Tel Aviv store to auction slain hostage Nadav Popplewell’s sci-fi book collection
Green Brothers reports keen interest in library of some 700 volumes owned by British-Israeli abducted to Gaza on Oct. 7 and later murdered; proceeds to go to families of hostages
A collection of several hundred science fiction and fantasy books owned by slain British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell is to go up for auction on Sunday, with the proceeds going to the families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The collection is being offered in an online sale from the Green Brothers bookstore in Tel Aviv.
Ilai Green, who owns the store along with his twin brother Alon-Lee, told The Times of Israel that there are some 700 volumes in the library gathered by avid reader Popplewell.
The auction is to be held online via the Bidspirit website on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Israel time, with a starting bid of $500. Proceeds will go to the families of hostages held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip.
Nadav Popplewell, 51, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nirim on October 7, 2023, along with his mother, Channah Peri.
His brother, Roi, was murdered the same day in the kibbutz during the Hamas-led onslaught, when over 5,000 terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 to the Gaza Strip.
Channah was released from captivity six weeks later.
In June 2024, Israel announced that Popplewell had been murdered while in Hamas captivity. His body was recovered from the Strip by IDF troops on August 19 along with the bodies of five other hostages.
Green told The Times of Israel that a volunteer in the kibbutz recently contacted the store and said that Popplewell’s library was available. Green said he understood that the offer was being made with the blessing of Popplewell’s family and that the kibbutz needed to find somewhere for the books after it cleared out his home.
Under the impression that there would be no more than “a few crates of books,” Green described his surprise when the collection arrived.
“I didn’t know how many there were until they brought in crates and crates,” he recalled.
Green said that while there do not appear to be any collectible items in the archive, it is a “comprehensive” collection of the two genres.
He said the store has already received numerous phone calls from interested bidders.
Staff at the British Embassy were touched by the story, and some offered to contribute to the winning bid in an individual capacity.
Popplewell was seen in a Hamas propaganda video released in May last year, apparently weeks or months after his death, according to the IDF. He is believed to have been killed in Khan Younis in early 2024, although the circumstances of his death are not clear. On Popplewell’s gravestone, his date of death has been left blank.
