Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann and October 7 attack survivor Yoni Diller sat down for a conversation on surviving the tragic events they underwent in a viral social media video uploaded by pro-Israel influencer, Zach Sage Fox on his Instagram account on Monday.
"If you want to ask any survivor, 'How come you're alive today?' Everyone will only use one word: Luck," Steigmann said. He added that his luck derived from never being separated from his parents, and they hid in the former Soviet Union, where they met a German woman who agreed to hide them.
Steigmann then asked Diller how he survived the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, where the younger man replied that he only knew it was an attack when he saw a girl, Shani, who was wounded from gunfire. Diller described that she had hidden in an ambulance with 18 others until she was killed with most of the people in the vehicle after a Hamas terrorist fired an RPG at it.
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Diller said that he and his friends walked in the desert for about five hours with no food or water in order to flee the attack.
Having nightmares afterwards
Both survivors in the video said in their conversations that they have nightmares from their respective events, with Diller noting that he still vividly thinks of Shani.
Steigmann added that "it will be up to the next generations to prevent future tragedies.
"As a Holocaust survivor, I never thought I would see what I'm seeing today. Not only in the United States but worldwide." Referring to anti-Israel college students, he said that they will grow up to be "educated idiots."
He also noted his first time arriving in Israel after the Holocaust and seeing a Jewish policeman, which made him "realize he was home." He then added his belief that there will one day be peace in the Middle East.
"I'm an optimist. I will die an optimist.
"We represent two different generations, but we have a lot in common," he added.