Former hostage Alon Ohel performed two songs about love and second chances on Monday at the Berlin residence of Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, as a tribute to the many German organizations and activists who worked for his release throughout his captivity.

Ohel is a dual Israeli-German citizen through his grandmother, Tzipi Ohel, a Holocaust survivor who was born in Berlin.

The 25-year-old was released from captivity in October 2025, after being taken captive by terrorists from the Nova desert rave. He was released last October after 738 days of captivity.

Ohel sat at the piano in the Israeli ambassador’s residence, accompanied by his brother Ronen on guitar, and spoke about how music and the songs he replayed in his mind helped him survive the harsh conditions of Hamas captivity in the tunnels beneath Gaza.

“I didn’t have the privilege of giving up,” he said. “I couldn’t move or speak, but I still had the right to choose what to think about. I chose to think about music, about my family, and about the fact that I had to come home.”

Ohel suffered shrapnel wounds to his eye, shoulder and arm during the October 7, 2023, attack when terrorists threw grenades into the roadside field shelter where he had fled to escape the........

© The Times of Israel