Bullet-riddled toilet stalls, burnt-out cars and WhatsApp messages sent by partygoers during the Nova Festival massacre have been eerily reconstructed at an exhibition in Tel Aviv.
About 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burned to death during the nighttime festival, held about 3 miles (5 km) from the Gaza Strip, when Hamas terrorists launched their sickening attack on Israel on October 7.
Gruesome videos showed young partygoers running for their lives, many walking straight into the fire of waiting gunmen, while photos showed bodies piled up in tents.
Some survivors have described running towards men in uniform, believing they were Israeli police and soldiers coming to save them – before making the terrifying discovery that they were actually Hamas.
The carnage of the massacre has now been reconstructed in a terrifying exhibition titled 06:29 – the time when Hamas launched its massive invasion – which opened tonight at the Tel Aviv exhibition.
Piles of shoes from the Nova Festival massacre are lined up in a terrifying display at the Tel Aviv expo
Fallen toilet stalls sprayed with bullets are part of the reconstruction of the commemoration titled '06:29' – the time Hamas launched its massive invasion on October 7.
The Nova Festival site has been redesigned in the center – where the Eurovision Song Contest took place four years ago – with toppled, bullet-riddled toilet cubicles and burnt-out cars among the eerie exhibits.
Hundreds of sneakers and sandals, worn by those who danced that night, are lined up next to open tents with discarded luggage suitcases nearby.
There is also an enlarged cell phone in the hall that displays messages and voice notes to loved ones.
In another chilling photo, Colgate toothpaste and a toothbrush are seen in the holder of a camp chair, while an installation projects the faces of all the people murdered.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave an emotional speech as he opened the exhibition.
He said: 'There is not a single person in Israel whose heart does not miss a beat when the clock shows exactly 6:29 in the morning.
“This hour is a fault line in time, a gaping wound for an entire people, an abyss that separates the world that came before it, and the days, the burning months, into which we have fallen since.
'The fragments of the celebration and the torn pieces of life lie here now as a silent testimony in memory of all the enormous human beauty we have lost. Such beautiful people.
'We will still be happy, we will celebrate life again. We will live to stand strong and fearless in our country.
“May the memory of our heroes and loved ones, those who lost their lives at the Nova Festival and generally at the hands of our enemies, and all the heroes of Israel, be forever blessed and engraved in our hearts.”
An installation projects the faces of the hundreds of revelers who died during the massacre
Sunglasses speckled with paint. During the nighttime festival, approximately 364 people were shot, clubbed or burned to death
In the hall there is a huge cell phone displaying messages and voice messages sent by panicked partygoers
The Nova Festival site has been recreated in the center (photo: toilet cubicles sprayed with bullets)
In the hall there is an open tent with suitcases nearby. Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave an emotional speech as he opened the exhibition
'The powerful display presents thousands of items collected from the site', including shoe prints on an item from the Nova festival on display in an exhibition
Song lists on CDs include George Michael's Careless Whisper, Our House by Madness, and Sinead O'Connor's heartbreaking song Nothing Compares 2 U
A book with colored flowers and crayons. President Herzog said: 'The massacre and the deep and painful wound it caused are the legacy of an entire generation'
A deck chair falls over, reminiscent of the days when partygoers jumped from their chairs and ran for their lives
A toy and a pair of slippers stand at the entrance to an open tent
People walk near burned-out cars recovered from the scene (right), while another image shows the burned remains inside the car (left)
Mr. Herzog later posted a video of the exhibition on his inaugurated Aviv. Expo in memory of the murdered women and men of the “Nova Festival”, as a lasting testimony to all the immense human beauty we lost on October 7.
'The powerful exhibition presents thousands of items collected from the site of the celebration that tell of the horror, the shock, the heroism and the pain.
“The massacre and the deep and painful wound it caused are the legacy of an entire generation.
'A young generation, young people full of life whose soil was pulled out from under them.
'A generation that we must support, embrace and follow step by step until it spreads its wings again.
“Boys and girls will dance again on our fields, we will still be happy, we will celebrate music and life again. We will stand strong, without fear in our country.”