Arie (“Zalman”) Zalmanowicz, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was kidnapped on October 7 and murdered in Hamas captivity at age 85 after enduring physical and mental torment, was laid to rest Friday in the kibbutz he loved.
As befitted a man of the land, the kibbutz noted that his family had saved straw from the last harvest specifically for his funeral. His coffin, returned to Israel earlier this week, was placed upon it.
“Today, after more than two years, the soil he tilled all his life at his home in Nir Oz received him once more,” the kibbutz said in a statement. “Now he can rest.”
At the funeral, members of the kibbutz read a deeply emotional farewell: “Zalman, it is unbearably painful to think of the humiliating, cruel and unimaginable end that you did not deserve. But now you return to the soil of Nir Oz that you loved, and that loved you back for so many good years. Maybe there’s a small comfort in knowing that you return to the earth that was a wise and kind mother to you, and that wheat will grow there again.”
The mourners also read the lyrics of “Mother Earth,” written by songwriter Yankele Rotblit.
Zalmanowicz’s body was returned to Israel on Tuesday, while the remains of 13 other hostages are still held in Gaza. “We will stand with their families until the last hostage is home,” his son, Boaz Zalmanowicz, pledged just hours after his father’s return.
Two months after the war began, Nir Oz announced that Arie, who had been abducted to Gaza, had been murdered. The IDF believes he was killed in captivity on November 17, 2023.
Arie Zalmanowicz was born in Haifa and left his parents’ home at a young age to establish Nir Oz with his Nahal group. He was widowed in 1997 after the death of his wife, Ruth, and was the father of two sons and grandfather of five.
After more than 10 months of war, his family released footage of his abduction, showing him beaten and being taken away on a motorcycle. Farhan Qadi, a hostage who was rescued from Hamas captivity, testified that he saw Zalmanowicz die beside him after being denied the medication and medical care he needed.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: “All his life, Arie was a man of the land, devoted to agriculture and field crops, specializing in wheat cultivation under the harsh conditions of the Negev. He was a learned man with deep knowledge of history and the land of Israel, tough and humble, who never asked for anything for himself. During every round of fighting, he refused to leave his home.”
About six weeks ago, Boaz revealed that the family had been shown an additional video recorded by Hamas on October 7, apparently shortly after his father arrived in Gaza.
“The footage was very close-up, every detail visible — the bandage on his head covering the wound from the blow he suffered, the blood dripping onto his beard, his terrified eyes staring in horror, and his frail hands clinging to the back of the wicked man sitting in front of him. Clinging as if he had no other savior,” Boaz said. “And it wasn’t ‘as if.’ My father was abandoned on the morning of October 7 and agonized for 40 days in terrible suffering. The Israeli government, which prefers land over people and vengeance over compassion, did not save him.”