PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Over the next week, a free pop-up exhibition at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Old City will give people a chance to see for themselves the story of the Hamas terror attack on Israel a year ago that took the lives of 1,139 people.
“The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition” is a graphic memorial to the 364 people Hamas militants killed at the Nova Music Festival that day, showcasing relics of the festival grounds.
“You walk through the exhibit and you see the horrors of people who were just clamoring to save their lives from these terrorists,” said Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“I hope that they realize these are real people, these aren’t just statistics that we read about in the newspaper or see on television.”
The governor described the powerful experience, his first time seeing recreations of items including battered tents and portable toilets, and the stories of people who lost their lives in the attack.
“People — four, five, six of them — went into a porta-potty to try and save their lives and hide from the terrorists who were there with machine guns, ready to kill them,” he said.
“I hope people leave here with knowledge and an understanding of what really happened because, I think … in some segments of our society, we don’t have that knowledge.”
Sen. Bob Casey accompanied the governor at the exhibit’s opening.
“We’re reflecting and remembering, today. But we have to recommit ourselves to confronting that kind of evil in the world,” he said.
Casey says seeing the sobering artifacts, images and stories makes it that much more important to fight those tough battles.
“We have to confront that evil and defeat it.”
The exhibition in Philadelphia follows sold-out installations in New York and Los Angeles. It is open to the public, through Oct. 13, free of charge.
Advance reservation is strongly recommended.
📸 Images from Los Angeles exhibit
