Israel wants your October 7 artefacts

Long before October 7, Stefan Zweig, a prominent pacifist Jewish Austrian writer during the 1920s and 1930s, took significant steps to preserve his legacy by donating his writings to the National Library of Israel in 1934, as his books were being burned by the Nazis. Today, the National Library continues this tradition as the memory keeper of the Jewish people through a new initiative titled "Bearing Witness: Documenting October 7 and Its Aftermath."

Oren Weinberg, the CEO of the National Library of Israel (NLI), is currently visiting Australia to discuss this important project. The NLI has been dedicated to collecting and documenting Jewish history since 1892, and it now seeks to consolidate information from over 250 different projects related to the events of October 7. Unlike other historical events that were recorded primarily on paper, the aftermath of October 7 has been largely captured in digital formats—ranging from footage taken by Hamas on GoPro cameras to personal testimonies recorded on smartphones. The NLI aims to preserve this digital content before it risks being lost or deleted.

Weinberg is actively reaching out to the Australian Jewish community for support and contributions to this project. He encourages individuals in Australia to upload any relevant documentation to the NLI portal. This could encompass a wide array of materials, including podcasts discussing the impact of the war on the Australian Jewish community, letters to newspapers, photographs from solidarity rallies, personal reflections on Gaza or diary entries, and even screenshots of WhatsApp messages exchanged between Jews in Australia and Israel.