October 7 · Personal story
Maxim Herkin
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im
Current outcome
Released alive · October 13, 2025
Released alive on October 13, 2025 after 738 days in captivity.
01
Life before October 7
Maxim Herkin was a father who had recently visited his young daughter in Russia. Friends invited him to Nova at the last minute. He lived with his mother and younger brother Peter, whom he helped care for and supported as a father figure. His mother described him as someone who helped relatives and looked after the family.
02
October 7
Maxim arrived at the Nova festival with friends after a late invitation. During the October 7, 2023 attack, he messaged his mother that he was returning home slowly, then wrote that he loved her. He was abducted from the festival.
03
In captivity
Maxim described spending eight months held in houses before being moved to tunnels under Gaza. Without day or night, he said, time stopped feeling ordinary: there was no morning or evening, only sand, concrete and waiting. He named Yosef-Haim Ohana and Segev Kalfon among those held with him first, then Ohad Ben Ami and Elkana Bohbot underground. He described beatings, hunger and psychological abuse, including captors telling them their families had forgotten them. He said faith and hope helped him endure.
04
Return
Maxim returned alive to Israel on October 13, 2025, after 738 days in captivity, alongside 19 other hostages under the release agreement. Photographs from that day show Israeli soldiers and medical staff accompanying him on arrival at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.
05
Life after return
In a full interview published on November 11, 2025, Maxim said he wanted to rebuild his life and chose to smile. He expressed gratitude for surviving and called for peace and care for family and life.