Former Hamas hostage Agam Berger moves Berlin to tears, performing “Hatikva” months after surviving 482 days of brutal captivity.
Berlin stood still on Friday as Agam Berger, the 21-year-old IDF lookout who endured 482 days of hell in Hamas captivity, lifted her violin and poured Israel’s soul into the air with a powerful, trembling performance of “Hatikva.”
The moment unfolded at the 38th annual Jüdische Kulturtage (Jewish Culture Days), where Berger—once dragged into Gaza by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 massacre—rose on stage not as a victim, but as a symbol of Israel’s unbreakable spirit.
Her bow touched the strings, and the German capital listened. A hall that once stood in the shadow of Europe’s darkest history echoed with Israel’s national anthem, played by a young woman who survived modern-day antisemitic barbarism.
Earlier this year, Berger performed at the March of the Living in Poland, playing haunting selections from Schindler’s List on a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust—an instrument whose story now intertwines with her own miraculous survival.
Berger was abducted from the Nahal Oz outpost along with fellow IDF female soldiers during Hamas’s brutal assault. For nearly 500 days she was held in Gaza, deprived of freedom, family, and light. Yet she later revealed that what kept her alive was faith—faith in God, faith in Israel, and faith that she would return home.
Her Berlin performance wasn’t just a recital.
It was a declaration:
Israel lives. The Jewish people endure. Hope—Hatikva—cannot be extinguished.
