Supporters of Germany’s SV Werder Bremen soccer club paid tribute on Saturday to murdered Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin before their friendly match against Bayern Munich.
The fans held a giant poster of Hersh alongside banners reading “Shalom, salam, peace” and “May your memory be a revolution, achi!”
“Achi” in Hebrew means “my brother.”
The banners were in both green and white, the colors of SV Werder Bremen, and red and black, the colors of Hapoel Jerusalem which Goldberg-Polin supported.
In July, while Goldberg-Polin was still alive in captivity, SV Werder Bremen displayed a banner of him outside their stadium that read “Let Hersch Free.”
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German soccer teams have been notably supportive of hostages held by Hamas.
Bayern Munich hosted hostage families at a game in November, and FC St. Pauli hosted former hostage Liam Or in March after he was released from captivity during a temporary truce in November.
FC St. Pauli‘s first team squad welcomes Liam Or, one of the Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity some 100 days ago, as he visits Hamburg for the first time since his release.
18-year-old Or supports Hapoel Tel Aviv and #FCSP. https://t.co/1Qs5UMw9vc
— Felix Tamsut (@ftamsut) March 9, 2024
Goldberg-Polin was executed in captivity alongside five other hostages last month. Their bodies were found a few days later by Israeli forces, which led to an intensification of mass protests calling for a deal to release the remaining hostages.
Hamas kidnapped 251 people on October 7 during the terror group’s rampage across southern Israel in which terrorists also killed some 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
This combination of six undated photos shows hostages, from top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi; from bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
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