Aziz, Nissim (Zayit, Ziss)

Nissim, son of Joya and Jacob Aziz (Zayit, Ziss), was born on October 7, 1930 in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. On October 13, 1934, he immigrated to Israel with his parents who settled in Tel Aviv. On the 22nd of Kislev (December 5, 1947), when a large Arab gang from Salameh was plotting to attack the neighborhood Hatikvah, the commander asked five volunteers to go to the mid-level orchards, to purge them from rioters. “If this is a job that requires action and demands heroism,” Nissim said, “I will go but if not, I have no desire to go.” After the commander confirmed that this was indeed a “job”, Nissim was the first to volunteer. In the face of intense enemy fire, he and his friends barricaded themselves near the wadi and they returned fire. Nissim was wounded in the head and rolled into the wadi. An armored car arrived and the British police also opened fire on the defenders. Nissim’s friends were forced to retreat without him. He was hit by a British bullet and killed, 22 Kislev (5.12.1947). His friend Micha Fisher, who volunteered to rescue Nissim, was also killed. After the British left, Haganah reinforcements came and took over, and the bodies of the two comrades were rescued. There was a large funeral and he was buried in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak.