Prior footage of his kidnapping shows the badly wounded Goldberg-Polin, then 23, being loaded into the back of a truck alongside other abductees. Shortly after, he vanished across the Gaza border.
For 201 grueling days, Goldberg-Polin’s loved ones were in the dark — left to wonder about his physical condition and mental state, if he was even still alive.
Now, armed with proof of his life, his family and his friends in Richmond say they will not rest until he comes home.
In a video posted Thursday to social media, Goldberg-Polin’s father, Jon Polin, begged all parties involved in negotiating for a cease-fire and the release of the hostages to “get a deal done.”
“Be brave, lean in (and) seize this moment,” Polin said. “Reunite all of us with our loved ones, and ... end the suffering in this region.”
‘Unbelievable horror’
Like so many others, Kathy Bazianos, of Henrico County, was stunned and horrified by the events of Oct. 7 and quickly began reflecting on what, if anything, she could do to help.
For Bazianos, it was personal: She and her family had become close friends with Rachel Goldberg, Jon Polin and their kids during their years in Richmond. The families bonded over their shared Chicago backgrounds, commiserating over the hard-luck Chicago Bears. Their children played together. And when Goldberg was packing in preparation for the move to Israel, she left her familial china dinnerware in Bazianos’ care.
“I still have it,” she said. “But I’m just holding onto (it). Hersh is going to get married someday, and his wife might want this china ... so I’m just storing it for them.”
Bazianos remembers Goldberg-Polin as a young boy: kind, intelligent and curious.
“He was all boy, full of energy, full of life,” she said. “That beautiful hair, that luminous smile, those big eyes ... he was so charismatic.”
The moment Bazianos learned of his abduction is etched into her memory forever, she said — it was “an unbelievable horror,” magnified by her own experience as a mother.
“It’s hard to explain how horrible — every minute, waking and sleeping — I would feel knowing that my son was a hostage,” she said.
In February, driven by a sense of urgency to get involved, Bazianos partnered with Andy Develin, also of Henrico, to found a local chapter of Run for Their Lives — an international, grassroots organization that hosts weekly vigils for the hostages. As of April 6, Run for Their Lives claimed over 190 groups across the globe.
“I heard about (them) and looked it up,” Bazianos said. “I tried to join one, but we didn’t have one in our area. So we started it.”
Every Sunday, Bazianos and Develin lead their group on a 2-mile walk past the house on St. Christopher’s Road where Goldberg-Polin and his family once lived. The pair have walked in the rain and have weathered both the heat and the cold.
Sometimes, Bazianos and Develin walk alone. At other times, they are joined by over a dozen partners, their children and their dogs. But always, the singular goal is the same: “calling for the immediate release of all hostages, (who come) from all over the world,” Bazianos said.
The hostages represent dozens of distinct nationalities, ethnicities and religions, she said, making the situation “a humanitarian, global issue (and) not just a Jewish issue.”
Develin said those who wish to participate can “go to the website and click ‘join,’” which will put them in touch with the group.
“Anyone who wants to ... we’d love to have them join us,” she said.
‘We need them back’
Bazianos said it was a tremendous relief to see Goldberg-Polin’s face in Wednesday’s video and to hear his voice again. But the work is far from over.
U.S. officials believe that 133 people, including five Americans, remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Representatives for Israel and Hamas are expected to meet in Cairo in the coming days to discuss the terms of a deal that could see the hostages freed and Israel’s campaign in Gaza halted.
In a joint statement released Thursday, leaders from 18 countries, including the U.S., called for the hostages to be freed immediately.
“We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities,” the leaders said in the statement.
Bazianos and Develin said they were happy to see officials draw such a hard line, but have been underwhelmed with the response so far.
“I think we all expected a stronger response a lot earlier,” Bazianos said. “But ... we’re grateful that Hersh is still alive, and we’re hopeful. (We) want our hostages released.”
Develin agreed.
“We need them back, and we won’t stop walking until they come home.”
The local chapter of Run for Their Lives meets for a walk in honor of the Hamas hostages. Kathy Bazianos and Andy Develin, the local group’s founders, say they will not stop meeting until the hostages are released.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who spent his early childhood years in Richmond, was last seen on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants loaded him into the back of a pickup truck with other hostages abducted from a music festival in the western Negev Desert.
In Jerusalem on Wednesday, after Hamas released a video that appears to show Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive, supporters of the Israeli American hostage protest outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand a deal for the immediate release of all hostages.
A poster depicting Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin is displayed in Re'im, southern Israel, on Feb. 26 at a memorial site for the Nova music festival site where he was kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7. Hamas on Wednesday released a video that appears to show Goldberg-Polin alive. It was not clear when the video was taken.