Michael Silberberg (1986-91), Remembering October 7

The Road from Carmel

In this episode we bring you a recording of an interview that took place in front of an audience of Old-Carmelis, family and friends at a live event generously hosted by David Dangoor at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on Sunday, August 18. Its release coincides with the first anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. The interview was conducted by Doron as Jill was unavailable on the day of recording.

Joining Doron to tell us his story is our first German guest on the podcast, jeweler and Nova festival survivor Michael Silberberg, who technically attended Carmel not once but twice: from 1986 to ‘87, and again from 1989 to ‘91. His younger sister Dana accompanied him.

Michael grew up in Frankfurt, the son of Israeli parents who hailed from Eastern Europe. He studied gemology and runs a successful fourth generation family jewelry business with a retail outlet on the famous Kaiserstrasse in the heart of Frankfurt. Over a decade ago, he made aliyah with his wife and two children, both of whom became IDF spokespersons. On October 7, Michael drove two friends in his car to the Nova Music festival in Israel’s south; they arrived at 5am.

Hear Michael talk about striking a deal with Mr. Skelker that led to his second-most cherished Carmel memory, winning a fashionable award on Purim, the victory that got him invited to the top table on Shabbat, selling jewelry to ‘shtarkers’, and his incredible story of survival and rebirth on October 7.

Michael’s AC360° interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper can be viewed here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9JfPfCk48K4kQxQSA Thank you, Michael Silberberg, for turning us again to Carmel days!

Personal mentions in this episode:

• Philip Skelker (Headmaster)

• Rony Greenberg (Jewish Studies)

• Alan Edmondson (Chemistry)

• David Jones (Football Coach & Mongewell Housemaster)

• Mr. Taylor (Computer Studies & Second XI Football Coach)

• Dana Silberberg

• Alon Junger

• Eddy Ushky

• Ronny Ushky

• Shlomo Wolf

• Zohar Felczer

• Elinor Braru

• Shelly Zwillinger

• Arik Zwillinger

• Philipp Jakubowicz

• Gal Winzelberg

• Nati Marcovici

• Shira Tilles Marcus

• Joanna Marcus Landau

• Claire Gilbert

• Thierry Tugendhaft

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