Yesterday evening, at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, a special evening event was held for the book “One Day in October” by Yair Agmon and Uriah Mevorach, due to its status as a bestseller in the short period since its departure to the bookstores. In the event, all those involved in the work – the writers, editors, publishers (the book was published under the Magid-Koren company) and translators – as well as all the heroes mentioned in the book, together with their relatives. In addition, the famous singer Barry Sakharoff made an apperence, and provided a short performance during the event.
‘One Day in October: 40 Heroes, 40 Stories’, tells the stories of 40 of October’s 7th’s heroes – fighters, civilians, and rescue workers, half of whom survived and half of whom were killed on that day. The book is not uniformly written, and this allows for the unique voice of every hero and hero to be preserved during the course of his story, adding another touch of authenticity to the book. The book has gained great popularity in the months since its release, when many citizens were touched to tears by reading the amazing stories written in it, and fighters testified that the book contributed greatly to raising morale and motivation among their fellow soliders.
The book includes, among other things, the story of Anar Shapira, who managed to throw 7 grenades out of the Shelter near the forest of Re’eim; the story of the Sharabi brothers, who saved an entire group of celebrants from the Nova party; the story of Gali Ayalon, 15 years old, who ran an operational command center from her home in Kefar Aza; The story of Yotam Haim, who was captured, and killed most tragically but as a free man; the story of Amit Man, who continued to treat the wounded in Be’eri and refused to retreat until she was killed; the story of Yossi Landau, the ZAKA commander who ran the most difficult scenes for many days; the story of Awad Darawsha, who was killed at the Nova party while treating the wounded; And many more.
At the beginning of the evening Rabbi Reuven Ziegler spoke on behalf of Koren Publishing, explaining how the small and individualized details of the great story help the home audience connect to the events of that day; Yair Agmon shared the writing experience of the book; the relatives of several heroes who were killed told little about them; and Finally, there was a panel where several heroes were interviewed under the direction of Shai Li Schindler, in which they told little about their feelings today, in perspective; afterwards, the authors were given certificates of appreciation for the heroes of the book. There is no doubt that the book is a little that holds the many, and it is hoped that as time goes on, even more stories will be known and published.
