"Shirel had a beautiful smile, loved to dance and hang out with friends, radiated so much energy..." Eyal Golan's eyes sparkle when he talks about his sister.
The girl miraculously survived the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, but later committed suicide. A year after the fatal visit to the festival "Supernova" the young woman took her own life - exactly on her 22nd birthday, the German public broadcaster ARD reports.
"Finally Shirel stopped going out. He wanted to stay in his room alone. He stopped visiting me. I felt that something was wrong with her," her brother told the German publication.
Decided to break a taboo
Eyal Golan keeps talking about his sister's suicide. So he wants to break a taboo in Israel – the refusal to speak openly about the suicides of survivors of terrorist attacks.
Shirel tried to escape from the festival with her friends. They got into a car, but at one point they stopped and left the car to hide somewhere. Shirel manages to hide with one of his friends and is lucky - they both survive. However, everyone else is killed. This tormented her a lot, says Eyal.
"My sister was killed twice. Her soul died on October 7. God blessed us with the opportunity to spend another year with her. We are very religious. The rabbi told me that God saved Shirel on October 7, but Hamas destroyed her soul," ARD quoted him as saying.
Almost 50 festival survivors commit suicide
The Golan family blames Israel for the deaths of all those survivors of the "Supernova" festival who later took their own lives. According to Shirel's family, the state did not help them. Other festival survivors also complain of a lack of support in treating their post-traumatic stress disorders.
"So far there have been almost 50 suicides of survivors, many others have been forcibly hospitalized. I saw people's bodies being torn apart by bullets. Now we need a cure. I tried to go back to work three times – unsuccessfully. I just can't. I have visions, I relive everything over and over again. In a month, the state aid will end and people like me will have to go back to work," said Gai Ben Shimon, one of the visitors to the festival, during a hearing in the Israeli Knesset.
Deepening crisis
Other victims say they have to fight with the health fund to get more than the minimum 36 hours of therapy. This is too little, assures Merav Roth, quoted by ARD. The psychologist treats traumatized people across the country, including former hostages and guests of the "Supernova" festival.
"We are in a major crisis that is deepening. There will be a lot of PTSD cases in the country,'' says Roth, adding that survivors' guilt is very strong - they feel they have to die out of loyalty to the victims. Therefore, under no circumstances should these people be left alone, says the psychologist.
Before the ARD, the Israeli Ministry of Social Welfare and Services indicated that they had expressed their condolences to the Golan family and assured that a wide range of support was being offered to the survivors. Anyone in need of help can call the 24-hour hotline, contact the local government or fill out the appropriate form on the Internet, the department says.
"Don't wait for survivors to come to you"
For Shirel Golan's brother, however, this is not enough. "Bureaucracy was my sister's second killer. The responsibility should not fall solely on families. To those who could have helped my sister, I say: don't wait for the festival survivors to come to you. You have the lists, you know exactly who was hurt. Don't be passive, you must be active."
The fact that Shirel is the first to be talked about openly and with a specific name in the public space does not mean that she is an isolated case, says Eyal Golan. The brother of the girl who committed suicide wants to continue telling her sister's story so that others will dare to talk about it, ARD reported his words.
Author: Bettina Meyer (ARD)