A morning of kindness turns to terror: A Sderot resident's story

(JNS) - For Sderot resident Danny Eisenman, the story of Oct. 7 began with helping some tourists change a flat tire.

The tourists were passing through Sderot on their way to the Dead Sea and Eisenman was out walking his dog that morning. Once the tire was changed, the tourists fussed over the dog, pleasantries were exchanged, selfies were taken and everyone was on his way.

A mere five minutes later, he was home when the air raid sirens sounded.

"I remember when the sirens started and they didn't stop, I understood that something was wrong. Then the gunfire began," Eisenman recalled.

"I looked out the window and saw a car with nine gunmen with belts of ammunition on their chests. My daughter looked from the window, and apparently, the terrorists saw her and shot towards her. Luckily, she was only injured by shards of glass."

Eisenman saw the terrorists shoot at the tourists he had just helped.

Reflecting on the photo on his phone, Eisenman commented, "Five minutes later everyone in the picture except me and the dog are dead."

He huddled in a safe room with his wife and three children for eight hours, armed with nothing but a kitchen knife. Occasionally peering through the window, he would see more and more corpses in the street.

"I saw everything from the shelter window, it was pure evil there. They killed everyone-women, children, the elderly, even dogs."

The Eisenmans are currently staying at a hotel in Eilat with other evacuees from Sderot. He shakes his head in wonder at the international protests against Israel and the global surge of antisemitism.

"The world must understand: What we experienced on Oct. 7 is just the beginning for everyone. ... It will come to you in Europe, too. These protests are just the beginning of the danger you need to wake up now," he insisted.

"How would you continue with normal life after they murdered your friends, neighbors, and entire families? I saw the body of a pregnant woman whose abdomen was cut, along with her unborn baby. How can I cope with that? The support from the Israeli people is amazing but it won't help us erase the horrifying images we saw there," he added.

Some 1,200 people were killed in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. More than 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.