Yulia Didenko Lamai, 31: Bon vivant who easily laughed and smiled
Murdered by Hamas terrorists while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on October 7
Yulia Didenko Lamai, 31, from Ariel, was murdered by Hamas terrorists while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on October 7.
According to her family, she left the party via car with two friends — Bar Lior and Idan Shtivi — at the start of the attack. All three of them were shot dead along the highway. A year after the attack, Idan’s family learned that his body was kidnapped to Gaza.
For a week, Yulia’s family searched for any news, until they were informed that her body had been identified.
She was buried in Ariel on October 15. She is survived by her mother, Svetlana, and her step-siblings.
Yulia was so excited for the festival, posting an Instagram story online just hours before she was killed, showcasing her festival attire with the caption “Happy Nova holiday.”
Her friend, Coral Biton, wrote on Instagram that “our Yulia was full of love and joy, always made sure that those around her would be happy and laughing, she was an angel even when she was still alive.”
“She always loved to go out and dance and enjoy life, who could imagine that this is how she would also die?” she continued. “Even in her last moments, in our last conversation, minutes before she was slain, she laughed with me that I wouldn’t believe she had broken her phone again… it felt like she knew these were her last moments, and she chose to laugh and smile because that was Yulia, no matter what she would laugh and take life easily.”
Yulia’s childhood friend, Angelika Riben, recalled on Facebook long-ago memories of “sitting at the same table in elementary school and swapping markers,” or “building tents in each other’s houses while our mothers complained that we were ruining the whole house with our ideas.”
Angelika recalled “our tone-deaf renditions of Mizrahi music which you loved and I couldn’t stand, coordinating our outfits for Purim every year, our endless messaging on ICQ, the phone bill we would rack up with our long calls… it was so long ago but it feels like yesterday.”
Her step-sister, Ortal Martziano, wrote on Facebook marking a year since Yulia was slain.
“We’ll always remember your beauty and your simplicity, the holidays together, particularly the last one of us all together,” she wrote. “It was on Rosh Hashana, you arrived first and as usual offered to help set the table.”
“We’ll remember your smile, your joy and laughter, your patience for our kids who loved you so much… Yulia, a year has passed, and with it thoughts about everything you didn’t get to do when your life was cut short. You are the most beautiful flower in the garden. A hole has been torn in our hearts in the shape of you. You are missed.”
