Supporters of Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen paid tribute to murdered Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Saturday afternoon before their team’s friendly match against FC Bayern Munich.
Fans in the stands at Weser Stadium in the northwestern German city held up a giant poster of Goldberg-Polin alongside banners reading, “Shalom, Salam, Peace” and “May Your Memory be a Revolution, Achi (“my brother” in Hebrew)!” in a moving display of remembrance for the 23-year-old.
Shalom, Salam, Peace!
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) September 21, 2024
Dedicated to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was held hostage for 11 months before being murdered by Hamas. May your memory be a revolution, Achi! 💚🕊️ pic.twitter.com/o5O9zE3NgI
After the kickoff, more banners were unfurled, including one that read, “Your joy of life will never be forgotten. RIP Hersh.”
More than 40,000 people at the sold-out stadium witnessed the tribute.
Hamas terrorists kidnapped Goldberg-Polin from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and murdered him in a tunnel in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, in late August along with five other captives.
The banners were in both the green and white of the Bundesliga club, and the red and black of Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Jerusalem, which Goldberg-Polin supported.
In July, when he was still being held in Hamas captivity, the Bremen team displayed a banner of him outside its stadium reading, “Let Hersh Free.”
