October 7 · Personal story
Shlomo Mantzur
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Kissufim
Current outcome
Returned for burial · February 27, 2025
His body was returned to Israel on February 27, 2025; he was buried at Kissufim on March 2.
01
Before October 7
Shlomo was born in Baghdad in 1938 and survived the Farhud as a young child. In 1951, he came to Israel with his family. At sixteen he helped found Kibbutz Kissufim, where he and Mazal built a life together and raised five children; their family grew to include twelve grandchildren. Shlomo worked for years in the kibbutz chicken coops and at an eyewear factory. He learned carpentry as a hobby, then became known in the community as a gifted carpenter whose work and willingness to help shaped the place around him.
02
October 7
On October 7, attackers entered Shlomo and Mazal’s home in Kissufim. Their daughter had urged them to go to the safe room. At 7:24 a.m., Shlomo spoke with Moshit by phone; he was meant to visit her that morning. It was their last conversation that day. The attackers took the couple outside and handcuffed Shlomo. Mazal broke away and ran to a neighbor’s safe room, where she survived. Shlomo was taken from the kibbutz. His five children, including Batya and Moshit, and twelve grandchildren were left waiting for news.
03
Captivity
On 11 February 2025, the army informed Shlomo’s family that he had been killed on 7 October 2023 and that his body had been held in Gaza. Until then his fate had remained unknown. His wife remembered seeing him taken away in handcuffs, in his pajamas, without his glasses or hearing aid. His family waited more than sixteen months before receiving confirmation of his death.
04
Return
Shlomo’s body was returned to Israel on February 27, 2025. The return allowed his family to bring him back to Kissufim, the community he had helped establish as a teenager. They prepared to bury the carpenter, father and grandfather whose carpentry and help shaped the place around him.
05
Aftermath
Shlomo was buried at Kissufim on March 2, 2025, after more than a year away from the community. Mazal, their five children and twelve grandchildren survived him. The family and kibbutz remembered him as a carpenter whose hands made useful things and whose presence made people feel at home. Kissufim was both the place he had helped found and the place where his family brought him back to rest.