Avidor (Hendler), Shimon

Son of Avigdor and Dvora. He was born on June 20, 1913 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, to a religious Jewish home. He studied in a high school and belonged to the Habonim youth movement. He was educated among his brothers, who were the carriers of the Zionist youth movement in their city. After immigrating to Israel in 1929-1930, he remained the driving force in the Hehalutz movement and was liked not only by members of his movement but also by broad circles of religious and assimilated youth alike. His pride in Judaism and his courage in every danger served as a model for his apprentices. In 1934 he immigrated to Israel and became a member of Givat Brenner, where he devoted himself to all the work he was assigned. Served faithfully in the ranks of the Haganah. Was an accountant by profession. He saw the dove as a symbol of freedom and peace and his intense love. He treated this creature very devotedly and as of 1938 his small pigeon loft in Givat Brenner was a great help to the Hagana as a means of communication there. He was drafted into the IDF in 1948, and then, at the height of the War of Independence, he was assigned by the Israel Defense Forces to coordinate, develop and establish pigeons as one of the liaison branches of the IDF. With the few means at his disposal, he overcame many obstacles and succeeded in establishing a suitable branch capable of carrying out important and serious functions within the general framework of the IDF, and in the very act of establishing his new home he fell ill and died on his illness on the 5th of Av, . He was laid to rest in the cemetery of Kibbutz Netzer. He left a wife and a son. On the first anniversary of his death, Kibbutz Netzer published a booklet in his memory bearing his name.