Atlas, Chaim

Son of Hanna and Menachem-Mendel, was born on July 22, 1930 in the city of Saarbrikan, Saar region, Germany. The family immigrated to Israel in 1936 and settled in Tel Aviv. Chaim graduated from the “Bilu” school and worked as an electrician, was active in the “Young Maccabee” movement, and at the age of 15 he volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces in spite of his youth. Chaim took part in many activities around Tel-Aviv: Tel-A-Rish, Jabalya, and the Jewish National Fund, near Beit Dagon, where he stood with a handful of defenders in the face of fierce attacks by hundreds of gangs who stormed him occasionally to conquer him and control the road to Jerusalem. The defenders of the place were almost cut off from the settlement, barricaded themselves under the ground near the house that was destroyed in one of the attacks and held up heroically. The wireless device that connected the defenders with the staff was destroyed and Chaim repaired it without any devices. He was called to serve as a sniper in the heavy weapons unit of the time: a three-inch mortar. After the breakthrough to Jerusalem he fell ill, recovered and continued his position in the battalion, which in the meantime moved to Na’an and prepared himself for “Maccabi.” Chaim always insisted that he be taken out for action and on the 3rd of Iyar, May 12, 1948, when he heard that they were leaving for Jerusalem, demanded that the liaison officer join him in action. That same day, at 4:00 am. he was hit by an enemy shell near Deir Ayyub and fell. Chaim was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak.