On October 7, 2023, 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin was wounded and kidnapped during the Nova music festival massacre. His parents Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin travelled the world as they fought tirelessly to save their son. On September 1, 2024, they were told that Hersh and five other hostages held by Hamas had been executed.
In a recent article published in The Free Press, Rachel wrote the following about Hersh:
"He had been a person. A civilian, music lover, soccer enthusiast, traveling citizen of the world, friend, brother, grandson, firstborn, and only son. But in that instant Hersh became a one-armed (after his dominant arm was blown off), stolen, tortured, and starved hostage. Eventually, Hamas executed him in a tunnel 65 feet underground in Gaza."
Like so many of us, 13-year-old Itai Corney followed Hersh's story, along with those of other hostages, and he was devastated by the horrific news last year. A few months ago, Itai had the opportunity to meet Rachel Goldberg-Polin and talk to her about the person Hersh had been before October 7, 2023.
This is an excerpt from their conversation.
Itai Corney: What were Hersh's dreams and goals?
Rachel Goldberg Polin: Hersh was very much in the present, he lived for today. Americans are planners, so this was very hard for us to understand. Hersh had no idea who he was going to be in years to come, he had no plans for the future. He would take each day at a time. He lived for the moment – he would think for now and not the future.
Hersh went to mechina [a pre-army academy] then to the army – he was open to be assigned to what the army gave him. He would never complain; he would do what he was given. Whatever he did – he was all in.
He was very excited for his trip around the world that he was planning pre-October 7. The date for the trip was December 27. He would always be in charge of trips with friends, and he would plan them all. Hersh and his friends travelled to Norway, Vienna, and Germany. He was always the planner due to the fact he was the only English speaker; his group of friends were all Israelis. One of the friends who always went with him was Aner.
[Hersh and his close friend Aner Shapiro were at the Nova music festival together. During the massacre, both took cover in a shelter. Aner – unarmed – caught and threw seven explosive grenades back to the Hamas terrorists who had originally thrown them. He was killed while holding the eighth grenade. Hersh and three other people were kidnapped from the shelter.]
What were Hersh's hobbies?
Hersh loved Hapoel Jerusalem, this dominated his childhood. When he was younger it was basketball and that morphed into soccer when we moved here. Hersh was into music, he loved to camp and hike and explore and meet new people, he also was a very voracious reader – completely consumed by reading. He always had a book with him and always read before bed. The book that he was reading – "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama – is still sitting on his bedside table.
What was he passionate about?
Hersh loved music, he loved meeting new people. He was very passionate about peace and about making less hatred in the world. He was very innocent in that way – even at 21/22/23 years old – there was a belief that things could be better. He really believed. We get a lot of correspondence from people he met all over the world. His non-Jewish German friends got in touch with us from Werder Bremen [a German football club with close ties to Hapoel]. He said when he was there in Germany, he had so many conversations about being Jewish. The only uncomfortable thing was they kept asking Hersh to forgive them for what happened in Germany. He was meeting the grandchildren of Nazis. They felt a real sense of responsibility. This was very important to Hersh – to make progress in this broken world. You can make an impact over 100 years or you can make a huge impact in just 23 years and the reaction from people whose lives Hersh touched shows he did this.
Which music festivals did he like and why?
Hersh loved trance music raves. He would send pictures of selling bracelets, incense burning, music recordings. It was an entire community in nature – which he truly loved. When he went to Europe, he had a little backpack with one towel and one sleeping bag and no clothes – he said there are rivers running through where he can wash what he was wearing! He felt a commonality to others who loved the trance music.
What made him happy?
Hersh really was a very simple person, he didn't need things to make him happy – he loved experiences. He liked hanging out. He was happy being with friends, going to Hapoel games, and music festivals. He was never materialistic. He would never go shopping. He was happy with what he had and happy with his lot.
How would his friends describe him?
Hersh's friends would describe him as always happy, positive without being goofy about it, very sarcastic but not in a mean way at all. He was always funny without being a clown – he was smart too. He was a good listener; he wasn't mean in any way. He felt comfortable in his skin always.
I don't remember too much from the shiva, but there was one young man who came to visit us with his mother, and this boy was a little bit different to the other boys. His mother said, "I'm bringing my son here because Hersh was always nice to him."
The boy said, "I am on the spectrum and was bullied and Hersh was always nice to me." This was a very special quality.
What is your favorite memory with Hersh?
There are too many memories. Strangely, I'm not ready to go back and think about it because it hurts me too much.
I picture regular things. I picture him sitting on the couch - he always sat in his special place on the couch. I would never think of sitting there because I know he liked to sit there. From our open kitchen, I can see the couch and I think of how I would so often watch him … I'd be cutting something but I would be watching him and just think, wow, I'm really lucky. I was always aware that I was lucky. So that's a nice memory of normal. It doesn't have to be a memory like going to Disney, or when he graduated, or when he did this or that in the army. It doesn't have to be a big thing. My favorite memories are when we were normal.
If you can sum up his personality, what would you tell me about him?
Hersh was always extremely respectful and gentle. I never in my life heard him scream, I never heard him raise his voice.
There is a lot of Jon in Hersh, and Hersh in Jon. Aside from Jon, Hersh was the cleverest, funniest person that I ever knew. He was always a deep thinker, a quiet thinker, and he was very clever with a side of naughty. He wasn't a goody two shoes by far. He was an under-achiever – he could accomplish so much but he chose not to. In school Hersh was super bright, but he would never consider studying for a test, so often he wouldn't do as well as he could have done. He had a photographic memory so had he studied he could have achieved 100%, but it required sitting and studying.
How do you want him to be remembered?
As a passionate and compassionate person. I think that there is something about Hersh's naiveness – something very special about not being jaded; something that hasn't been ruined yet.
When Hersh was asked questions around the Shabbat table he would always wait a couple of beats before answering – even the simplest of questions he would wait and answer having thought about it first. I would like Hersh to be remembered as a respectful person and as someone who really listened as this is an art that we have completely lost.
Thank you for giving me so much of your time.
Thank you for letting me share some of Hersh with you.
Itai Corney was born in 2012. He lives in Raanana with his parents Ilana and Clifford and older sister Mia. His parents made Aliyah from London in 2000. He attends middle school in Raanana. He enjoys going to the movies, watching Arsenal soccer games, and listening to music. His dream is to become a DJ.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin is a high school educational counselor by profession. Jon Polin is an entrepreneur. After October 7, 2023, they were among the most prominent figures fighting for the return of the hostages and since Hersh's murder they continue to advocate for those still held captive by Hamas. Rachel and Jon made Aliyah with their three children in 2008. They live in Jerusalem with their two daughters.