Ben Ami|
During her terrible captivity in Gaza six-year-old Emilia Aloni depicted a world of suns, hearts, flowers and smiling families on paper. Drawing pink grass due to a lack of other colors, she created a universe scribbled with optimistic lines, contradicting the cruelty around her, a world perhaps only a child with rose-colored glasses could envision in such darkness.
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Three of her drawings, now revealed, offer a glimpse into this world. The first drawing shows four figures, all abducted on the same morning of October 7. These are the Aloni-Cunio family: Sharon, David and their daughters, Emma and Yuli, aged three. Sharon, Emilia's aunt, and the girls were released from captivity. David is still held by Hamas.
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הציורים של אמיליה אלוני
הציורים של אמיליה אלוני
6-year-old Emilia Aloni's drawing from Hamas captivity
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
Danielle, Emilia's mother and Sharon's sister, interprets one of Emilia's drawings as a reflection of longing. Longing for the closest family members they were with on that weekend, longing for the last normal moments before their abduction into abnormality.
When asked about what went through Emilia's mind while drawing this, Danielle admits it's an impossible question. Understanding the thoughts of a six-year-old during such times is challenging.
Danielle can only speculate, "She heard me talking about them a lot, with concern, to people who were with us," she says. "It probably imprinted on her. It seemed like her mind and heart guided her during the drawing. It felt right for her to draw them."
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הציורים של אמיליה אלוני
הציורים של אמיליה אלוני
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
The second drawing shows three figures: Elena Trufanov, her son Sasha Trufanov, and his partner Sapir Cohen. All three were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with their grandmother, Irena. The drawing depicts Sapir and Sasha’s wedding.
They met Elena during their time in captivity, and also Sapir occasionally. Emilia became attached to them. She never met Sapir's partner Sasha but knew of him through the stories shared in captivity. Elena, Sapir and Irena have since returned, while Sasha remains in Hamas’ hands.
Danielle is unsure why Emilia drew a wedding; she doesn't recall discussing it. Perhaps Emilia chose to advance reality in her own way. "One day Emilia just showed it, saying it was the wedding," Danielle recalls. "It might be one of the happy things she chose to see."
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אמילי אלוני עם סבתא אמיליה והמשפחה
אמילי אלוני עם סבתא אמיליה והמשפחה
Danielle and Emilia Aloni
Then there's the third drawing, featuring two figures: Elena and her husband Vitaliy, who was murdered on October 7 at Kibbutz Nir Oz. In Emilia’s drawing, they are shown strolling together.
Emilia filled an entire notebook with drawings using just two pens she received, one pink and one purple. She drew trees, flowers, birds and many rainbows, describes Danielle. Hamas terrorists didn't allow them to take the notebook from captivity. The drawings that did make it back were torn out by Elena, who brought them back with her when she was released after Danielle and Emilia, following 54 days of captivity.
Three children's drawings hide an extraordinary survival story. There, in captivity, Danielle and Elena created an alternate reality for Emilia. Wrapping a child in cotton candy, as Danielle puts it.
For instance, Elena transformed the abduction from Nir Oz into a kind of fairy tale, which Emilia asked to hear repeatedly. When moved from one hiding place to the tunnels, Danielle told her they were taken to a safer place because of “bad booms” outside.
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אמילי אלוני עם סבתא אמיליה והמשפחה
אמילי אלוני עם סבתא אמיליה והמשפחה
Emilia reunited with Grandma
"I told her they gathered the most special children, and here we are kept safe until it stops. When it's safer, we'll go out," Danielle describes, adding that every experience they had was wrapped in a narrative framework. Every move, every explosion, every behavior. "Another story and another story. That's how we built life there for 49 days."
Perhaps, who knows, with the two pens she received, Emilia managed to soar from the bowels of the earth to the universe outside. To sun rays sketched on paper. I ask about the recurring sun in all drawings. "Her hope," says Danielle, "she expressed in drawings. A child's hope to see the sun, which was our hope too."
Vitaliy and Elena will walk under the sun again, surrounded by flowers, only in Emilia’s captivity drawing. But maybe the other two drawings, like a whisper of magic, will become a kind of prophecy that fulfills itself.
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שרון, דוד, אמה ויולי
שרון, דוד, אמה ויולי
Sharon and David Aloni-Cunio and their daughters Emma and Yuli
Father David will finally return to Sharon and the girls, completing a family picture. Sasha will return to Elena and his Sapir, perhaps for a wedding.
But meanwhile, we are nearly at 100 days without them, and without the other 136 hostages. If only a child's larger-than-life drawing could fix this.
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