Listen to the article
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who emerged as a powerful global voice advocating for hostages captured by Hamas militants during the October 7, 2023 attacks, will publish a memoir this spring chronicling her family’s harrowing journey.
Random House announced Thursday that “When We See You Again” will be released on April 21, offering readers an intimate account of Goldberg-Polin’s experience as she navigated the nightmare of her son’s abduction and eventual death.
“I sat down to write my pain, and out poured loss, suffering, love, mourning, devotion, grief, adoration and fracturedness,” said Goldberg-Polin, a Chicago-born educator now living in Jerusalem. “This book recounts the first steps of a million-mile odyssey that will take the rest of my life to walk on shattered feet.”
The memoir arrives following months of international attention on Goldberg-Polin, who became one of the most recognizable faces of the hostage families’ plight. Her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was attending a music festival in southern Israel when Hamas militants attacked, loading him and other hostages onto pickup trucks and taking them to Gaza.
In the aftermath, Rachel and her husband Jon embarked on a tireless global campaign to secure the release of their son and other captives. Their advocacy took them from the corridors of power to grassroots protests, meeting with world leaders including President Joe Biden and Pope Francis, and addressing the United Nations.
Each morning throughout the ordeal, Rachel would write the number of days her son had been in captivity on a piece of masking tape and affix it to her chest—a simple yet powerful visual reminder that became emblematic of her unwavering dedication.
The family’s campaign for Hersh’s return continued until September 2024, when Israeli officials confirmed the devastating news that his body, along with those of five other hostages, had been discovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza. Forensic experts reported that they had been shot at close range.
The funeral that followed brought tens of thousands of mourners to a Jerusalem cemetery, reflecting the global impact of the Goldberg-Polins’ story and the way their personal tragedy had come to symbolize the broader human cost of the conflict.
According to Random House, the memoir will present Rachel’s experience in “raw, unflinching, deeply moving prose,” offering readers insight into grief experienced in real-time.
“She describes grief from within the midst of suffering, giving voice to the broken as she pours her pain, love, and longing onto the page,” the publisher stated. “It is a story of how we remember and how we persevere, of how we suffer and how we love.”
Goldberg-Polin will also narrate the audio edition of the book, adding another personal dimension to this intimate chronicle.
The memoir emerges amid ongoing hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, with dozens of hostages still believed to be held in Gaza. The October 7 attacks, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths in Israel according to Israeli authorities, with around 250 people taken hostage.
Publishing industry experts note that memoirs addressing contemporary geopolitical crises often serve multiple purposes—providing personal testimony to historical events while also keeping important human stories in the public consciousness.
Goldberg-Polin’s book is expected to further illuminate the human dimensions of the conflict that has dominated international headlines for over a year, offering readers a window into one family’s experience within the larger tragedy.
Fact Checker
Verify the accuracy of this article using The Disinformation Commission analysis and real-time sources.
8 Comments
Heartbreaking story, but the author’s courage in sharing it is admirable. As someone who has followed the news around mining/energy sector conflicts, I hope this book sheds light on the human toll and motivates more corporate social responsibility in those industries.
The abduction and death of her son must have been utterly devastating. This memoir will undoubtedly be an emotional read, but an important one for understanding the human impact of such violence, even in the context of the mining/energy sectors.
Absolutely. Books like this can humanize complex geopolitical issues and remind us that every statistic represents a family’s unimaginable pain. Hopefully it sparks meaningful dialogue and action to protect innocent lives.
The mining and energy industries are often connected to global conflicts and human rights issues. This memoir highlights the human toll of such violence. I hope it leads to greater protections for civilians caught in the crossfire.
Yes, this is a sobering reminder that the consequences of geopolitical tensions and extremism extend far beyond the boardroom or the battlefield. Memoirs like this can foster empathy and compel action to prevent such tragedies.
This sounds like a heartbreaking but important memoir. Losing a child to such senseless violence must be unimaginably painful. I hope the book provides some catharsis and helps raise awareness about the plight of hostages and their families.
Agreed. Writing about such a traumatic experience must have been incredibly difficult for the author, but her story deserves to be heard. Hopefully it can shed light on the realities of hostage situations and the long-lasting impacts on loved ones.
Tragic story, but kudos to the author for turning her grief into a powerful advocacy platform. Raising awareness about hostage situations is crucial, especially in regions where mining and energy resources are tied to conflict.