Survivor of Hamas captivity Sagui Dekel-Chen took the stage on Monday in Kibbutz Nir Oz and performed, for the first time, nine songs he composed during the 498 days in captivity. The performance was part of the Israel Festival in the kibbutz where Dekel-Chen grew up, which was devastated during the October 7th Massacre.
After returning from captivity, Dekel-Chen began the process of creating and arranging the songs, with the musical production of Liad Grushka and Idan Shneur. The show combined the songs with stories and other works, accompanied by a band and special guests.
The performance, held on the kibbutz lawn before approximately 3,000 spectators, was attended by former hostages, bereaved families, and residents. Dekel-Chen opened the evening with a renewed rendition of Yigal Bashan’s song “Skies," and later shared personal stories with the audience from the period when he was held captive in Gaza.
“I dreamed a lot there," he said. “They were very difficult dreams, and there were friends who would wake me from my sleep. But there were also good dreams, and those were actually the hardest to wake up from. In those dreams, I was in my simple place - here, at home."
All proceeds from the performance will be donated to widows and orphans of the Iron Swords War.
Dekel Chen was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 terrorist attack and was released after 498 days in Hamas captivity. While he was held hostage, his wife, Avital, gave birth to their third daughter, Dor, whom he met for the first time only after returning to Israel.
In April, he took the stage for the first time since his release as part of the “Songs in the Square" broadcast, where he performed the song “Children of Life" accompanied by Idan Raichel. The performance in Nir Oz marked the first time he shared with an audience the works he created during his days in captivity.
The festival's producers noted that leading Israeli artists, former hostages, bereaved families, and others participated in the show.
Ahead of the performance, the participants received a personal letter from Dekel-Chen in which he explained how the songs were born. "I am not a singer, I am a father who sings. I never planned on being a singer or singing," he wrote.
He recounted how, during his captivity, music helped him through the difficult moments, and that after several months, he began creating songs which he was unable to write, play, or sing.
Dekel-Chen described how he memorized the words of the songs in his head and imagined the tunes, and later recorded them after his release. "On February 2nd, 2025, I was released from captivity. Two days later, at night, in the hospital (the correct one), I went to a side room, and with a voice of a toad without air, quietly, and with even a bit of shame, I recorded myself on my phone, all nine songs, words, and tune."
On the decision to perform in Nir Oz, he wrote, "I will have my first performance in Nir Oz, at my home. This is the same lawn on which I ran throughout my entire childhood, the lawn where I first met Milli, the one on which I raised two girls, the lawn on which I fought, the lawn on which my friends fell." According to Dekel Chen, "The event this time is not a celebration, not a party, not closure, not victory... It's just part of the story."
Dekel-Chen added in his letter that the event and the kibbutz are very important to him and wrote: "I wish that it will be rebuilt with new life. I hope this event will be a stone in its foundation." He closed with the words: "This is your story as well. You're invited.
The Nir Oz community said that the kibbutz is “a home of memory, resilience, hope and the future," and that visitors were invited to walk along the kibbutz paths and pass through some of the sites where events unfolded on October 7.
The kibbutz added: “Come walk this path, look reality in the eyes, and face the future through the music and stories that Sagiv brought with him from the darkest place. Come, we’re waiting for you at home."
