SAN ANTONIO – As more details are released about the mass shooting at an Australian beach Saturday, stories of survival are coming out too.
One haunting account came from a survivor with a connection to San Antonio. Her uncle is Rabbi Chaim Block of Chabad Center San Antonio, who spoke to KSAT about the shooting on Monday.
“I was there with my baby, my little baby who’s 7 months old,” said Chavi, who did not want to use her last name for this story.
Chavi was there on Bondi Beach when two terrorists opened fire on her favorite Hanukkah celebration.
>> San Antonio Jewish community mourns family members, victims of Hanukkah shooting in Australia
“It turns from being this beautiful peaceful event into absolute terror and chaos and people are screaming, ‘Down, down!’” she said. “We’re on the ground and there’s shooting going on, ‘da da da,’ all around us. I am on top of my baby trying to shield my baby. He’s crying. He is screaming.”
When she turned to run, she looked back at her baby’s stroller.
“I see my pram right in front of people they’re doing CPR on. I mean, the people that were 1 meter away from me got shot,” she said.
Her friend, who was there with young kids, lost her husband.
“She was there holding their little 8-week-old baby,” Chavi said. “The little boy was still holding his hotdog from the carnival. He was still holding his hot dog. We had no idea and he had no idea that his father wasn’t alive.”
She knows almost all of the people who died that day.
“They killed my friend’s grandfather. They killed a Holocaust survivor. They killed my friend’s father. And my other friend’s brother-in-law. I know these people,” she said.
Chavi’s voice trembled as she talked about the shooters’ motives.
“They were there to target Jewish people, to kill Jewish children. They killed a 10-year-old girl, Matilda, who I also know,” Chavi said.
Though she was close to being shot and lost people she knew, Chavi still gathered with family that night to light Hanukkah candles.
“I got to my in-laws and yeah, we lit the menorah because that’s what us Jews do,” Chavi said. “Our history is entrenched in Jewish bloodshed, and yet we still light the menorah. We still show up. We still pray for peace for the world.”
Since then, Chavi said another source of light has come from the supportive people around her who are not Jewish.
“If you know anyone that is Jewish, tell them that you love them, that you support them, that you’re here for them. If you see a Jewish person on the street, tell them. That to me, I think is one of the most important things. It has made me feel less alone,” she said.
As antisemitism spikes globally, she said the show of love and humanity proves the only thing that lifts the darkness is light.
“We increase in light. I mean that’s the whole Festival of Lights, the festival of Hanukkah,” she said.
The Jewish community in San Antonio has confirmed they will not cancel any Hanukkah events this week. There are public events every night through Monday, Dec. 22. The Jewish Federation of San Antonio has a full list of those Hanukkah events.
The San Antonio Police Department confirmed there will be increased security at each event as a precaution.
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