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‘We are collecting stories of the Hamas attacks’
The Israeli organisation Edut 710 is the biggest database of survivors’ recollections of the October 7 atrocities
October 1, 2024 15:32
The Israeli organisation Edut 710 is the biggest database of survivors’ recollections of the October 7 atrocities
October 1, 2024 15:32Edut 710, the largest organisation in Israel dedicated to collecting and preserving testimonies of the October 7 atrocities, stands as a testament to the power of storytelling in the face of tragedy. Founded just days after the attacks, the organisation has rapidly grown into a multidisciplinary initiative, involving hundreds of volunteers from various fields, including documentary film-making and historical research. Edut (meaning testimony) 710 was established with a clear mission: to create a comprehensive, professional digital archive of testimonies that will be preserved for generations. This archive is designed to serve as a resource for survivors, their families, educators, researchers, artists, and the wider public – and is freely accessible online.
Talya Tibbon, a London-based Israeli film-maker, joined Edut 710 shortly after October 7. “I wasn’t directly affected by the attacks,” she recalls, “but within days, I discovered names of hostages, people who were missing or dead, who were old friends of my father, a father-in-law of a school friend, sons of old friends… I joined Edut 710 after hearing about the initiative from a fellow film-maker.”
Talya emphasises the importance of the methodology adopted by Edut 710, inspired by Dori Laub, a Yale University psychiatrist who pioneered the concept of “empathic listening” in Holocaust survivor testimonies. “It allows the survivor to own the narrative and tell their story with very little interruption. We are the largest, most concentrated, and sustainable initiative doing this work. We aim to record at least 35,000 testimonies,” she adds, highlighting Edut 710’s partnerships with major institutions such as the National Library of Israel, the Hebrew University, and other academic institutions, as well as technological contributions from organisations such as Monday, Wix, and Microsoft.
As they were for Talya, the events of October 7 were a call to action for another film-maker and producer, Itay Kentor, who became one of the founders of the project. With extensive experience in documenting Holocaust survivors, Itay knew the profound importance of recording stories in the face of tragedy: “I felt a strong desire to give people a platform to share their stories.”
Itay was invited to join Edut 710 by Dr Ohad Ufaz, his colleague in teaching and film-making. “We quickly conceived the idea of establishing a database,” he recalls. “It was clear that testimony plays a crucial role in coping with trauma. I feel a deep sense of privilege to be there for the survivors, to listen to them without interruption, to help them process and articulate their stories, and to ensure their preservation for the sake of future generations. As one survivor told me just two weeks ago, ‘I use you to remember.’”
Edut 710’s co-founder and chairperson, Sagi Alony, a project manager and sustainability expert, explains that he saw an opportunity to leverage his skills in documentary and logistics to capture the stories of the survivors. “Our mission was to put the witnesses’ interests first. There are just so many stories out there, covering every human reaction you can imagine – anxiety, bravery, kindness, fear, and even humour.”
Sagi also emphasises the importance of capturing collective narratives, which may otherwise take a long time to come to the fore. He gives the example of local defence units, known in Israel as Kitot Konenut. “These tiny local defence units were in many cases the only line of defence for hours, if not days, and there’s very little the media and the public know about their pivotal role in the events,” he says. “I hope that the scale of the project will give these stories relevance for future generations. I often use the story of Anne Frank as an example – I think that the reason Anne Frank’s story is still alive eight decades after it was written is because, on one hand, it’s universal – there are always teenage girls growing up, thinking about the adult world and about love – and on the other hand, it tells the story of a specific time and events, ones we can hardly imagine ever existed. A girl in Japan or a grandfather in Brazil can read her story and learn something from it. To me, this is the essence of the 710 testimonies—to understand human reactions to inconceivable horrific events.”
Sagi hopes that the scale of the project will give these stories relevance for future generations. “If we can make this a living memory, a pool of real stories told by real people about what really happened, we could prevent denial and forced, superficial narratives.”
Like many other volunteers and supporters of Edut 710, Talya, Itay, and Sagi feel that the initiative is more than just a project, but rather a mission to ensure that the stories of October 7 are not forgotten.
Talya says: “We’ve been supported by generous individuals and a few family funds – Azrieli and Rothschild, for instance – as well as crowdfunding. During the week of [the anniversary of] October 7, we are planning a joint event with the Wiener Holocaust Library in north London. The programme will include testimonies collected and a conversation with a survivor.”
For more details and ways to support Edut 710, go to www.edut710en.org. To register for the Wiener Library event go to: https://www.edut710en/london-wiener