Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin received a call as soon as Shabbat went out from Or Levy’s brother, Michael. Or had just been released from Hamas captivity, looking gaunt, emaciated and still unaware that his wife Einav had been murdered at the Nova festival on October 7, but one of his first questions was, “How is Hersh doing?”
“It was super heartwarming and sad simultaneously,” Jon told The AJN, as we prepare to mark 500 days since October 7.
“Or had thought that Hersh was released. I don’t know the details of when and why he thought that, but they had to break it to him that it wasn’t the case.”
It was another heartbreaking moment for the parents of murdered Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, but Rachel said it was of some comfort to know that Or was thinking of their son.
“It made me feel good that he wondered about Hersh, because it means that at some point there was enough of a bond there that he was curious and thinking about Hersh within the first few minutes of his release,” she said.
Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90
Or, Hersh and Eliyah Cohen were abducted together from the bomb shelter they were hiding in and loaded onto the same truck, bleeding and injured, that took them into Gaza. It’s one of the most haunting videos captured by Hamas terrorists from that horrific day.
“It’s this ever reopening saga of this bomb shelter that just keeps unwinding and keeps giving us more and more,” said Rachel.
Jon and Rachel spoke to The AJN the day after Or, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami were released by Hamas. Still in their year of mourning following the horrific murder of their son in August 2024, the Goldberg-Polin family are navigating the most unimaginable grief and trauma.
“I feel a lot of brokenness when people see me,” says Rachel.
She knows the sympathetic looks are coming from a place of love, but she is hoping to be met with “smiles and waves” from Australia’s Jewish community when she and her husband Jon Polin appear at UIA Australia’s gala events in Melbourne and Sydney this month.
The parents of Hersh Golberg-Polin, who was murdered by Hamas in the tunnels of Gaza, are still in their year of mourning, while continuing to advocate for the release of the remaining hostages.
Hersh was abducted from the Nova festival with Or Levy, Eliya Cohen and Alon Ohel, and was executed by Hamas in August alongside hostages Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino and Almog Sarusi.
With Saturday’s release of Levy, Jon and Rachel are hoping some more information will help them piece together what happened to Hersh.
“Nothing we learn is going to bring Hersh back,” says Jon.
“Or has gone through trauma, he is still going through trauma and we fully support Or taking time to be with his family, to be with his son, to be quiet. There’s no pressure from us to learn anything. When Or and hopefully soon Eliya and Alon get out, and they’re willing and ready to talk, we’re happy to hear, but we expect that it will be a while.”
ON THE HOSTAGE DEAL THAT COULD HAVE SAVED HERSH
Rachel: We actually have the list from both May and from July, when this exact same deal was being tinkered with and Hersh was on that list – as was Eden Yerushalmi, as was Alex Lobanov, as was Carmel Gat. We know for sure that those four were slated for release and obviously that’s really heartbreaking for anyone who is human to put themselves in the shoes of any of these families.
There is some sense of relief and comfort knowing that others will get out; however, we feel very strongly that this phased deal has never really made sense to us. To get 33 people out, eight of whom we know are confirmed already to be dead and not be worrying about the people who are alive who would be released in the second phase, that to us needs to take precedence.
Jon: We all think this is a terrible deal, the fact that it’s dribbling out so slowly over so many months, but we also say a terrible deal is better than no deal. This is the best thing that’s been offered so far and so we need to take it. But our plea to President Donald Trump, as the only person who’s able to push real decisions to happen, is don’t accept the rest of this bad deal. Accelerate it so that everybody comes out all at once.
ON THE CONDITION OF THE HOSTAGES
Jon: So much of the news was surprised politicians saying, “We can’t believe what they look like and what conditions they’re in.” They don’t have the right to be surprised, because 161 days earlier, six bodies [those of Hersh, Eden, Alex, Carmel, Ori and Almog] were found and taken out, and those bodies were in the same or worse condition as these hostages who came out. Our upper echelons in Israel and around the world were exposed to those details, so nobody has the right to act surprised that these are the conditions. We’ve known this for a long time. And even worse than that, not only have we all known – including senior level decision-makers – that they’re being held in awful conditions, but we know that every moment that they are still held there is a risk that they will get executed, because we’ve seen that happen.
So just one of the hard things for us was people in positions of authority acting with surprise at these conditions. We don’t accept that surprise.
Rachel: When Eden was found she weighed 36kg, Hersh was 53kg and Alex lost a third of his body weight. These people were skeletal, and the only difference is that Hersh and the other beautiful five he was with were filthy from not bathing at all for months preceding their deaths and they were all multi-bullet ridden. So Saturday’s “oh, my gosh I’m completely shocked that they were not kept at the Four Seasons,” I don’t accept that performance.
ON HOW THEY ARE DEALING WITH THEIR GRIEF AND TRAUMA
Jon: We have two girls, 21 and 19 [Orly and Leebie]. They’re in pain, but they’re resilient.
Every person handles trauma and grief differently, but we try, as a nuclear family of the four of us, to support each other, give each other space, strengthen each other, lean in when we need to and we’re working to navigate this.
In a world where everybody means well – and I fully believe that – we have heard a few comments that were not intended to be hurtful, but weren’t so helpful. One of which was a grieving, bereaved family from years ago who went up to our daughters at our shiva and said, “You know, you girls didn’t just bury your brother this week, you also buried your parents. They’ll never be the same parents.”
We’re trying. We’re trying to show our girls we’re family. We’re all strong and resilient. We’re all grieving, but we are all going to help each other move forward. We still need to live life. We still need to celebrate those things we’re celebrating and we’re going to do all that, and I think they’re getting that message from us.
ON WHAT HELPS THEM COPE
Jon: The support and the love and the strength that we [Jon and Rachel and all of the hostage community families] have felt has been incredible.
We see the messages all over social media, we see people marching in front of their state houses and places of government, we see people around the world wearing the tape with the number. There is not a moment since October 7, 2023, that we have felt alone. We have felt that we are living a very personal experience that is unique, that only the five other families of the six who were killed together really understand, but we have never felt alone. We have felt so much strength and support that has given us the ability to get up in the morning, and continue to do what we do because of that.
Rachel: We also happen to be religious people and I actually thank God that I believe in God. We pray every day, we say psalms every day, we are constantly being re-grounded in our faith and that is a huge comfort.
ON BEING RECOGNISED AS THE FACES OF THE HOSTAGE CRISIS
Rachel: That’s been really confusing and strange. When you’re recognised for something completely horrific and tragic it’s very difficult, because I used to be someone very anonymous.
When people did know who I was, they were happy to see me and they had a happy face. Now people look at me with this extremely sad expression. My daughter asked, “When will people stop doing that when they see us?” That’s really painful and it’s really challenging. I feel a lot of brokenness when people see me. People also feel that they have permission, without seeking permission, to grab me or to cry on me, or to share their brokenness with me. And so it’s really quite hard.
I keep saying what I would love is for people to smile and wave. Just treat me like a regular person, smile and wave.
I really realise that it’s coming from a place of complete love, support and empathy and no one would ever do anything ever to hurt us. So I realise it’s a huge ask and it’s an almost impossible discipline to request, but I would love to just be a regular person again and I don’t know when that will happen.
ON THE PERSONAL CONNECTION TO AUSTRALIA’S JEWISH COMMUNITY
Rachel: I feel a special bond with the Australian Jewish community, specifically the Melbourne community, the Caulfield community. I spent a year studying at Melbourne University many, many years ago and that community adopted me wholeheartedly. Throughout this struggle from October 7, the entire hostage community has felt such love, support, prayers and continued advocacy from the Aussies and we are really touched deeply.
Many people have reached out, which is really kind and really hard for us as well. We haven’t socialised with our closest friends or with family. It’s just really, indescribably hard for me to make chitchat and for me to have regular conversations. I’m just not there yet. So it’s been very heartwarming that I’ve had so many people reach out from all those years ago when I was at Melbourne Uni and yet I’ve had to say, “I’m not going to be able to. I can’t do it. I hope you’ll forgive me and I hope you understand.” And they’ve all said, “Of course, you don’t have anything to ask forgiveness for, we completely understand and we love you.”
ON MEETING MELBOURNE’S BELOVED HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Rachel: Something that I actually learned in Melbourne that I’ve talked about a lot with my girls and I had talked about this with Hersh throughout his life, was that it was the first time that I ever met mass amounts of Holocaust survivors.
People were very vocal and they would tell their stories and I saw different kinds of reactions to being through a horror. I remember that there was one man who was very happy. He walked into Auschwitz with his entire family and he walked out alone, and he ended up in a DP camp where he met a woman who had walked in with her entire family and she walked out alone. They got married and they ended up in Melbourne with that huge survivor community and he said to me, “I walked out and I decided I’m going forward. I’ve experienced a horrible thing and I am going forward.”
There are people who walked out of Auschwitz and went on to have a beautiful life. They didn’t forget their spouse. They lost their children, they lost their parents, they lost their siblings, they lost their friends, they lost their community. They didn’t forget that, but they made a very strong, concerted effort to walk forward and to create a life. We are trying to do that.
I had another friend whose mum tried very hard, but she just couldn’t help but look back. She was not a happy person.
I don’t know where we are, I don’t know who I’ll be. Will I be her, or will I be him? Will I be somewhere in the middle? Will I be something totally different? But we know that human beings have the ability to [move forward] and knowing that the possibility exists, gives me hope that I can be that.
ON HERSH
Jon: We knew Hersh pretty well and Hersh was somebody who embraced life, celebrated life, infused goodness and fun into situations. We both have no doubt that Hersh is sitting above us, saying it’s okay to grieve me for a little bit, but don’t let this situation hold you back. You need to live, you need to embrace life and I have no doubt that that is what he is sending to us.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin will be the guests of honour at UIA Australia’s 2025 campaign gala events in Sydney on Sunday, February 23, and in Melbourne on Wednesday, February 26.
To book, visit uiaaustralia.org.au and follow UIA on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on the events.
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