The evening of November 4, 2025, was filled with emotion, humanity, and deeply moving moments: The Jewish Community Center Frankfurt welcomed Israeli guest Gadi Moses, a survivor of Hamas captivity in Gaza, together with Efrat Machikawa and the Gesher Ensemble. Organized in cooperation with the Jewish Community of Frankfurt, the B’nai B’rith Frankfurt Schönstädt Lodge, and a small but dedicated team of female activists.

Survival as an Act of Strength

Gadi Moses comes from Kibbutz Nir Oz a place that became the scene of unimaginable brutality on October 7, 2023. For more than a year from October 2023 until January 2025 – he was held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Imprisoned in windowless rooms, watched over by armed men, he survived through his inner strength, his faith, and his unbroken longing for his family and home.

His captors told him that his daughter and three grandchildren had been murdered. They claimed his wife was also a hostage in Gaza and forced him to write messages to her – believing she was still alive. Only after his release did Gadi learn the truth: his wife had been murdered on October 7, while his daughter and three grandchildren were freed in the first hostage exchange in November 2023.

“There were days when I thought my heart would burst out of my chest and I would die,” Gadi recalled. “But I didn’t die. I survived. Stronger than before.”

Today, Gadi Moses stands as a symbol of resilience, hope, and unbreakable human dignity.

A Journey into the Past

Just days before the event, Gadi Moses traveled with his niece to the town of his family’s origins: Treysa, a small town between Marburg and Kassel. His father was born there; his grandparents were cattle traders. His grandfather was beaten to death by the Nazis, and his grandmother was murdered in the Sobibor extermination camp. His father escaped to Eretz Israel in 1936 at the age of 14.

Gadi visited his family’s former home, where Stolpersteine (memorial stones) now commemorate his ancestors. At the Jewish cemetery, he stood by his grandfather’s grave.

“A circle closes here,” he said quietly.

A grandson kidnapped by Hamas stands at the grave of his grandfather, who was killed by the Nazis – both persecuted because they were Jews. It was a moment that deeply moved everyone present.

An Evening of Solidarity in Frankfurt

The evening at the Jewish Community Center Frankfurt was marked by compassion, solidarity, and gratitude. The hall was filled to capacity. The deputy mayor delivered a moving speech honoring Gadi’s courage and strength.

Benjamin Graumann, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Frankfurt, welcomed Gadi warmly: “We all prayed and fought for the release of the hostages. Today you are here – and that is a great honor for us.”

The B’nai B’rith Frankfurt Schönstädt Lodge also announced a donation to support Gadi’s most important goal: the rebuilding of Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was almost completely destroyed.

Eliyah Kraus of Zusammen Frankfurt greeted the guests in Hebrew and reminded everyone how profoundly recent years have affected us all: “We were not silent. We did not remain still.”

Eighty-one-year-old Gadi Moses was interviewed by his niece Efrat Machikawa. A special moment of the evening was the remembrance of Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated exactly 30 years earlier on this day. His song “Shir LaShalom” - Song for Peace“ was performed as part of the evening’s musical program by artists who volunteered their talent without pay.

Anna Reitnauer, Michelle Stoltze, Eliyah Kraus, and Simone Hofmann, the initiators and organizers of this remarkable journey, expressed heartfelt thanks to all supporters who made the evening possible.

“Gadi Moses Is a Survivor”

The encounter with Gadi Moses left a profound impression. It showed what it means to hold on to hope and affirm life despite unimaginable pain.

“I belong to the second generation,” said organizer Simone Hofmann. “My father survived three and a half years in concentration camps. I never thought we would again have to speak of survivors in a Jewish context. But since October 7, 2023, we do. Gadi Moses is a survivor.”

An evening that gives courage.

An evening that shows that the Jewish soul is strong, proud, and unbreakable.

And that remembrance, compassion, and humanity remain our strongest weapons against forgetting.

Here are some impressions from the evening and from Gadi Moses' visit to Treysa.