journey's end act 3 questions

R.C Sherriff's "Journey's End" - Act 3 Quiz

This quiz is based on the events on the final act of "journey's end". please check out my other "journey's end" quizzes; i hope you have fun.

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Journey's Finish

By r.c. sherriff, journey's terminate summary also analysis of work three, scene iodin.

Aforementioned third act begins on the following day, just earlier sunset. Stanhope is anxiously schrittmacher the hut and checking his watch. The colonel enters both they discuss wie the Germans live expecting the rapid, and wie they should alter you plans to making a secret attack further upside the line. But the colonel states the generals said the present plan has to stay. The report has to exist back at headquarters by sevens; if they wait until dark it’ll remain too late. Stanhope says that they can’t have it later because of dinner. Stanhope says that with only one cavity blown in the defenses, the Germans must need one dozen machine guns trained on the entering, waiting for the plundering. The lieutenant says he can’t disobey orders, and it’s no use arguing about it now. Journey's End Scenery Summary: Act 1. • Conversation between ...

Osbone plus Raleigh come. The colonel encourages them to grab the first German they notice, press say it may average one difference in winning the whole war. If they’re successful, he’ll recommend them for the M.C. (Military Cross). On his way out, he reminds them go non convey some working other personal effects. Osbourn asks Stanhope to seize his getting ring additionally watch to weiterleiten to his bride should anything happen.

Alone in the tent, Raleigh and Osborne drink coffee or smoke while discussing the plan: Osborne predicts it will be over in three minutes. Osborne suggests they forget all about the raid for to sex minutes they have to wait. Him tries to talk about favorite breakfast drinks but Raleigh keeps asking questions about aforementioned Germans. After passing the zeite reminiscing about forest walks, they go going the steps.

Through the hole in this dugout, the audience hears the crush of weed bombs, the agitate is machine-gun fire, or then the sound of bombshells. Stanhope and of colonel enter the hut. Stanhope looks lethal bland. Rather than stay for the questioning, he goes up again, proverb he’d rather talk to the men.

And sergeant-major bearing down a bare-headed German soldier crying baleful. In poor German, and colonel questions the youngsters soldier, who pleads for mercy. The sergeant-major finds the boy’s pocketbook and his playbook and gives them to and colonel. The sergeant-major takes the German away. Journey's End Summary | SuperSummary

Stanhope entries and the officer are gladly to tell Stanhope that since of playbook he can see the boy’s regiment came into the cable last night; the brigadier will remain glad. The colonel ask if the raiding party is safely back and Standing says only foursome men and Raleigh refunded. Hope says Osborne died by hand-grenade while he was waiting available Raleigh; the six men likely died at machine-gun bullets. To colonel struggles by something at say as Stanhope stares at him. Journey's End Scene Summary: Act 1. •. Conversation between Osborne and Hardy regarding the handing pass of this den. •. Hardy mentions Stanhope and his ...

Rural enters the dugout with bleeding hands. The Colonel recommends him for a job well done yet Raleigh is too shocked to respond. The colonel gets me to sit on to boundary of Osborne’s single. He leaves. Stanhope peers toward Osborne’s watch and ringing on the key. He leave, but stops on of steps and asks in adenine dead voice if Raleigh has to sit on Osborne’s bed. The curtain falls.

On the day concerning the raid, Stanhope is frustrated at the colonel and the generals after they only managed to blow an puncture in the German protection in one spot. All does the Germans will be waiting with guns trained on of unique entrance. Journey’s End Summaries

In addition, the generals are asked the raid to happen during the view dangerous daylight hours—simply because they don’t require an discussion von the raid’s finding to interfere with their dinner. But the rigid hierarchy of the military means that Stanhope must follow that orders of men who are out-of-touch and unconcerned with the lives of the soldiers; Stanghope must send those soldiers to almost-certain death. LitCharts

An colonel’s exchange with Raleigh and Osborne touches on the theme from valor: in contrast to an reluctant manner in which he and Stanhope discuss the raid, until Raleigh and Osborne he feigns pride and entices the personen by suggesting that they could receive the Military Cross honor for a successful mission. In contrast to his convinced announcement, the colonel then reminds the men to not carry some the Germans could use contrary the British should they be captured.

After who raid, Stanhope’s pale figure augur that something terrible has happened. The tension is not free up Stanhope exhibits to the pleased colonel ensure Osborne died during and raid. The measly documents the colonel took von the captured German are cipher in comparison until the seven men who died over an mission, which Rig had known would result within casualties.

In an ironic reversal the of audience’s expectations, the experienced Osborne died while the greenhorn Raleigh survived. But Raleigh returns until the dugout obvious traumatized. Though moments earlier he went into which raid fresh-faced also excited by which prospect out being a hero, he returns horrified by the gruesome reality of war. However, the final moment to the scene suggests that Stanhope is not sympathetic in Raleigh: rather than console him, Stanhope invite angrily that Raleigh does sit in Osborne’s bed. That tense exchange implies that Stanhope may blame Raleigh in Osborne’s death, as Osborne where hold for Rally to go when and granite killed hello. Journey's End - Wikipedia

Journey’s End Questions and Answers

The Answer and Answer section required Journey’s End can adenine great resource to ask questions, seek returns, and discuss the novel.

How wants Sherriff create tension are the duologue between Osborne additionally Stanhope at an finish of Conduct 1?

Stanhope meets the revelation that Raleigh have joined his company with unease. The presence of Rural introduces a new conflict to the play that involves the themes of help, alcoholism, and PTSD (post-traumatic strain disorder). Stanhope knows... Journey’s End Act Two, Scene I Summary and Analysis

What are Trotter's quotes showing his emotions?

From which text:

Trotter (throwing his spoon use a clang into to plate) : Oh, I say, but dam!

Trotter : Well, boys ! ’Ere ours are for six epoch again. Six bloomin’ permanent days. {He makes a calculation on which table.)

Trotter comes down the steps,...

How Sherriff presents the true horrors of was through the symbol from Raleigh?

The difference amidst the your of combat and its truth, horrific or demoralizing characteristics is one are this play's major themes. Aforementioned theme remains most overtly revealed through Raleigh's chart arc. When Raleigh first arrives, his boyish excitement at...

Study Guide for Journey’s Terminate

Journey's End study guide contains a history of R. C. Sherriff, literature essays, quiz issues, major themes, characters, and a completely summary and analysis. Journey’s End Act Three, Scene I Summary and Analysis

• About Journey's End
• Journey's End Summary
• Character List

Essays for Journey’s Terminate

Journey's End articles will academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students additionally making critical analysis of one play Journey's End for R. C. Sherriff.

• An Rendering of Wage in Journey’s End and Exposure
• Whereby does Sherriff present Heroism are Journey's End?
• How Stanhope Generates Conflicting are the Opening Act
• Comparison by the mental suffering creates from battle
• Human Virtue in one World of Human Waste

Wikipedia Entries for Journey’s End

• Introduction
• Plot summary
• Productions (professional)
• Productions (amateur)
• Adaptations

Claire's Notes

Online english tutorials, for gcse and beyond, please subscribe to my channel to stay up to date with  my new video releases. it costs nothing but your support means everything.  , journey's end, act 1 detailed commentary and analysis (part 1).

More videos coming soon!

In this video, I discuss the first half of the Act from the rise of the curtain as far as Mason's second entrance (page 16 in the Heinemann Educational Books edition)

Act 1 Detailed commentary and analysis (Part 2)

In this video, I discuss the second half of the Act from Mason's second entrance (page 16 in the Heinemann Educational Books edition) as far as the fall of the curtain at the end of Act 1.

Act 2, scene 1 Detailed commentary and analysis

Act 2, scene 2, part 1: detailed commentary and analysis, act 2, scene 2, part 2: detailed commentary and analysis, act 3, scene 1: detailed commentary and analysis, act 3, scene 3: detailed commentary and analysis, act 3, scene 2: detailed commentary and analysis.

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Journey's End

By r.c. sherriff, journey's end themes, the true nature of war.

The difference between the fantasy of war and its true, horrific and demoralizing nature is one of the play's major themes. The theme is most overtly revealed through Raleigh's character arc. When Raleigh first arrives, his boyish excitement at joining the war is shaken when he notices the quiet and the general lack of action, which undermines his expectations of war being chaotic, frantic and filled with triumphant fighting. Even when faced with Stanhope's PTSD and alcoholism, Raleigh maintains his fantasy of war, choosing to portray Stanhope as a hero in his letter to his sister. Raleigh's faith in the war is only shaken after he participates in a raid that leaves Osborne dead. Raleigh finally moves from bearing witness to the horrors of war to being a casualty himself, becoming paralyzed and then dying from a shrapnel fragment. As a final image to cement the true nature of war, Raleigh is entombed in the dugout.

Shell Shock and PTSD

Though the term "post-traumatic stress disorder" would not have been used at the time, people used the term "shell shock" to refer to something similar, and either way the cumulative and persistent effects of trauma is one of Journey's End major themes. The theme is expressed predominantly through Stanhope, who suffers what soldiers refer to as "nerve strain" as a result of staying on duty and refusing to take leave. To combat his dissociative episodes, Stanhope drinks. However, the drinking appears to exacerbate his quick fluctuations in temper, which is another symptom of trauma-induced stress. Ultimately, Stanhope prefers not to acknowledge his deterioration, as showing weakness would undermine his authority as commander and risk demoralizing his men.

As a means of soothing his addled nerves, Stanhope drinks heavily throughout the play. To Osborne and eventually to Raleigh, Stanhope admits that he drinks in order to be able to walk out on the front line without succumbing to madness. Stanhope often forcefully offers other officers whiskey so that he is not drinking alone, as though he can conceal his habitual use by making drinking a social convention. Stanhope, while aware that he depends on drinking, seems to see it as a necessary evil; when Hibbert wants to leave, saying he is unable to go into the trench again, Stanhope manages to reassure Hibbert by saying he feels the same and offering the solution of drinking together. In this way, alcoholism allows Stanhope to deny the psychological harms of trench warfare.

The True Nature of Heroism

Throughout the play, Sheriff explores the theme of heroism, particularly through the figure of Stanhope. Through dialogue between Osborne and Hardy, the audience learns that Stanhope is a natural-born leader who has earned Osborne's loyalty. However, this heroic image is juxtaposed with Hardy's negative views of Stanhope, who he says "drinks like a fish." In this way, Stanhope is an example of how a soldier's need to maintain the illusion of heroism can cause him to deny the immense mental and physical strain of battle, as admitting his deterioration would mean leaving the war, therefore threatening his status as a hero in whom people put their faith.

Throughout the play, characters exhibit signs of emotional repression. In private conversations, Osborne interrupts Stanhope as he tries to discuss the dissociative episodes he has when faced with the battlefield. In a more public way, Trotter adopts a blithe attitude toward war by casually making grim jokes about death. Ultimately, Journey's End shows repression to be a necessary mechanism for maintaining the outward appearance of confidence and sanity in extremely trying circumstances.

Hierarchy and Class

The hierarchical class structure of early-twentieth-century Britain is replicated in the soldiers' stratified positions of authority. Even though Stanhope is half Osborne's age and much less experienced, Osborne serves under Stanhope. This is because of Stanhope's privileged class position; since he was privately educated (i.e., went to what's called a "public" school in Britain) he was given him entrance to the Officers' Training Corps. In the play, class positions are also expressed through the way characters speak: Private Mason 's tendency to drop Hs suggests a cockney accent, which at the time had connotations of being lower-class and lacking education. Though the play does not directly address the issue, World War I fundamentally reshaped British society, resulting in women receiving the vote and improved living conditions for working-class Britons.

The Miserable Conditions of Trench Warfare

Throughout the play, Sherriff focuses on exposing the audience to the truly miserable conditions of life in World War I trenches. Early in Act 1, Hardy jokes about the two million rats that you have to worry about nibbling soldiers' toes and bombs causing dirt to shake loose and land in the tea. The casual way Hardy speaks of these things suggests how the soldiers get accustomed to life in the trenches, but the effects are insidious, exhibited in Stanhope's PTSD and Hibbert's desire to flee. By the end of the play, the normalized environment of the earth-walled dugout entombs Raleigh's body, an image that implies that the soldiers have been living in a pre-dug grave.

Journey’s End Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Journey’s End is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How does Sherriff create tension in the duologue between Osborne and Stanhope at the end of Act 1?

Stanhope meets the revelation that Raleigh has joined his company with unease. The presence of Raleigh introduces a new conflict to the play that involves the themes of heroism, alcoholism, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Stanhope knows...

What are Trotter's quotes showing his emotions?

From the text:

Trotter (throwing his spoon with a clatter into the plate) : Oh, I say, but dam!

Trotter : Well, boys ! ’Ere we are for six days again. Six bloomin’ eternal days. {He makes a calculation on the table.)

Trotter comes down the steps,...

How Sherriff presents the true horrors of was through the character of Raleigh?

The difference between the fantasy of war and its true, horrific and demoralizing nature is one of the play's major themes. The theme is most overtly revealed through Raleigh's character arc. When Raleigh first arrives, his boyish excitement at...

Study Guide for Journey’s End

Journey's End study guide contains a biography of R. C. Sherriff, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Journey's End
• Journey's End Summary
• Character List

Essays for Journey’s End

Journey's End essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff.

• The Depiction of War in Journey’s End and Exposure
• How does Sherriff present Heroism in Journey's End?
• How Stanhope Generates Conflict in the Opening Act
• Comparison of the mental suffering created by war
• Human Decency in a World of Human Waste

Wikipedia Entries for Journey’s End

• Introduction
• Plot summary
• Productions (professional)
• Productions (amateur)
• Adaptations

Journey’s End

R.c. sherriff, everything you need for every book you read..

Friendship and Human Interaction

In Journey’s End , R.C. Sherriff showcases the effect of war on personal relationships. In particular, he focuses on how wartime power dynamics and interpersonal attitudes alter the ways people interact with one another. This is most recognizable in Stanhope and Raleigh ’s friendship, which suffers because of the various stressors of military life. For the majority of his young adult life, Raleigh has looked up to Stanhope, a classmate who eventually goes off to…

Anticipation, Expectations, and Uncertainty

Perhaps the most challenging thing the soldiers in Journey’s End face isn’t violence itself, but the threat of violence. Although their trenches are situated only 70 yards from their German enemies, the majority of their time is spent in nervous anticipation. In the long hours—and even days—between bursts of combat, the soldiers are left to grapple with their fear, which grows in intensity when the battlefront is calm. Indeed, most of Journey’s End focuses on…

Fear and Coping

All of the soldiers in Journey’s End find different ways to cope with their fear. In fact, their responses to fear can be broken into three categories: acceptance, denial, and evasion. In general, the most emotionally stable characters are those who accept their situation. These are people like Osborne and Raleigh , who acknowledge their own fear and unfortunate circumstances, but still bravely carry out their soldierly duties. Stanhope , on the other hand, tries…

Repetition, Futility, and Perspective

In Journey’s End , Sherriff presents to the audience the cyclical nature of life during war. The soldiers in the trenches try to organize their lives around eating meals, drinking tea, sleeping, and taking orders, which ultimately adds a repetitious quality to their collective existence. Indeed, they are always either standing watch or waiting to stand watch. What’s more, the kind of violence that characterizes trench warfare is itself repetitive: the attacks come intermittently, such…

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Hamas Took Her, and Still Has Her Husband

The story of one family at the center of the war in gaza..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

I can’t remember the word, but do you know the kind of fungi connection between trees in the forest? How do you call it?

Mycelium. We are just — I just somehow feel that we are connected by this kind of infinite web of mycelium. We are so bound together. And I don’t think we really realized that until all this happened.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It’s quite hard to explain, to me in a sense, because some people would say, oh, I’m so hoping your father will come, and then everything will be OK. And it’s very hard to explain that really this group of people decided to bring us up together, shared all their resources over 75 years, grow into each other, fight endlessly with each other, love and hate each other but somehow stay together. And their children will then meet and marry and make grandchildren.

And there’s so many levels of connection. And I’m sitting here in the room, and I see their faces, some of them. And we are incredibly — it’s hard to explain how much these people are missing from our kind of forest ground. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise, and this is “The Daily.”

It’s been nearly six months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and took more than 200 people into Gaza. One of the hardest hit places was a village called Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza. One quarter of its residents were either killed or taken hostage.

Yocheved Lifshitz was one of those hostages and so was her husband, Oded Lifshitz. Yocheved was eventually released. Oded was not.

Today, the story of one family at the center of the war.

It’s Friday, March 29.

OK, here we go. OK.

Good morning, Yocheved. Good morning, Sharone.

Good morning.

Yocheved, could you identify yourself for me, please? Tell me your name, your age and where you’re from.

[SPEAKING HEBREW]

OK, I’ll translate. My name is Yocheved Lifshitz. I’m 85 years old. I was born in 1938. When I was 18, I arrived at kibbutz Nir Oz. I came alone with a group of people who decided to come and form and build a community on a very sandy territory, which was close to the Gaza Strip.

And my name is Sharone Lifschitz. I am 52 years old. I was raised in kibbutz Nir Oz by my mom and dad. So I lived there until I was 20. And I live for the last 30-something years in London.

And, Sharone, what do you have next to you?

Next to me I have a poster of my dad in both English and Hebrew. And it says, “Oded Lifshitz, 83.” And below that it says, “Bring him home now.” And it’s a photo where I always feel the love because he is looking at me. And there’s a lot of love in it in his eyes.

And why did you want to bring him here today, Sharone?

Because he should be talking himself. He should be here and able to tell his story. And instead, I’m doing it on his behalf. It should have been a story of my mom and dad sitting here and telling their story.

The story of Oded and Yocheved began before they ever met in Poland in the 1930s. Anti-Semitism was surging in Europe, and their families decided to flee to Palestine — Yocheved’s in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, and Oded’s a year later. Yocheved remembers a time near the end of the war, when her father received news from back home in Poland. He was deeply religious, a cantor in a synagogue. And he gathered his family around him to share what he’d learned.

And he said, we don’t have a family anymore. They’ve all been murdered. And he explained to us why there is no God. If there was a God, he would have protected my family. And this means that there is no God.

And suddenly, we stopped going to synagogue. We used to go every Saturday.

So it was a deep crisis for him. The shock and the trauma were very deep.

Abstention.

Abstention. Soviet Union? Yes. Yes. The United Kingdom? Abstained.

Yocheved’s father lived long enough to see a state establish for his children. The UN resolution of 1947 paved the way for a new country for Jews. And the next spring, Israel declared its independence. Yocheved remembers listening to the news on the radio with her parents.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has made its decision on Palestine.

We had a country. So now we’ll have somebody who’s protecting us. It’s a country for the people, to rebuild the people. This was the feeling we had.

In other words, if God could not protect you, this nation maybe could?

Yes. But the next day, it was already sad.

Israel was immediately forced to defend itself when its Arab neighbors attacked. Israel won that war. But its victory came at a great cost to the Palestinian Arabs living there. More than 700,000 either fled or were expelled from their homes. Many became refugees in Gaza in the south.

Suddenly, Yocheved and Oded saw themselves differently from their parents, not as minorities in someone else’s country, but as pioneers in a country of their own, ready to build it and defend it. They moved to the south, near the border line with Gaza. It was there, in a kibbutz, where they met for the first time.

The first time I met him, he was 16, and I was 17. And we didn’t really have this connection happening. But when we arrived at Nir Oz, that’s where some sort of a connection started to happen. And he was younger than I am by a year and a half. So at first I thought, he’s a kid. But for some reason, he insisted. Oded really insisted. And later, turned out he was right.

What was it about him that made you fall in love with him?

He was cute.

He was a cute kid. He was a cute boy.

What’s so funny?

He was a philosopher. He wrote a lot. He worked in agriculture. He was this cute boy. He was only 20, think about it.

And then I married him. And he brought two things with him. He brought a dog and he brought a cactus. And since then we’ve been growing a huge field of cacti for over 64 years.

What did it feel like to be starting a new life together in this new country? What was the feeling of that?

We were euphoric.

And what did you think you were building together?

We thought we were building a kibbutz. We were building a family. We were having babies. That was the vision. And we were thinking that we were building a socialist state, an equal state. And at first, it was a very isolated place. There were only two houses and shacks and a lot of sand. And little by little, we turned that place into a heaven.

Building the new state meant cultivating the land. Oded plowed the fields, planting potatoes and carrots, wheat and cotton. Yocheved was in charge of the turkeys and worked in the kitchen cooking meals for the kibbutz. They believed that the best way to live was communally. So they shared everything — money, food, even child-rearing.

After long days in the fields, Oded would venture outside the kibbutz to the boundary line with Gaza and drink beer with Brazilian peacekeepers from the UN and talk with Palestinians from the villages nearby. They talked about politics and life in Arabic, a language Oded spoke fluently. These were not just idle conversations. Oded knew that for Israel to succeed, it would have to figure out how to live side by side with its Arab neighbors.

He really did not believe in black and white, that somebody is the bad guy and somebody is the good guy, but there is a humanistic values that you can live in.

Sharone, what was your father like?

My father was a tall man and a skinny man. And he was —

he is — first of all, he is — he is a man who had very strong opinion and very well formed opinion. He read extensively. He thought deeply about matters. And he studied the piano. But as he said, was never that great or fast enough for classical. But he always played the piano.

[PIANO MUSIC]

He would play a lot of Israeli songs. He wound play Russian songs. He would play French chansons.

And he had this way of just moving from one song to the next, making it into a kind of pattern. And it was — it’s really the soundtrack of our life, my father playing the piano.

[PLAYING PIANO]:

[CONVERSATION IN HEBREW]:

[PLAYING PIANO]

So one side of him was the piano. Another side was he was a peace activist. He was not somebody who just had ideals about building bridges between nations. He was always on the left side of the political map, and he actioned it.

[NON-ENGLISH CHANTING]:

I remember growing up and going very regularly, almost weekly, to demonstrations. I will go regularly with my father on Saturday night to demonstrations in Tel Aviv. I will sit on his shoulders. He will be talking to all his activist friends. The smoke will rise from the cigarettes, and I will sit up there.

But somehow, we really grew up in that fight for peace.

Yocheved and Oded’s formal fight for peace began after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Israel had captured new territory, including the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza Strip. That brought more than a million Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Oded immediately began to speak against it. Israel already had its land inside borders that much of the world had agreed to. In his view, taking more was wrong. It was no longer about Jewish survival. So when Israeli authorities began quietly pushing Bedouin Arabs off their land in the Sinai Peninsula, Oded took up the cause.

He helped file a case in the Israeli courts to try to stop it. And he and Yocheved worked together to draw attention to what was going on. Yocheved was a photographer, so she took pictures showing destroyed buildings and bulldozed land. Oded then put her photographs on cardboard and drove around the country showing them to people everywhere.

They became part of a growing peace movement that was becoming a force helping shape Israeli politics. Israel eventually returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Whenever there is a movement towards reconciliation with our neighbors, it’s almost like your ability to live here, your life force, gets stronger. And in a way, you can think of the art of their activism as being a response to that.

And why did he and your mother take up that fight, the cause of the land? Why do you think that was what he fought for?

My father, he had a very developed sense of justice. And he always felt that had we returned those lands at that point, we could have reached long-term agreement at that point. Then we would have been in a very different space now. I know that in 2019, for example, he wrote a column, where he said that when the Palestinians of Gaza have nothing to lose, we lose big time. He believed that the way of living in this part of the world is to share the place, to reach agreement, to work with the other side towards agreements.

He was not somebody who just had ideals about building bridges between nations. Two weeks before he was taken hostage, he still drove Palestinians that are ill to reach hospital in Israel and in East Jerusalem. That was something that meant a lot to him. I think he really believed in shared humanity and in doing what you can.

Do you remember the last conversation you had with your father?

I don’t have a clear memory which one it was. It’s funny. A lot of things I forgot since. A lot of things have gone so blurred.

We actually didn’t have a last conversation. The last thing he said was, Yoche, there is a war. And he was shot in the hand, and he was taken out. And I was taken out. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. And what was done to us was done.

We’ll be right back.

Yocheved, the last thing Oded said was there’s a war. Tell me about what happened that day from the beginning.

That morning, there was very heavy shelling on Nir Oz. We could hear gunfire. And we looked outside, and Oded told me, there are a lot of terrorists outside. We didn’t even have time to get dressed. I was still wearing my nightgown. He was wearing very few clothes. I remember him trying to close the door to the safe room, but it didn’t work. He wasn’t successful in closing it.

And then five terrorists walked in. They shot him through the safe room door. He was bleeding from his arm. He said to me, Yoche, I’m injured. And then he fainted. He was dragged out on the floor. And I didn’t know if he was alive. I thought he was dead. After that, I was taken in my nightgown. I was led outside. I was placed on a small moped, and I was taken to Gaza.

And we were driving over a bumpy terrain that had been plowed. And it didn’t break my ribs, but it was very painful.

And I could see that the gate that surrounds the Gaza Strip was broken, and we were driving right through it.

And as we were heading in, I could see so many people they were yelling, “Yitbach al Yahud,” kill the Jews, slaughter the Jews. And people were hitting me with sticks. And though the drivers on the moped tried to protect me, it didn’t help.

What were you thinking at the time? What was in your mind?

I was thinking, I’m being taken; I’m being kidnapped. I didn’t know where to, but this decision I had in my head was that I’m going to take photographs in my mind and capture everything I’m seeing so that when I — or if and when I am released, I’ll have what to tell.

And when I came to a stop, we were in a village that’s near Nir Oz. It’s called Khirbet Khuza. We came in on the moped, but I was transferred into a private car from there. And I was threatened that my hand would be cut off unless I hand over my watch and my ring. And I didn’t have a choice, so I took my watch off, and I took my ring off, and I handed it to them.

Was it your wedding ring?

Yes, it was my wedding ring.

After that, they led me to a big hangar where the entrance to the tunnel was, and I started walking. And the entrance was at ground level, but as you walk, you’re walking down a slope. And you’re walking and walking about 40 meters deep underground, and the walls are damp, and the soil is damp. And at first, I was alone. I didn’t know that other people had been taken too. But then more hostages came, and we were walking together through the tunnels.

Many of whom were from kibbutz Nir Oz. These were our people. They were abducted but still alive. And we spoke quietly, and we spoke very little. But as we were walking, everybody started telling a story of what had happened to him. And that created a very painful picture.

There were appalling stories about murder. People had left behind a partner.

A friend arrived, who, about an hour or two hours before, had her husband murdered and he died in her hands.

It was a collection of broken up people brought together.

So you were piecing together the story of your community and what had happened from these snapshots of tragedies that you were looking at all around you as you were walking. What’s the photograph you’ll remember most from that day?

It would be a girl, a four-year-old girl. People kept telling her — walk, walk, walk. And we tried to calm her down. And her mom tried to carry her on her arms. It was the most difficult sight to see a child inside those tunnels.

What were you feeling at that moment, Yocheved?

Very difficult.

Where did they lead you — you and your community — from Nir Oz.

They led us to this chamber, a room, that they had prepared in advance. There were mattresses there. And that’s where we were told to sit.

I saw people sitting on the mattresses, bent down, their heads down between their hands. They were broken. But we hardly spoke. Everybody was inside their own world with themselves, closed inside his own personal shock.

Yocheved was without her glasses, her hearing aids, or even her shoes. She said she spent most days lying down on one of the mattresses that had been put out for the hostages. Sometimes her captors would let her and others walk up and down the tunnels to stretch their legs.

She said she was given a cucumber, spreading cheese, and a piece of pita bread every day to eat. They had a little bit of coffee in the morning and water all day long.

One day, a Hamas leader came to the room where she and others were being held. She said she believes it was Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, who is believed to be the architect of the October 7 attack. Two other hostages who were held with Yocheved also identified the man as Sinwar, and an Israeli military spokesman said he found the accounts reliable.

He came accompanied with a group of other men. He just made rounds between the hostages, I suppose. And he spoke in Hebrew, and he told us not to worry, and soon there’s going to be a deal and we’ll be out. And others told me, don’t speak. And I said, what is there for me to be afraid of? The worst already happened. Worst thing, I’ll be killed.

I want to say something, and I spoke my mind. I told Sinwar, why have you done what you just did to all of the same people who have always helped you? He didn’t answer me. He just turned around and they walked off.

Were you afraid to ask him why Hamas did what it did, to challenge him?

I wasn’t afraid.

I was angry about the whole situation. It was against every thought and thinking we ever had. It was against our desire to reach peace, to be attentive and help our neighbors the way we always wanted to help our neighbors. I was very angry. But he ignored what I said, and he just turned his back and walked away.

In this entire time, you had no answers about Oded?

What was the hardest day for you, the hardest moment in captivity?

It’s when I got sick. I got sick with diarrhea and vomiting for about four days. And I had no idea how this will end. It was a few very rough days. And probably because of that, they decided to free me.

They didn’t tell me they were going to release me. They just told me and another girl, come follow us. They gave us galabiya gowns to wear and scarves to wear over our heads, so maybe they’ll think that we are Arab women. And only as we were walking, and we started going through corridors and ladders and climbing up we were told that we’re going home.

I was very happy to be going out. But my heart ached so hard for those who were staying behind. I was hoping that many others would follow me.

It’s OK. Let’s go. It’s OK. Let’s go.

You go with this one.

Shalom. Shalom.

There was a video that was made of the moment you left your captors. And it seemed to show that you were shaking a hand, saying shalom to them. Do you remember doing that?

I said goodbye to him. It was a friendly man. He was a medic. So when we said goodbye, I shook his hand for peace, shalom, to goodbye.

What did you mean when you said that?

I meant for peace.

Shalom in the sense of peace.

An extraordinary moment as a freed Israeli hostage shakes hands with a Hamas terrorist who held her captive.

I literally saw my mom on CNN on my phone on the way to the airport. And it was the day before I was talking to my aunt, and she said, I just want to go to Gaza and pull them out of the earth. I just want to pull them out of the earth and take them. And it really felt like that, that she came out of the earth. And when she shook the hand of the Hamas person, it just made me smile because it was so her to see the human in that person and to acknowledge him as a human being.

I arrived in the hospital at about 5:30 AM. My mom was asleep in the bed. And she was just — my mom sleeps really peacefully. She has a really quiet way of sleeping. And I just sat there, and it was just like a miracle to have her back with us. It was just incredible because not only was she back, but it was her.

I don’t know how to explain it. But while they were away, we knew so little. We were pretty sure she didn’t survive it. The whole house burned down totally. So other homes we could see if there was blood on the walls or blood on the floor. But in my parents’ home, everything was gone — everything. And we just didn’t know anything. And out of that nothingness, came my mom back.

It was only when she got to the hospital that Yocheved learned the full story of what happened on October 7. Nir Oz had been mostly destroyed. Many of her friends had been murdered. No one knew what had happened to Oded. Yocheved believed he was dead. But there wasn’t time to grieve.

The photograph she had taken in her mind needed to be shared. Yocheved knew who was still alive in the tunnels. So she and her son called as many families as they could — the family of the kibbutz’s history teacher, of one of its nurses, of the person who ran its art gallery — to tell them that they were still alive, captive in Gaza.

And then in November came a hostage release. More than 100 people came out. The family was certain that Oded was gone. But Sharone decided to make some calls anyway. She spoke to one former neighbor then another. And finally, almost by chance, she found someone who’d seen her father. They shared a room together in Gaza before he’d gotten ill and was taken away. Sharone and her brothers went to where Yocheved was staying to tell her the news.

She just couldn’t believe it, actually. It was as if, in this great telenovela of our life, at one season, he was left unconscious on the floor. And the second season open, and he is in a little room in Gaza with another woman that we know. She couldn’t believe it.

She was very, very, very excited, also really worried. My father was a very active and strong man. And if it happened 10 years ago, I would say of course he would survive it. He would talk to them in Arabic. He will manage the situation. He would have agency. But we know he was injured. And it makes us very, very worried about the condition in which he was — he’s surviving there. And I think that the fear of how much suffering the hostages are going through really makes you unable to function at moment.

Yocheved, the government has been doing a military operation since October in Gaza. You have been fighting very hard since October to free the hostages, including Oded. I wonder how you see the government’s military operation. Is it something that harms your cause or potentially helps it?

The only thing that will bring them back are agreements. And what is happening is that there are many soldiers who have been killed, and there is an ongoing war, and the hostages are still in captivity. So it’s only by reaching an agreement that all of the hostages will be released.

Do you believe that Israel is close to reaching an agreement?

I don’t know.

You told us that after the Holocaust, your father gathered your family together to tell you that God did not save you. It was a crisis for him. I’m wondering if this experience, October 7, your captivity, challenged your faith in a similar way.

No, I don’t think it changed me. I’m still the same person with the same beliefs and opinions. But how should I say it? What the Hamas did was to ruin a certain belief in human beings. I didn’t think that one could reach that level that isn’t that much higher than a beast. But my opinion and my view of there still being peace and reaching an arrangement stayed the same.

You still believe in peace?

Why do you believe that?

Because I’m hoping that a new generation of leaders will rise, people who act in transparency, who speak the truth, people who are honest, the way Israel used to be and that we’ll return to be like we once were.

I go to many rallies and demonstrations, and I meet many people in many places. And a large part of those people still believe in reaching an arrangement in peace and for there to be no war. And I still hope that this is what we’re going to be able to have here.

Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home!

Yocheved is now living in a retirement home in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Five other people around her age from Nir Oz live there too. One is also a released hostage. She hasn’t been able to bring herself to go back to the kibbutz. The life she built there with Oded is gone — her photographs, his records, the piano. And the kibbutz has become something else now, a symbol instead of a home. It is now buzzing with journalists and politicians. For now, Yocheved doesn’t know if she’ll ever go back. And when Sharone asked her, she said, let’s wait for Dad.

So I’m today sitting in this assisted living, surrounded by the same company, just expecting Oded, waiting for Oded to come back. And then each and every one of us will be rebuilding his own life together and renewing it.

What are you doing to make it a home for Oded?

We have a piano. We were given a piano, a very old one with a beautiful sound. And it’s good. Oded is very sensitive to the sound. He has absolute hearing. And I’m just hoping for him to come home and start playing the piano.

Do you believe that Oded will come home?

I’d like to believe. But there’s a difference between believing and wanting. I want to believe that he’ll be back and playing music. I don’t think his opinions are going to change. He’s going to be disappointed by what happened. But I hope he’s going to hold on to the same beliefs. His music is missing from our home.

[SPEAKING HEBEW]:

[SPEAKING HEBREW] [PLAYING PIANO]

I know that my father always felt that we haven’t given peace a chance. That was his opinion. And I think it’s very hard to speak for my father because maybe he has changed. Like my mom said, she said, I hope he hasn’t changed. I haven’t changed. But the truth is we don’t know. And we don’t the story. We don’t know how the story — my father is ending or just beginning.

But I think you have to hold on to humanistic values at this point. You have to know what you don’t want. I don’t want more of this. This is hell. This is hell for everybody. So this is no, you know? And then I believe that peace is also gray, and it’s not glorious, and it’s not simple. It’s kind of a lot of hard work. You have to reconcile and give up a lot. And it’s only worth doing that for peace.

[PIANO PLAYING CONTINUES]

After weeks of negotiations, talks over another hostage release and ceasefire have reached an impasse. The sticking points include the length of the ceasefire and the identity and number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for the hostages.

[BACKGROUND CONVERSATION IN HEBREW]:

Here’s what else you should know today. Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry. Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering last November.

Prosecutors accused him of stealing more than $10 billion from customers to finance political contributions, venture capital investments, and other extravagant purchases. At the sentencing, the judge pointed to testimony from Bankman-Fried’s trial, saying that his appetite for extreme risk and failure to take responsibility for his crimes amount to a quote, “risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future.”

Today’s episode was produced by Lynsea Garrison and Mooj Zaidie with help from Rikki Novetsky and Shannon Lin. It was edited by Michael Benoist, fact checked by Susan Lee, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Dan Powell, Diane Wong, Elisheba Ittoop, and Oded Lifshitz. It was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. The translation was by Gabby Sobelman. Special thanks to Menachem Rosenberg, Gershom Gorenberg, Gabby Sobelman, Yotam Shabtie, and Patrick Kingsley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Produced by Lynsea Garrison and Mooj Zadie

With Rikki Novetsky and Shannon Lin

Edited by Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Dan Powell ,  Diane Wong and Elisheba Ittoop

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

It’s been nearly six months since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, when militants took more than 200 hostages into Gaza.

In a village called Nir Oz, near the border, one quarter of residents were either killed or taken hostage. Yocheved Lifshitz and her husband, Oded Lifshitz, were among those taken.

Today, Yocheved and her daughter Sharone tell their story.

On today’s episode

Yocheved Lifshitz, a former hostage.

Sharone Lifschitz, daughter of Yocheved and Oded Lifshitz.

Background reading

Yocheved Lifshitz was beaten and held in tunnels built by Hamas for 17 days.

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We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Fact-checking by Susan Lee .

Additional music by Oded Lifshitz.

Translations by Gabby Sobelman .

Special thanks to Menachem Rosenberg, Gershom Gorenberg , Gabby Sobelman , Yotam Shabtie, and Patrick Kingsley .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

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