Kan 7.10.360 | Schindler Family From Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on October 7th

Amichai (33) and Avital (31) Schindler wake up on Saturday, October 7th, to red alert sounds and entering their houses' safe room with their six children—the eldest 11 years old, and the youngest six months old. The family kept Shabbat and didn't connect to the media, unaware of the events unfolding in their community or neighboring towns. They believed they had heard gunfire nearby, but they weren’t certain. After about an hour and a half, during a lull in the alarms, Avital left the safe room to bring food and drinks to the family and noticed bullet holes in her house's doors. Realizing there was gunfire inside the kibbutz, she informed the local kibbutz security team.

While Avital and the children were inside the safe room, Amichai prayed the morning prayer in an adjacent room. When he heard noises inside the house, he returned to the safe room and locked the door. Avital then updated the emergency team. The voices grew louder, and the family realized there were terrorists inside their house. The terrorists shouted to the family, claiming to be IDF troops, and ordered them to open the safe room door. However, Amichai shouted at them to turn away while he held the door's handle bar.

The terrorists attached an explosive device to the safe room door handle and retreated to the living room. The charge detonated, targeting the handle mechanism. Holding the handle from the other side of the door, Amichai was thrown backward, crashing onto one of the safe room beds. Avital and the children were unharmed, and Avital was certain Amichai was dead. After a few minutes, he began to sigh in pain.

The Kibbutz emergency squad approached the house, and the terrorists spotted two of its members, Amichai Weitzen and Shirel Habaz, through the window. They fired at them, killing Amichai. Soon after, emergency squad member Yedidiya Raziel approached the house and was also shot and killed. The terrorists emerged from the Schindler family home, and the combat continued outside the house. In the end, the emergency squad members managed to kill all the terrorists.

Emergency squad members Yair Weisner and Elad Simon arrived at the Schindler family home, brought Amichai out of the safe room and took him to the living room. There, they provided initial medical treatment and applied a tourniquet to his wounded hand. Later, kibbutz residents Roni and Ofer Kissin, medical assistants in their training, also arrived at the scene to assist in treating Amichai.

Amichai was evacuated to the kibbutz secretariat, which had been converted into an emergency headquarters during the attack. There, he received treatment from a pediatrician who had remained at the kibbutz, a military medic, and Dodi Rabi, the head of the kibbutz emergency squad. They connected him to intravenous fluids and bandaged his wounds. Later, he was transported in a military van to a field hospital near Moshav Neve. One of the paramedics there recognized him as the brother of Avishai Schindler, who had been murdered 14 years earlier in a terror attack near Hebron. The paramedic, who had treated Avishai before his death, reassured the team, saying, "This time, it won't happen again. He will survive."

While Amichai received medical attention, Avital and the children remained in their house's safe room with Israeli troops who had arrived at the kibbutz by then. Avital kept the children occupied by singing Sukkot holiday songs aloud to distract them from the chaos. She told them that praying was the only thing left to do to help Dad. Together, they recited the "Psalm of Thanks" from the Book of Psalms for Amichai's recovery.

Avital and the children were transported in a protected vehicle to the neighbor's house, the home of Amichai Weitzen's family, who were still unaware that Amichai had been killed in battle. They stayed there until the evening, then moved to the neighboring Lilienthal family home, where they remained until their evacuation to Eilat the following day.

Amichai was evacuated by medical helicopter to Shiba Tel Hashomer Medical Center. His right hand had been amputated, as well as three fingers amputated in his left hand. His face and jaw were crushed, and he sustained multiple fractures to his hands and shoulders. He arrived at the hospital fully conscious.