New exhibit recounts horror of October 7 for Israelis
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A new exhibit in St. Louis Park is sharing first-hand accounts from Israelis who were attacked by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.
The multi-room exhibit Through Their Eyes: The Story of Kfar Aza features photographs, personal stories and group chat messages from that day. Kfar Aza is a kibbutz in southern Israel situated near the border of the Gaza strip.
Roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed that day, about a quarter of them soldiers, and another 250 were taken captive into Gaza. The attack sparked a war, now nearing its second anniversary. The Gaza Health Ministry says Israel has killed 65,000 Palestinians during the war.
During a recent preview of the exhibit, three Kfar Aza survivors and one former hostage led guided tours. Survivors described their home as a close-knit community.
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Keith Siegel, who moved to Kfar Aza in 1983, flew to Minnesota for the exhibition. He was held hostage in Gaza for 484 days until his release on February 1, 2025.
“On October 7, 64 of my friends, neighbors, and people I’d known for 40 years were murdered by Hamas,” Siegel said.
Hanita Baram, whose son Aviv was killed on October 7, wanted to attend the exhibit to share her son’s story.
“It’s not a storyteller that came and told our story,” she said. “We’re telling our stories through our eyes as we saw them that day ... as we experienced them.”
The exhibition is presented across three distinct spaces, each offering a different perspective on October 7 and its aftermath. The main exhibition remembers those killed and abducted. A photo gallery and personal testimonies focus on life in Kfar Aza before the attack, and a “Hope Room” is dedicated to “resilience, remembrance, and the determination to rebuild.”
Michal Rottenberg, a resident of Kfar Aza, said she survived the attack by hiding.
“The exhibition was written, developed, and was born from Kfar Aza people,” Rottenberg said. “We are not people who are used to doing exhibitions or to post a lot of things. It’s a very intimate and private exhibition, and to see it in English ... it’s very moving.”
The exhibit continues until Oct. 11. Tickets can be purchased in advance.
“I want the world not to forget,” Baram said. “It seems like the world forgot very quickly what happened to us.”
