Responsible Storytelling - Hadar Zak's Full Story
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Hello everyone thank you for coming here tonight and it is my honor to tell my
00:06story to you. My name is Adar Zak and I am 25 years old from Kibbutz Kisufim
00:14located near Gaza. I am here to share my personal experience from October 7th, a
00:20day that profoundly altered my life. On that fateful day I was visiting a lot
00:29while my younger sister Tomo was at her workplace. At 6.30 a.m. the skies
00:36filled with rockets from Gaza Strip. Terrorists branched the security fence
00:41and started the attacks by motorcycles ATVs and even by air. When I heard what
00:50was going on I frantically tried everything I could do to contact my
00:54parents. It wasn't until almost 1 p.m. that I finally reached them. When my
01:01father's answered me he said there is a lot of gunshots outside and he reassured
01:06me that they're all in the safe room. After I burst into tears he passed the
01:11phone to my mother's who always knew how to talk to me and she called my fears. I
01:18asked where is my younger brother Sagi, the light of my life and she assured me
01:25they're all safe in the safe room. That was our final conversation. We found out
01:32later that they died not long after this phone call. They were shot. The house was
01:40utterly destroyed by the flames and the safe was completely filled with
01:45smoke giving them absolutely no chance of survival. I learned from my Kibbutz
01:52security officer that my father's body was found in the entrance in the safe
01:57room as he had been guarding the doors trying to protect everyone.
02:03Nearby my mother was holding Sagi and hugged him in the bed and my loyal dog
02:11Saka was next to my dad. They were also fully blacknessed by the smoke. I asked if I
02:20could retrieve any personal item from the house like photos albums or Sagi
02:25kerami creation but a security officer informed me that everything from our
02:31there was totally destroyed. Now me and my younger sister Tomer are all alone
02:41and coping is incredibly challenging. I remember my last conversation with my
02:48father. I shared with him once how my sister is driving me crazy. Yet again you
02:57know how sibling are always find something to argue about and my father
03:02will told me how many sister do you have and I will answer him just one and he
03:10says good so treat it like she's the only sister you have. Shortly after I had
03:16to provide DNA samples to the police because the only way to them to positive
03:22the identity of their bodies. The process was obnoxious and why almost
03:29every person who buried this family we were still awaiting for confirmation
03:35about my brother remains. It took us two weeks to bury them.
03:42October 7th changed everything about my life, my existence on this earth. The
03:54terrorist stole from me my father Itay. He was a hard-working man. He taught me
04:02the value of family since the day I was born. He only told me that there is a
04:09priority of his life is family, studies and then friends and I will teach my
04:17children the same way. My mother Eti, the prettiest woman on earth. No offense to
04:26my girlfriend but she was. She was the best mom ever. She take care of me and my
04:34siblings in the best possible way and my little brother Sagi who was only 14
04:42years old. He was the best part of my life and my favorite dancer ever. I miss
04:50them dearly every day. After the attack I was evacuated to the Dead Sea with the
04:58surviving members of my kibbutz. One family has been constant source of
05:04support for which I am deeply grateful. They first reached out when we are
05:10sitting Shiva in our family. In our connection at that level suppose grow
05:17even stronger when Ella Danon, the conduction of the orphan from the 7th
05:21of October invited me to take part in all the activities and the support
05:26groups that had offer. Meeting Ella surely been the most rewarding part of
05:36my experience with my one family. When we got together I can show I can share with
05:43her what is on my mind. The daily struggles, the intense loneliness, the
05:50dread of celebrate even a single holiday without my family. Every meeting
05:56with Ella and every phone call with her gave me the strength to trust her
06:02and one family and know I will always have someone by my side. When Ella
06:10invited me to the therapy ski trip to Andorra I felt extremely hesitated. I
06:18wasn't sure that I was ready to go anywhere or do anything fun like that
06:22and in any case I had never done ski before. But after everything they had
06:28already done for me I felt like giving it a try. In our group there were four
06:35five veterans surviving orphans and five new orphans from the October 7. All who
06:42lost both of their parents. On the drive to the ski we all share our stories
06:47and thought what will happen and expectation for the trip and for our
06:53future. On our first day skis I was placed in the beginner groups with an
07:00Australian ski instructor. After the first few hours skiing we all met up and
07:06not only share a ski experiments with one another but also continue to give
07:11each other support. The strong decision of the older survived to support the
07:17younger strongly invented and it was my favorite things about the trip and in
07:23one family that the older take care of the younger even in grave. Just like one
07:32family event in Israel the group convinced led by Ella every evening on
07:37the ski trip gave me the strength to keep improving my skiing and I even move
07:42up to the advanced group. I no longer felt so alone. Somebody was
07:50really listening to me. The careful planning and the smooth running on the
07:54trip and the constant support from the staff all helped me focus on healing and
08:01skiing without being distracted by everyone going around me. It feel like
08:08skiing become a metaphor for my life these days. With every physical
08:13difficulty and emotional in a couple mission representing the emotional side
08:19of my life in a way. Every time I fell on the ski slopes I got up again and it
08:26filled me a little bit stronger and it taught me a lot. Later I chose to visit
08:32friends in Thailand so not to be because I didn't want to be in Israel for
08:37Passover and experience the holiday without my parents and my dear baby
08:41brother. This was definitely the right decision for me and I stayed in Thailand
08:47for two months which helped me a lot in the recovery. Even while I was there the
08:55conversation with Ella continued and at one point Ella invited me to join to one
09:00family trip to Mexico along with other orphans. In this occasion I couldn't make
09:06to the trip as it was just too far but it made me incredibly happy just to be
09:12invited to know that I was part of the family and I always will be included. As
09:21we transition to a temporary house in Omer, me and my sister Tomer, we are
09:28finding a way to adjust knowing that one family will continue to be there for us.
09:33From the ski trip in Andorra to all of the wonderful support groups and events
09:39and even the Mishloach Manot that Ella gave me at Purim. The support of one
09:44family is helping me through this tragedy and find a way to live and enjoy
09:49life with the family that I now have. I want to express my heart's thanks to the
09:56one family organization and to Ella personally for everything they done to
10:01help us during these difficult times. Me and my sister Tomer really appreciate
10:06that and I appreciate you all and thank you for listening.