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The National Library of Israel is appealing to bereaved families to help preserve the personal stories of those murdered on October 7 and killed in the war that followed ahead of the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks.
The Jerusalem library is collecting memorial books and booklets produced by relatives, friends and communities, as well as material written by victims that was published after their deaths.
It also plans to stage an exhibition, opening on the anniversary itself and running for three months, named 7.10 – Bound in Memory, displaying some of the material already gathered.
A dedicated website will also allow people around the world to learn about the individuals featured and the stories behind their names.
Families are being asked to check the National Library catalogue and submit physical or digital copies of memorial publications that have not yet been collected. The material will then become part of the library’s permanent collection and be preserved for future generations.
The initiative forms part of the National Library’s vast October 7 archive, Bearing Witness, established in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 attacks to document both the massacre and the war that followed.
The archive currently comprises more than 266,000 videos, 1,440 testimonies and 1,430 books, alongside around 40 terabytes of archived websites.
Its collections range from survivors’ testimony and material documenting communities in southern and northern Israel to records of the campaign to return the hostages and the response of Jewish communities around the world.
The library is also seeking memorial books relating to Israelis killed in previous wars and military campaigns and victims of terrorist attacks throughout the history of the state, in an effort to ensure their personal stories remain part of Israel’s national memory.
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