Former hostage performs songs written during Gaza captivity

In an emotional homecoming, former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen performed a special concert on the central lawn of Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community from which he was abducted during the October 7 attacks. The Israel Festival event, titled “From Captivity to the Lawn: Stories and Songs,” drew 3,000 attendees, including bereaved families and other former captives.

The concert marked the first public debut of nine songs Dekel-Chen authored, composed, and mentally cataloged throughout his 498 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip. Flanked by a live band and joined by prominent Israeli artists, Dekel-Chen detailed the psychological role music played during his confinement. "In captivity, the music I knew kept playing in my head," Dekel-Chen told the audience. "Initially, it served as a sedative. Later, it became a weapon to maintain sanity."

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In captivity, the music I knew kept playing in my head. Initially, it served as a sedative. Later, it became a weapon to maintain sanity.

Dekel-Chen described nightly routines where he held imaginary conversations and storytelling sessions with his daughters. Morning routines involved pacing the corner of his cell while visualizing dancing with his wife to tracks by Israeli singer Rita. The debut material captures a stark juxtaposition between trauma and domestic hope. In “Song of Songs,” Dekel-Chen sings, “We used to sing at the top of our lungs, now I sing in silence.” Another piece, “Don’t Know Your Name Yet,” is dedicated to his youngest daughter, who was born while he was in Gaza.

During the performance, Dekel-Chen recounted the events of October 7, detailing his engagement with the kibbutz civilian response team, his wound, and his abduction. He admitted that because he witnessed explosions and gunfire at his residence during his capture, he spent nearly his entire captivity believing his family had been killed. To survive, Dekel-Chen said he deliberately maintained a falsehood in his own mind that his children were alive. When informed by captors on February 12, 2025, that he was scheduled for release within three days, he ceased the self-deception and began mathematically planning funerals for his daughters, assuming the worst. Upon his release, he discovered his family had survived.

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We used to sing at the top of our lungs, now I sing in silence.