Son of Louisa and Jacob. Born in 1923 in the city of Gălţi in Romania, he was the second child of his parents and had two brothers – the eldest Ili (Eliyahu), and the younger brother Sami (Shmuel).
Arieh grew up and was educated in Romania, in his youth he was active in the Gordonia Jewish youth movement.
In 1940, at the age of seventeen, he immigrated to Israel as part of the “Youth Aliyah” by land – from Romania via Bulgaria and Turkey by train, from Turkey via Syria and Lebanon to Haifa by truck, bus and taxi.
When he arrived in Israel, he was sent to Kibbutz Degania A. After a period of training in the kibbutz, Arieh set out in 1943 with a youth nucleus to establish Kibbutz Nir Am in the northern Negev. After a short time in the kibbutz, he was sent to security service. He later joined the Haganah and the Palmach, in which he was a member of the Yedioth Service (SJ) and later moved to the special department in Haifa (which is equivalent to today’s GSS).
Arieh was very active in procurement operations before the establishment of the state, and even hid in Kibbutz Yagur on “Black Shabbat.” He took part in the relief forces on “Bridge Night”, then was on Achziv Bridge, and also participated in operations and operations mainly in the city of Haifa and the Western Galilee.
During the War of Independence, he was a partner in the liberation of the Galilee as part of the Yiftach Brigade, and after the establishment of the state, he was added to the Carmeli Brigade, in which he fought in the Lower Galilee. During his service he was promoted to the positions of platoon commander and platoon commander.
During the battles in the Sajra area of the Lower Galilee (present-day Ilania), which began in June 1948 on the eve of the first truce and ended in an Israeli victory in the ten-day battles in July 1948, a lion was seriously wounded. He quickly turned around thanks to his faithful bitch, told us: “My father had a boxer bitch named ‘Lady’, who was with him all day and night and also during the fights. When he was seriously injured and left in the field because he was considered dead, the bitch was by his side. “And when she noticed a jeep of our forces, she stood in the middle of the dirt road and stopped the jeep. The soldiers who were sitting in the jeep and knew her realized that something had happened and drove after her. And so his life was saved.”
Arieh was rushed in no way to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, was treated but was unable to fully recover from his injury.
After his release from the hospital, he studied accounting and pricing, then worked as an accountant at the Nesher local council, at steel plants in Acre, and as a pricing at the Alliance factory in Hadera.
Arie married Rika, and the couple had two sons – Amichai and Lioz. He was a loyal family man and an exemplary father, a devoted friend and a man who kindly radiated to those around him and helped everyone who turned to him. All his life he has been volunteering, mainly focusing on helping to place new immigrants in jobs in Haifa and the region.
Throughout the years, Arieh struggled with the results of the injury, and every year he had to be hospitalized for several months, sometimes at Rambam Hospital in Haifa and sometimes at Tel Hashomer in the center. Forty-six years old at his death. He was laid to rest in the Haifa cemetery, leaving a wife, two sons and brothers.
Arieh is immortalized in the “Yad Labanim” house in Haifa.
