The day after the event that shocked an entire country: Captivity survivor Yelena Tropanov is still having trouble digesting the joyous occasion - her son, Sasha Tropanov, who was released from Hamas captivity after 498 days, married last night his partner Sapir Cohen, who was also released from captivity in the first hostage deal.
In an interview with Reshet B, Yelena said: "It was a really moving and happy event, we prayed for it for so long. I felt like it was like a good dream. Everyone who was with us during this difficult time came to celebrate with us. Everyone danced and it was really moving.".
In the interview, Yelena talked about a painting that Emilia Aloni painted for her while they were together in Hamas captivity.
In the painting, little Emilia depicted Sasha and Sapir's wedding, before Yelena even knew if her son was alive. "It was very important to me to escape this painting from captivity and keep it, because it gave me hope that it would happen," Yelena revealed.
When asked how she managed to get the drawing out despite the ban on possessing notes, she replied: "I hid it. I said come what may, I don't care.".
Yelena also shared the personal and painful decision she made after her release - not to visit the grave of her husband, Vitaly Tropanov, who was murdered on October 7, until their son Sasha returned.
""I said to myself: Either I go with our son, or I go lie next to him. I didn't want to go alone.".
She said that only after Sasha returned did she, along with her mother and Vitaly's brother, go to the grave to tell him about the upcoming wedding. "He was missing yesterday, but I'm sure he saw us from above.".
Yelena spoke about the change her son went through after the long and difficult period in captivity: "He came back a much more sensitive person and also a believer. He was there for 498 days, of which 495 days were alone. He said he had a lot of time to think about life and take stock. He came back a better person.".
According to her, the young couple is now planning to build their home and make plans for the future: "They plan to build a house, and I hope that with God's help they will also have children. The most important thing for them now is simply to grow and develop in life.".
The event was attended by many guests, including President Yitzhak Herzog and his wife Michal, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, as well as many survivors of captivity who became family to Yelena and Sasha during the months of waiting and struggle - including Daniel and Emilia Aloni, Arbel and Ariel Yehud, Rom Breslavsky, Tal Shoham and the Kuperstein family.
