Real Life: Survival Stories

You hear a two-year-old call your name - do you leave the laundry room?

Real Life: Survival Stories

Show Notes

A two-year-old calls Sandra from a besieged Mumbai building - she’s in a laundry room with men with guns inside; do you leave the laundry room?

You hear a two-year-old call your name - do you leave the laundry room?

In this episode, we follow the moments inside Nariman House on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, focusing on the choices made by Sandra Samuel when a toddler called for her amid an ongoing attack. We trace who she was, why she was there that night, and the decisions that led her toward the stairwell.

Person: Sandra Samuel Person: Moshe Holtzberg Date: November 26, 2008 Location: Nariman House, Colaba, Mumbai Event: Coordinated attacks across ten locations in Mumbai

- Sandra was the long-term household employee and primary caretaker for the Holtzberg family, present since 2003. - On Wednesdays she usually visited her own sons, but on this Wednesday she stayed inside Nariman House. - The building was a five-story Chabad House with narrow stairwells and a rooftop, selected by attackers for prolonged occupation. - During the siege a two-year-old boy, Moshe, stood over his parents with his trousers soaked in blood and called Sandra’s name repeatedly. - Sandra was hidden in the laundry room when she heard Moshe call her and then climbed the stairs toward the sound.

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