Shortly before he was supposed to return home, the IDF informed the family that Shlomo Mantzur, who was defined as the eldest hostage, was murdered on Oct. 7 and his body was taken to Gaza. For almost a year and a half his family waged a struggle to return him assuming he was alive – but their hearts were broken. Mantzur is the only one on the current release list who was declared dead before returning, as Hamas did not reveal the condition of those to be released.
For more than 70 years Mantzur lived in Kibbutz Kisufim, it was his home, his protected place, but on that Saturday he was abducted from his home while his wife Mazal saw him being dragged by the terrorists. Hamas terrorists handcuffed him, beat him, and took him by car to Gaza. The terrorists who infiltrated Kibbutz Kisufim conducted a massacre, murdered at least 12 of his friends, and also murdered six Thai workers.
Shlomo, who survived the Farhud pogroms in Iraq as a child, and Mazal have five children and 12 grandchildren. "He was a peace-loving man, a loving person, sensitive, honest, and kind-hearted. The mustache became one of his trademarks," said a family relative.
His niece recounted previously, "He witnessed with his own eyes the abuse of Muslim rioters against his family and acquaintances. Horrors that the mind refuses to process and the hand refuses to write. He immigrated to Israel convinced that no harm would come to him. He initially lived in a shack and at age 15 arrived at Kibbutz Kissufim, believing that the state was doing everything to protect him."
