BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA: The mother of an only son is left totally devastated and feels "terrible" after she got to know that he was kidnapped in Israel amid the ongoing conflict between the Jewish nation and Palestine.
Rachel Goldberg's son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, is an American-Israeli born in Berkeley, California, who was at the deadly Nova music festival in Israel.
It is the same place where more than 260 attendees were mercilessly slaughtered by Hamas militants.
A grenade blew off Hersh's arm from the elbow down while he was taking cover in a bomb shelter.
When Hamas ordered those who could walk to leave the shelter, Hersh was among them, and his phone would soon ping from across the border in Gaza, where authorities say he is being held hostage.
The victim's parents, who were born and raised in Chicago, moved to Israel 15 years ago but tragically haven't heard from him since.
What did Rachel Goldberg say?
"I think when you're in hell, if you stop, then you're really stuck. So when you're going through hell, keep walking — and that's what I'm doing," Rachel said, according to People, roughly a week following Hamas' surprise terrorist attack on Israel which has plunged the area into war.
While speaking to the outlet's reporter, Andrea Mandell on October 15, Rachel said, "I don't live in the universe you live in anymore. I live in an alternate universe. My husband Jon and I, we have brand new 24/7 jobs: All we do is try to help save Hersh."
"I get up in the morning and I go have a cup of tea, and then I go to get dressed and I say to Jon, 'I'll go do my cry now.' And I cry and scream into my T-shirt or whatever it is. And then I'm like, all right, got to go to work. And then I go to work for the next 20 hours," she added.
The mother continued, "The Wednesday before all of this terrible stuff took place, Hersh went up north to a trance festival, and he was supposed to be there until Sunday. But on Friday afternoon, the police came and said to them, 'You guys don't have the right permits, so we're closing down the festival.'"
Rachel also opened up how delighted she was to know that her son was coming back.
"So he and all of his buddies left, and he called Friday afternoon and said, 'Actually, I am coming home for tonight,' which we were happy about because it's Simchat Torah, this really fun Jewish holiday. So we said, "Great, you'll come home," she said.
When did Rachel Goldberg last see her son?
The mother also disclosed the last time she saw her son. "So we went to synagogue. He danced with the Torah. We went to our friends’ and had this great meal. Around 11 pm, he kissed me, he hugged our hosts goodbye, and he left to go be with his buddy, Aner, to go camp out somewhere. And it's Israel — I didn't say, Give me your coordinates. They're 23, they're not babies. And that was the last time I saw him."
When did Rachel Goldberg know that something bad happened to her son?
"Saturday morning I was drinking a cup of tea in the kitchen and close to 8 am, the sirens went off in Jerusalem. And so I quickly went to wake my girls who were still asleep to get them into our bomb shelter," Rachel said.
"After we didn't hear anything and 10 minutes passed, I went upstairs to get my phone and there were two texts from Hersh. One said 'I love you.' And the second said, 'I'm sorry,' "
The mother said that she instantly knew something horrible was about to happen. "Most 23-year-old boys at 8:10 in the morning aren't writing to their parents, 'I love you' and 'I'm sorry.' I mean, to me, it was just horrible."
How did Rachel Goldberg find out about her son's whereabouts?
"And then we had to figure out, well, where are they? And my daughter started to quickly do some investigatory research online", Rachel noted, adding "And she said, 'Oh, there's a nature music festival happening in the south.' A third friend of theirs wrote back immediately, 'Yes, they're there.'"
The mother said that they were desperately trying to figure out how they can find Hersh. "Subsequently we received a picture that showed that he had made it to a bomb shelter. So we were very happy to hear that because it was someone else's picture that they posted on social media," she said.
"We could see Hersh on the side, midway in the room, and we saw Aner in the doorway, and there were about 30 people mashed in there. And what we came to find out is that Hamas came to the door and started throwing in hand grenades," she added.
"Everyone who we spoke to who did walk out alive and was not held captive has told us they would not be living if it wasn't for Aner, because he kept catching these grenades and throwing them out very, very fast. He also was trying to fight these people who had submachine guns that they were shooting. He was trying to fight them with his hands and his feet. He was right in the door," she continued.
Hersh’s arm below the elbow had been blown off
Rachel then said, "We heard this from people who pretended that they were dead under the bodies because there were so many people killed. There was a lull and smoke from the grenades, and then Hamas walked in and they said, 'Whoever can stand up, stand up.'"
She noted her son was among the three who stood. As per the accounts provided by the witnesses who were hiding and playing dead, Hersh’s arm below the elbow had been blown off and sometime during that lull, he had tied on a tourniquet.
They all said that Hersh did not cry out and did not make any sound.
What did the authorities say?
The police and the army and some representatives here have confirmed that Hersh was kidnapped according to what they know. Hersh's cell phone signal shows that he was in Gaza, and Rachel's family has not heard from him since.
"And honestly, I have no idea if he's alive. His body might be in Gaza. I don't know", she said.
"I try to picture tying a tourniquet tight enough if you're missing a whole limb by yourself, not having access to antibiotics or any type of medication," she added.
Aner's body was found on Thursday night
'This past Thursday night, we got confirmation that Aner’s body was found. And so Friday we went to bury him with his family", Rachel revealed to the outlet.
"They've been little boys together, there are so many cute pictures of them through the years doing fun things. Their crime was going to a music festival," ,he wrong
"When I'm sitting with these other American families who have loved ones who are being held hostage, it's children Fez@pn. It's one woman — her 80th birthday is tomorrow. I mean, this is not recognizable what is happening right now."
Rachel says she is hopeful and praying
'I am hopeful and I am praying. And I am a mother who would love nothing more than for my son to be home, and that's all I can be focused on", the distressed mother said. 'Hersh is my only son and he's my first child. He's what made me a mother. I feel like God could have given him to anyone and he gave me the perfect son for me."
Who is Hersh?
According to Rachel, her son has a dry, dark but not mean sense of humor. Hersh is an avid reader so he knows lots of trivia and random things. "He's been obsessed since first grade with geography, he's been planning this huge trip around the world since he was a little boy", the mother said.
"This past summer in Europe, he went to six different music festivals by himself, and he made friends along the way. Everywhere he went with his tiny little backpack, because who needs more than two shirts? At some point my husband Jon said to him, 'Please tell me you are changing your underwear.'"
"And he's a really kind person and very, very respectful. I realized in this last week that I've never heard Hersh yell ever. He's a very even-keeled person, and I really, really hope he's a survivor", the mother concluded.
