Choosing Life: Nova Festival Survivor, Natalie Sanandaji, Shares Her Story of Courage and Connection at Hillel UGA

This week, Hillel at UGA hosted Natalie Sanandaji, an impressive young New Yorker and public affairs officer for the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), who shared her harrowing experience surviving the Nova music festival massacre. Natalie described the impossible choice she faced on October 7 - whether to stay hidden or keep moving - and how that instinctive decision to run ultimately saved her life.

What made the evening especially profound was the presence of Hershel Greenblat, a Holocaust survivor and representative from the Breman Museum, who had previously met Natalie on March of the Living. The two shared that although their traumas occurred generations apart, the defining moment of instinct -the split-second choice to run and choose life - mirrored one another across time, history, and lived trauma.

What most moved our student guests was not just her survival, but the way Natalie has turned tragedy into impact through advocacy and storytelling. Her resilience, clarity, and courage made her feel deeply relatable to students, many of whom said they could imagine themselves or their friends in her place. For students who recently participated in the Maccabee Task Force Israel trip, the story was especially powerful as the sites she described were the very places they had stood just weeks ago.