A still from The Children of October 7. Photo: Orit Pnini
A still from The Children of October 7. Photo: Orit Pnini
‘A necessary watch’‘it’s like everything that feels safe wasn’t safe anymore’

Stories of the children

Montana Tucker shares the harrowing stories of eight young survivors of October 7, creating a powerful testament to resilience and hope.

Montana Tucker had never really spoken publicly about being Jewish. Despite being fiercely proud of her roots, Tucker had always focused on her dancing and singing.

And then October 7 happened.

And Tucker proudly adopted the role of activist, even wearing a giant ‘bring them home’ ribbon on her dress to the Grammys. She was asked to remove the ribbon as it was “too political”.

Since the massacre, Tucker has emerged as one of the most compelling voices in advocacy, particularly around the younger generation that was and continues to be affected.

“I just knew that I had to do everything that I could,” she told Jewish News UK. “If I have a platform of over 14 million followers [across all social platforms] and I’m not standing up for what I believe in, and I’m not educating, what’s the point of having these followers?”

Recently, Tucker has also added documentary filmmaker to her list of accomplishments.

“This is about humanity, survival, and the power of truth” Montana Tucker

Her latest work, The Children of October 7, represents a profound shift in Tucker’s career from entertainment to advocacy, driven by her personal connection to trauma and her commitment to amplifying the voices of those who have suffered unimaginable loss.

Tucker’s dedication to this project stems from her own family history as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Lilly and Michael Schmidmayer. Her grandparents’ experiences, including her grandfather’s survival of Auschwitz, profoundly shaped her worldview and commitment to bearing witness to historical trauma.

“If there’s one thing I learned from my Holocaust survivor grandparents, it’s to NEVER GIVE UP,” Tucker wrote on her social media pages earlier this year. “I am always so grateful for the time I get to spend with my Grandma Lilly. She is the STRONGEST and most RESILIENT person I know. She is a Holocaust SURVIVOR. She was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau when she was 13 years old, witnessed unimaginable horrors, saw her own mother get beaten up and dragged to the gas chambers, but NEVER GAVE UP and never lost HOPE.”

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Tucker told Jewish News UK she believes that had social media been around when her grandparents were going through the horrors of the Holocaust, they definitely would have used their voices to speak out.

“I knew I kind of had to take over the legacy for them, for my ancestors and our future generations,” she said.

The Children of October 7 is a collection of testimonies from eight children of all ages who were impacted by the Hamas-led attack on Israel. The documentary includes footage of the attacks juxtaposed with personal photos showing families in happier times. Beautifully done, Tucker’s approach is notably sensitive and age-appropriate, focussing on the children’s resilience rather than exploiting their trauma.

In 35 minutes, Tucker shares the stories of children like 11-year-old Yael Idan who said she “couldn’t breathe” when she saw her sister murdered in front of her and her father taken hostage. The attack on the Idan family was live-streamed by the terrorists on Facebook. Sadly, Yael’s father Tsachi was killed in captivity.

Yael Idan. Photo: screenshot

Rotem Mattias shares the story of his mother who died protecting him.

“They opened the door, shot fully automatic everywhere. They threw a grenade,” Mattias explained. “It blew up. My dad screamed that he lost his arm. I didn’t see my father fall over. But I knew my mum, I knew she was dead immediately.”

Tucker also spoke to Eitan Yahalomi, who was abducted by Hamas and spent 52 days in captivity in Gaza.

Tucker has been to Israel numerous times since October 2023, sharing her travels on her social media channels. And while each social media post has been incredibly important, the documentary, which was filmed over several months, takes things even further.

“This documentary is a necessary watch, for all generations,” Tucker told The Jewish Journal. “The world needs to see and hear these innocent children’s testimonies … I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and my grandmother was only 13 when she was taken to Auschwitz, where she witnessed and experienced the unimaginable. The children I interviewed were ages 11 to 17. The parallels are haunting. We must never forget. And never again.”

Filming for the documentary started about a year after the attacks, giving the children time to process what had happened.

“These are innocent children who went through the absolute worst of the worst, and everything was live-streamed for the world to see,” Tucker explained to Jewish News UK. “Hamas purposely wanted the world to see what they did. And now these are the testimonies of these innocent children.”

Tucker’s involvement in the project goes beyond traditional documentary hosting. Her approach is deeply personal and empathetic, drawing on her own family’s experiences with historical trauma.

She told CBS News that she felt immense pressure to be the strong one for the children she was speaking to.

“I was interviewing them and I’m having to look them in the eyes, and I said to myself ‘I can’t be the one to now break down. If they’re staying strong, I have to stay strong for them,'” Tucker recalled.

While Tucker acknowledges the suffering of the Palestinian children, she pointed out that mainstream media give their plight a lot of attention. This is not always the case for Israeli children.

“I don’t hear anything about the Israeli children in the media,” the creator told Jewish News UK. “I felt it was my responsibility, my duty, to make sure that I at least could bring attention to what was going on with that, what happened to the Israeli children, and what continues to happen to the Israeli children.”

The documentary has been praised for its sensitive handling of extremely difficult subject matter. The film showcases the incredible resilience of the children who survived the horrors of Hamas’ massacre, offering hope amid tragedy. Tucker’s role as both interviewer and advocate has been particularly noted, with critics recognising her ability to create a safe space for these young survivors to share their experiences.

“This film is a wake-up call — a reminder of what can happen when we ignore evil. You cannot look these kids in the eyes, hear their voices, and walk away unchanged” Montana Tucker

Some of the children involved actually followed Tucker on social media prior to the attack and prior to Tucker making contact with them. So many of the interviews feel like conversations rather than testimonials. Tucker has been praised for making the children feel comfortable during what is a very difficult and traumatic conversation.

Importantly, the documentary takes a non-political stance. It doesn’t dive into the conflict and it doesn’t ask audiences to take sides. The children have nothing to do with the war or politics. And for Tucker, it’s important that people watching remember this.

“This documentary features deeply sensitive conversations between myself and remarkable children who bravely share their experiences of trauma and survival as they continue to process the unthinkable – being held captive, witnessing the murders of their parents and enduring violent invasions of their homes,” she shared on Instagram when the streaming date was announced.

In another post, Tucker was clear that the film is not about her, but about the children and the children only.

“This documentary is NOT political. This documentary is NOT about me. This documentary is about INNOCENT children who went through the UNIMAGINABLE. It’s a powerful message of RESILIENCE and BRAVERY, as well as INNOCENCE— and, I truly believe, HOPE,” she wrote. “This film is a wake-up call — a reminder of what can happen when we ignore evil. You cannot look these kids in the eyes, hear their voices, and walk away unchanged.”

The Children of October 7 runs for just over 30 minutes, making it accessible to everyone, even age-appropriate children themselves.

It’s a project that Tucker described as one of the most important she has ever been part of, especially considering her heritage.

Eitan Yahalomi and Montana Tucker. Photo: Instagram

“Hearing these Israeli children, ages 11 to 17, describe the horrors they experienced on October 7 — being taken hostage by Hamas, witnessing their families murdered, losing their homes and innocence in one morning — felt hauntingly familiar,” she wrote on Instagram. “My hope is that people of all ages — especially the younger generation — watch this short film and understand what really happened. This is about humanity, survival, and the power of truth.”

The Children of October 7 represents more than just a documentary; it’s a continuation of Tucker’s family legacy of bearing witness to historical trauma and ensuring that the voices of survivors are heard.

By leveraging her platform and her personal understanding of intergenerational trauma, Tucker has created a work that serves both as historical documentation and as a testament to human resilience.

The film starts with images of some of the victims, including the Bibas family. There’s audio of the voicemail that Rotem Mathias sent his family WhatsApp group. And there’s Yael Idan saying “it’s like everything that feels safe wasn’t safe anymore”.

But among the children there is an amazing sense of resilience. Take Mathias for example. Despite spending hours under his mother’s lifeless body waiting to be rescued, he still says that his parents’ deaths gave him a second chance at life. Or Eitan Yahalomi – kidnapped into Gaza on a motobike, he now races bikes for fun.

The Children of October 7 is a difficult documentary to watch.

But audiences can draw from the strength of the children themselves. They, after all, are the future of the Jewish nation. And the bravery, strength and resilience they have shown proves that Israel is in good hands.

The Children of October 7 is now available to stream on Paramount+ 

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