From ruins to remembrance: Sderot Police Station Oct 7 Memorial unveiled
Israelis were horrified to watch terrorists taking over the city of Sderot early on Oct. 7, 2023. The police station was completely destroyed and 70 lives were tragically lost, many of whom were police officers bravely fighting against the unprecedented attack on men, women and children.
Since then, 18 pillars have been arranged in a circle at the site of the old police station as a memorial to those who were murdered the day or during the war that has been raging since the terror attack. Constructed from the building's remnants, the pillars display words from Sderot residents and are accompanied by a soundtrack created by two of the local residents.
Curated by Atzaba, the memorial site was dedicated to those lost in a moving ceremony held one year after the attack.
ALL ISRAEL NEWS correspondent Kayla Sprague said, “They will be immortalized here, a testament of bravery and reminder of the price for our freedom.”
One of the fallen soldiers honored at the ceremony was Alexey Shmeklov, who left a notebook expressing his thoughts while he was serving in the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza.
“I am fighting the good fight,” he wrote, so that “good will triumph over evil, light over darkness.”
Roei Valdman, chief of police in the region, spoke with ALL ISRAEL NEWS at the unveiling of the memorial. Valdman reminded visitors that the residents of Sderot have suffered some 20 years of missiles launched toward their city, but said the ground invasion and massacre on Oct. 7 was something else entirely.
“This memorial site is something that gives us a lot of hope… just to remember what happened here, and on the other hand to look forward,” he said, echoing the sentiments of many who view the memorial as a beacon of hope.
Valdman the memorial will help people “to accept what happened here with the hope that maybe someday, with the courage of those people and with the fight they did for this country, we can move forward for peace in the future.”
He added that the memorial stands as an act of solidarity with the people of Sderot, affirming: “For us to know that [Israel] remembers the soldiers, the policemen, and the citizens who fought for Sderot, the city of champions and heroes.”
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
