Steven Spielberg Breaks Silence on Israel-Hamas War: “Never Imagined I Would See Such Unspeakable Barbarity Against Jews”
Steven Spielberg has broken his silence on the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
In a statement shared by the USC Shoah Foundation, which was founded by Spielberg in 1994, the Oscar-winning filmmaker said, “I never imagined I would see such unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime.”
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His comments come as the organization continues its initiative to collect testimonies from survivors of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and Holocaust survivors and witnesses.
“The team at the USC Shoah Foundation are leading an effort that will ensure that the voices of survivors will act as a powerful tool to counter the dangerous rise of antisemitism and hate,” Spielberg said.
The director noted that “both initiatives … seek to fulfill our promise to survivors: that their stories would be recorded and shared in the effort to preserve history and to work toward a world without antisemitism or hate of any kind. We must remain united and steadfast in these efforts.”
As part of the Countering Antisemitism Through Testimony Collection initiative, a project that documents post-Holocaust antisemitism, the USC Shoah Foundation has spoken to several survivors, including recently the wife of filmmaker Yahav Winner, who was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.
Shaylee Atary Winner recounted the moment she escaped from her home with her 4-week-old daughter as her husband, director of The Boy, fought off a Hamas terrorist who was trying to get into their safe room.
After taking cover in a garden shed, Shaylee said she and her daughter eventually found refuge in a neighbor’s safe room and were rescued more than a day later. But Shaylee later learned that Yahav was killed in the attack.
“When I was with Shaya in the garden shed, I told myself, ‘Shaylee, think about Holocaust films. What would a mother and a baby do?’ Because this is how it felt,” she said. “I felt like they are actually running after me and Shaya, like she is prey. … No regular situation in my regular reality could be even close to what we [were going] through.”
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