The full Rom Braslavski interview!
Video with AI added English subtitles by @JoeTruzman
Text transcription of selected parts by @lelemSLP
"It’s important to me that people know what I went through — that people understand what suffering really is. I came back from a meeting with the devil. The whole world must understand and know, even a tiny bit, what a nightmare means.
Mentally, I can’t leave the hospital. I need this bubble. Everyone protects me, asks about me, worries about me… I have this bed, I feel comfortable there. I’m terrified to go out into the world - that I’ll lose my mind, that I’ll fall apart.
For two years I didn’t communicate; I forgot how to communicate. I also have physical rehabilitation. It’s hard for me to shower, to stand, to walk. I feel broken. I’m very shut down. Even when I do the little I can, I do it without desire. My mind is shut down, my spirit is shut down, my body is shut down. I think I have a very long road ahead of me.
They took me into the apartment. They tied me to the wardrobe, one hand inside the closet, and one leg to the far end of it. And that’s how I was, 24/7.
After 10 days - I was starving. Listen, I was starving. I decided that if I reached 21 days, I'll kill myself.
And I said: I don’t care anymore, I’ll do whatever it takes to get food. I had a friend who once taught me how to get out of handcuffs. I managed to free myself and started moving my body. I was terrified, but I had learned how to free myself.
I searched the kitchen for something to eat, but there was nothing. So I decided to make some pasta. I turned on the gas, but then the gas stopped working.
So I decided to make a fire. I took some books, went to the bathroom, and started burning them.
The smoke started spreading outside the house, and then Gazans saw it and came into the house.
I threw myself under the bed and covered myself with a blanket so they wouldn’t see me. But they came in.
They pulled me out from under the bed and beat me brutally. It was so bad I could barely walk or stand for maybe two weeks afterward. They beat me for a full hour - punches, kicks to the face, one of them grabbed a wooden pole and was beating me on the head... A real beating to death.
But it was only the beginning, then everything became much worse.
Gazans started getting loads of food and meat - restaurant-style dishes they’d open right there. And they were thrilled with their food, so happy, so pleased. They bragged about buying clothes, shoes.
And me - my life didn’t change at all. Same thing, no shower, no food. I kept thinking, what bastards! They’re getting piles of food, why are they leaving me hungry?
One of the terrorists shows me, ‘This is a kilo of flour for 4 shekels.’ I say to him, ‘Okay, give me some!’ And he says, ‘No, no, no — not for you. This is for us. You sit quietly.’
I could smell the meat, I could smell the coffee. I remember the smell of their tea, it had this sweet aroma, they really knew how to make tea. And they had this rice with milk, I could smell it, and my stomach just turned over.
He (the captor) says to me: ‘Listen, if you convert to Islam, we’ll bring you lots of food, you’ll live with us.’ And I told him, ‘I was born a Jew, I’ll die a Jew.’ That's when it got much worse.
He came with a note and said, ‘It says here to blindfold you. These are orders from above’
He tied the blindfold over my eyes. Made sure I couldn’t see even a drop of light: tied one shirt around my eyes, and another shirt over it.
Now, my bathroom breaks were only three times a day: 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. It was a nightmare. I had to hold my urine for hours. He also cut down my drinking water to half a liter a day.
A week passed — and I was still blindfolded.
After a week, he said, ‘There’s another letter. It says to block your ears.’
Video with AI added English subtitles by @JoeTruzman
Text transcription of selected parts by @lelemSLP
"It’s important to me that people know what I went through — that people understand what suffering really is. I came back from a meeting with the devil. The whole world must understand and know, even a tiny bit, what a nightmare means.
Mentally, I can’t leave the hospital. I need this bubble. Everyone protects me, asks about me, worries about me… I have this bed, I feel comfortable there. I’m terrified to go out into the world - that I’ll lose my mind, that I’ll fall apart.
For two years I didn’t communicate; I forgot how to communicate. I also have physical rehabilitation. It’s hard for me to shower, to stand, to walk. I feel broken. I’m very shut down. Even when I do the little I can, I do it without desire. My mind is shut down, my spirit is shut down, my body is shut down. I think I have a very long road ahead of me.
They took me into the apartment. They tied me to the wardrobe, one hand inside the closet, and one leg to the far end of it. And that’s how I was, 24/7.
After 10 days - I was starving. Listen, I was starving. I decided that if I reached 21 days, I'll kill myself.
And I said: I don’t care anymore, I’ll do whatever it takes to get food. I had a friend who once taught me how to get out of handcuffs. I managed to free myself and started moving my body. I was terrified, but I had learned how to free myself.
I searched the kitchen for something to eat, but there was nothing. So I decided to make some pasta. I turned on the gas, but then the gas stopped working.
So I decided to make a fire. I took some books, went to the bathroom, and started burning them.
The smoke started spreading outside the house, and then Gazans saw it and came into the house.
I threw myself under the bed and covered myself with a blanket so they wouldn’t see me. But they came in.
They pulled me out from under the bed and beat me brutally. It was so bad I could barely walk or stand for maybe two weeks afterward. They beat me for a full hour - punches, kicks to the face, one of them grabbed a wooden pole and was beating me on the head... A real beating to death.
But it was only the beginning, then everything became much worse.
Gazans started getting loads of food and meat - restaurant-style dishes they’d open right there. And they were thrilled with their food, so happy, so pleased. They bragged about buying clothes, shoes.
And me - my life didn’t change at all. Same thing, no shower, no food. I kept thinking, what bastards! They’re getting piles of food, why are they leaving me hungry?
One of the terrorists shows me, ‘This is a kilo of flour for 4 shekels.’ I say to him, ‘Okay, give me some!’ And he says, ‘No, no, no — not for you. This is for us. You sit quietly.’
I could smell the meat, I could smell the coffee. I remember the smell of their tea, it had this sweet aroma, they really knew how to make tea. And they had this rice with milk, I could smell it, and my stomach just turned over.
He (the captor) says to me: ‘Listen, if you convert to Islam, we’ll bring you lots of food, you’ll live with us.’ And I told him, ‘I was born a Jew, I’ll die a Jew.’ That's when it got much worse.
He came with a note and said, ‘It says here to blindfold you. These are orders from above’
He tied the blindfold over my eyes. Made sure I couldn’t see even a drop of light: tied one shirt around my eyes, and another shirt over it.
Now, my bathroom breaks were only three times a day: 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. It was a nightmare. I had to hold my urine for hours. He also cut down my drinking water to half a liter a day.
A week passed — and I was still blindfolded.
After a week, he said, ‘There’s another letter. It says to block your ears.’
He came in holding two stones. He took off the blindfold just to show them to me. He was happy, grinning. He said, ‘Look what I brought you. I found these outside, looked for them just for you.’
He pushed one stone into my ear. It didn’t fit well. So he took a nail and started forcing it in with the nail, deeper and deeper.
I screamed, but he didn’t care. He kept pushing it in, deeper. Then he moved to the other ear and did the same thing.
He left the stones inside, the pain was coming from deep inside. Then he retied the blindfold even tighter, wrapping it on top again. I still have a hematoma here to this day.
He tied it as tight as he could. It pressed on me so hard that blood stopped flowing to my head. I could feel pounding in my skull, my brain was throbbing, I could feel my own blood, the pain!
I’ve never in my life felt pain like that. It’s pain I can’t even describe.
And no food. Not even a pita a day anymore.
And that went on for three weeks: blindfolded, no bathroom, hungry, in agony, with stones in my head!
Then he came to me again and said, ‘There’s another letter — it says to tie you up and torture you.’
At night they came with zip-ties, tied my legs, arms, put tape on my mouth. And they had a whip that they beat donkeys with. It's a pain that is not normal, like being lashed with iron whip. But first they only beat me a bit.
Then they woke me up at 2 a.m. and they gave me the beating of my life. They put me against the wall, one grabs my head and the other - punches, punches. I'm trying to lose consciousness and fall. But they didn't let me lose consciousness either. They held me.
Then they beat me with the donkey whip and each lash is a burn, and it's scars, scars that I have till today. One beat me with the whip and two others beat me with poles and hands. OK, I thought, it's over. I was shattered, bleeding. Every bone in my body hurt. I was happy that it's over. I went to sleep.
Then 6 in the morning they came with radios. Turned on Arabic music, yelling : "Allahu Akbar, what fun, what a great day!" And again the same beating - punches, whip. That's the second round. And then the third round. And then again at noon.
And then they put on music and say - move your arms, dance and laugh. My bones were hurting, it hurt to move my arms. And then another beating, more hits. And I realized I entered a loop that I doubt I'll make out of it alive.
They beat me with everything they had. They broke a radio on my head. And a really big stick that they broke on me. The donkey whip got all bent. It's iron. They bent the iron from how much they beat me. It really hurt. They beat the soles of my feet, maybe 40 whips. My entire leg was swollen, red and blue. And he tells me - stand up. Stand on the foot. And it felt like they are burning me.
The abuse went on like that. Day after day, hour after hour. And it's only getting more severe. About 7 rounds every day, every round about 20 minutes.
There was a guy, they said it's new commander, his weight was at least 100 kg. And I weighted hardly 50 kg at that point. And he was just standing on my neck. Jumping, jumping on my neck. Standing on my head, jumping on my back. And I feel that it's breaking."
In the video where I cried - I'm hungry, give me food - I'm actually crying for help, they are abusing me. I can't watch that video. Between the takes they beat me and told me - talk about Netanyahu, trash him.
That cry in the video - it's from physical pain. I told them - the falafel ball you give me each day - take it. Let me die from hunger, just leave me alone.
I told him something that he beat me for it, but it was important for me to say. I said: 'Maybe you think it's only you and me here and no one sees us. But God sees me, how I'm being tortured by you, and you - how you torture me. This won't go unpunished. God will tear you apart.'
He pushed one stone into my ear. It didn’t fit well. So he took a nail and started forcing it in with the nail, deeper and deeper.
I screamed, but he didn’t care. He kept pushing it in, deeper. Then he moved to the other ear and did the same thing.
He left the stones inside, the pain was coming from deep inside. Then he retied the blindfold even tighter, wrapping it on top again. I still have a hematoma here to this day.
He tied it as tight as he could. It pressed on me so hard that blood stopped flowing to my head. I could feel pounding in my skull, my brain was throbbing, I could feel my own blood, the pain!
I’ve never in my life felt pain like that. It’s pain I can’t even describe.
And no food. Not even a pita a day anymore.
And that went on for three weeks: blindfolded, no bathroom, hungry, in agony, with stones in my head!
Then he came to me again and said, ‘There’s another letter — it says to tie you up and torture you.’
At night they came with zip-ties, tied my legs, arms, put tape on my mouth. And they had a whip that they beat donkeys with. It's a pain that is not normal, like being lashed with iron whip. But first they only beat me a bit.
Then they woke me up at 2 a.m. and they gave me the beating of my life. They put me against the wall, one grabs my head and the other - punches, punches. I'm trying to lose consciousness and fall. But they didn't let me lose consciousness either. They held me.
Then they beat me with the donkey whip and each lash is a burn, and it's scars, scars that I have till today. One beat me with the whip and two others beat me with poles and hands. OK, I thought, it's over. I was shattered, bleeding. Every bone in my body hurt. I was happy that it's over. I went to sleep.
Then 6 in the morning they came with radios. Turned on Arabic music, yelling : "Allahu Akbar, what fun, what a great day!" And again the same beating - punches, whip. That's the second round. And then the third round. And then again at noon.
And then they put on music and say - move your arms, dance and laugh. My bones were hurting, it hurt to move my arms. And then another beating, more hits. And I realized I entered a loop that I doubt I'll make out of it alive.
They beat me with everything they had. They broke a radio on my head. And a really big stick that they broke on me. The donkey whip got all bent. It's iron. They bent the iron from how much they beat me. It really hurt. They beat the soles of my feet, maybe 40 whips. My entire leg was swollen, red and blue. And he tells me - stand up. Stand on the foot. And it felt like they are burning me.
The abuse went on like that. Day after day, hour after hour. And it's only getting more severe. About 7 rounds every day, every round about 20 minutes.
There was a guy, they said it's new commander, his weight was at least 100 kg. And I weighted hardly 50 kg at that point. And he was just standing on my neck. Jumping, jumping on my neck. Standing on my head, jumping on my back. And I feel that it's breaking."
In the video where I cried - I'm hungry, give me food - I'm actually crying for help, they are abusing me. I can't watch that video. Between the takes they beat me and told me - talk about Netanyahu, trash him.
That cry in the video - it's from physical pain. I told them - the falafel ball you give me each day - take it. Let me die from hunger, just leave me alone.
I told him something that he beat me for it, but it was important for me to say. I said: 'Maybe you think it's only you and me here and no one sees us. But God sees me, how I'm being tortured by you, and you - how you torture me. This won't go unpunished. God will tear you apart.'
He got angry, put the cover back on my eyes and put the stones back in my ears, called his brother Muhammad and the round of beatings started again.
They tortured me for only one reason - because I'm a Jew.
And then they decided to make it even worse.
Then they decided to undress me. They took off all my clothes. They tied me from the ... And I'm torn, dying, without food. Praying to God - help me, get me out of this! And they again beat me with the whip.
I was already mentally broken, I just couldn't take it anymore. The torture was going on for 3 months already. Day after day, and my body was collapsing. And I have no food, I don't eat. And I couldn't find salvation.
It was a period... if until then I was holding on, that was the time when my spirit broke. I stopped praying, I couldn't find the strength to pray.
It was sexual violence and the main goal was to humiliate. To crush my dignity. And that's exactly what he did.
The interviewer: "They did more sexual violence?"
Rom: "Yes. It's hard for me to talk about that particular part, I don't like to talk about it. It was horrible. It was something that even Nazis didn't do. Even during Hitler's time they didn't do such things. I just prayed to God that it'd stop.
After every day I said to myself - I finished another day in hell. Tomorrow I'll wake up to another day in hell."
"I said to my dad - why, why did I have to go through all this."
Rom's dad: "He was a happy kid, only 19 years old, why did he have to go through it..."
Interviewer: "What kind of person you were before?"
Rom: "I was the happiest person in the world. I worked, I went to the parties, I was with friends all day, all the day videos, laughs with dad... We drove all over Israel. There wasn't a place we didn't go.
My dream is to go back. To go back in time. Back to October 6th. That's my dream. That none of this would have happened."
Interview by @HazinorX
They tortured me for only one reason - because I'm a Jew.
And then they decided to make it even worse.
Then they decided to undress me. They took off all my clothes. They tied me from the ... And I'm torn, dying, without food. Praying to God - help me, get me out of this! And they again beat me with the whip.
I was already mentally broken, I just couldn't take it anymore. The torture was going on for 3 months already. Day after day, and my body was collapsing. And I have no food, I don't eat. And I couldn't find salvation.
It was a period... if until then I was holding on, that was the time when my spirit broke. I stopped praying, I couldn't find the strength to pray.
It was sexual violence and the main goal was to humiliate. To crush my dignity. And that's exactly what he did.
The interviewer: "They did more sexual violence?"
Rom: "Yes. It's hard for me to talk about that particular part, I don't like to talk about it. It was horrible. It was something that even Nazis didn't do. Even during Hitler's time they didn't do such things. I just prayed to God that it'd stop.
After every day I said to myself - I finished another day in hell. Tomorrow I'll wake up to another day in hell."
"I said to my dad - why, why did I have to go through all this."
Rom's dad: "He was a happy kid, only 19 years old, why did he have to go through it..."
Interviewer: "What kind of person you were before?"
Rom: "I was the happiest person in the world. I worked, I went to the parties, I was with friends all day, all the day videos, laughs with dad... We drove all over Israel. There wasn't a place we didn't go.
My dream is to go back. To go back in time. Back to October 6th. That's my dream. That none of this would have happened."
Interview by @HazinorX
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