Freed hostage Or Levy adopted a mantra he learned in captivity from slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents said at the UIA NSW Stars of David Gala on Sunday night.
“Or told us that the mantra saved him,” Hersh’s father, John Polin, told the audience at the Gala.
The saying that helped Hersh while he was in captivity and then helped Or was a “slight mistranslation of Viktor Frankl and Nietzsche – if you have the why, you’ll find the how,” Polin told the audience.
Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, guests of honor at the UIA event, learned about Hersh’s mantra in captivity from Or, who was freed earlier this month as part of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.
Hersh was killed in captivity in August alongside five other hostages – Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino.
Encounters with Hersh in captivity
Hersh’s parents had a meeting with Or after his release, during which he told them about his encounters with Hersh in captivity. The two were taken to Gaza together, along with Eliya Cohen and Alon Ohel, but Hersh was separated from the others on arrival.
“The three boys went one direction, and Hersh, who had been bleeding out, was put somewhere else,” said Polin, adding that Or told them he had, at first, assumed Hersh was dead because the captors took him away and covered him in a blanket.
Hersh and Or were later reunited when, on day 52, Or was taken to a tunnel where Hersh was being held, Polin said. They were held there together for around 2.5 days, he added.
It was during this time that Or learned the mantra from Hersh. He shared with Hersh’s parents that his “why” for getting through captivity was his young son. “He had to get home for his son,” Polin said.
Polin told the audience that one of the lessons from the story is to have courage. He said that they are doing the right thing in fighting for the hostages and standing up for Israel.
“Find the why and let it be your north star and keep on going.”
Jesus Christ is King
