‘Something even the Nazis didn’t do’: Freed Israeli hostage reveals unthinkable horror

An Israeli hostage held captive for more than two years in Gaza has revealed that he was tortured so savagely that he begged them to let him starve to death.

WARNING: Confronting

An Israeli hostage held captive for more than two years in Gaza has revealed that he was sexually assaulted and beaten so savagely that he begged them to let him starve to death.

Rom Braslavski was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a Hamas ally, and subsequently stripped naked, starved and sexually abused until he was finally released earlier this year, he revealed in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13, as reported by The New York Post.

“It was sexual violence, and its main purpose was to humiliate me,” Mr Braslavski said.

“The goal was to crush my dignity. And that’s exactly what he did.”

Rom Braslavski was filmed frail and crying by his captors in August. Picture: X/@yuvaldavid

Israeli soldiers accompany Mr Braslavski upon his arrival at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre in Ramat Gan on October 13. Picture: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP

Mr Braslavski said the abuse was frequent – and claimed it was worse than Nazi torture.

“It’s hard for me to talk about that part specifically. I don’t like to talk about it. It’s hard. It was the most horrific thing,” he said.

“It’s something even the Nazis didn’t do. During Hitler’s time, they wouldn’t have done things like this.” (Jewish people were subjected to sexual violence by the Nazis during the Holocaust.)

“You just pray for it to stop,” Mr Braslavski continued. “And while I was there – every day, every beating – I’d say to myself, ‘I survived another day in hell. Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up to another hell. And another. And another. It doesn’t end.’”

Mr Braslavski was abducted from the Nova Music Festival, where he was employed as a security guard, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel, killing some 1200 people and taking hundreds of others hostage.

'You just pray for it to stop. And while I was there — every day, every beating — I’d say to myself, ‘I survived another day in hell''. Picture: Hazinor

“I said to myself, ‘Listen, you’re in a movie’,” he recalled of his kidnapping.

“‘If I’m in a movie, with cameras, what would the guy in the movies do?’”

Mr Braslavski was so severely beaten by his captors that he begged them to let him starve to death, according to The Times of Israel.

“They tortured me for one reason: Because I am a Jew. That was why I went through what I did. Not (Israeli National Security Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir, not (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, not anything else.

“They beat me up because I’m Jewish. That’s it.”

Footage of Mr Braslavski shared by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Picture: Twitter/X

Mr Braslavski said he was regularly sexually assaulted while he was held hostage. Picture: Hazinor

In August, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released chilling footage showing Mr Braslavski emaciated and crying, claiming he could not stand or walk due to pain his feet.

It was the second video the PIJ released of the Jerusalem native. The group previously published a scripted video in which the captive, looking ill, said he was going through “hell”.

He was among the last Israeli hostages released during Hamas’s ceasefire deal with Israel last month.

This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘Something even the Nazis didn’t do’: Freed Israeli hostage reveals unthinkable horror