Caring for the Elderly and Holocaust Survivors in the Eshkol Region

Caring for the Elderly and Holocaust Survivors in Battered Eshkol Region

By Laurina Driesse, Head of ICEJ Media and Publications Department

The Eshkol region along the Gaza border was ground zero for the Hamas massacres last October 7, and many who live there have spent almost a year now living as evacuees elsewhere in Israel. Among these displaced families are many elderly Jews, including several Holocaust Survivors, and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) is stepping in to help care for their well-being until they can return home safely.

Thousands of residents of the Eshkol farming villages along the Gaza border suffered unimaginable trauma when Hamas terrorists invaded their peaceful lives. Most were evacuated from their kibbutz homes to hotels near the Dead Sea and Eilat, while some of the elderly were taken to care homes around the country. This relocation has been particularly difficult for the elderly and Holocaust Survivors, who often feel alone with no family or friends to talk to.

Situated only a few miles from Gaza, the Eshkol Community Center was a thriving hub for these elderly residents before October 7, with regular community gatherings and activities. The Center was forced to close for a time, but the staff kept in touch with community members by visiting them, offering encouragement and practical assistance, and connecting them with new social workers. Now, the Center has reopened and is a lighthouse for returning community members who are slowly starting to come home.

When we discovered many of the evacuated elderly were Holocaust Survivors, the Christian Embassy promptly stepped in to sponsor special activities that address their unique needs and ensure transport to community events.

An ICEJ team recently visited the Eshkol Community Center and was touched to see the resilience of the locals and staff. The Center’s lobby displays banners honoring those who lost their lives or were taken hostage, and paintings by local residents still hang on the walls from Sukkot 2023, just before the October 7 massacre, as no one has the heart to take them down.

Banners honoring those who lost their lives or were taken hostage are displayed Center’s lobby

Our tour of the center was hosted by the CEO, Anat, and daycare manager, Yulia. The facility offers a gym and personal training programs, as well as physiotherapy classes for the elderly. A computer room helps with online skills, and a lecture hall offers talks and events. In addition, the dementia wing provides daycare and creative activities in the morning, plus a “snooze” room for therapeutic care. An art studio, popular among the residents, is currently under renovation and will reopen soon.

In the meantime, two rooms have been turned into a temporary art studio, and we met several elderly residents who came to paint their memories and impressions from that dreadful “Black Shabbat.” Some of the painters also lost loved ones.

While there, the team met Shoshi, who showed us a picture of her granddaughter, Shir. She was meticulously painting a memorial set up for Shir at the Nova festival site.

The memorial set up for Shir at the Nova festival site

The art facilitator, Gael, was working on a painting of the entrance to a local kibbutz; she will soon add in terrorists just outside the gate. Yulla was painting a red road, which she titled the “Blood Road,” as the area roads became death traps for hundreds of Israelis on October 7. Yudit had a similar idea with her painting of metal cars piled up, symbolizing the thousands of abandoned and torched cars from that dark day.

The ICEJ staff also met Ilana, a beautiful 92-year-old lady who learned to paint only four years ago. She presented her painting of houses burning on October 7. Later, she invited the ICEJ team for tea at her home in Kibbutz Urim, where she shared how on October 7 her living room was turned into a coordination center for emergency first responders. She also was delighted to show us several other beautiful works of her art on exhibit at the kibbutz.

As these community members give a voice to that day and express their feelings through art, the hope is that their deep wounds will slowly begin to heal. Their work will be displayed at a special one-year anniversary exhibition starting in late September.

An elderly woman in the hard-hit Eshkol region of souther Israel paints to heal from trauma. — Yudit with her painting of metal cars piled up in the corner

Anat and Yulia shared with us the trauma and difficulties they and their staff have experienced since the war began and explained their dream to turn the whole center into a large, protective shelter. They want to create an inviting atmosphere at the center where people feel at “home,” so those who are still afraid to return to the region can slowly ease into it. In this process, the most important thing is to recreate the sense of community. Every day, more friends show up at the Center and take comfort and joy in being reunited.

The Christian Embassy is honored to support the important work of the Eskhol Community Center to care for the well-being of the elderly residents and Holocaust survivors of their region.