Bahem, Ephraim (Walter)

Ephraim (Wally) Moritz, son of Devora and Erich, was born on ther 27th of Tishrai, October 7, 1923 in Berlin, the capital of Germany. In 1934, at the age of 11, he immigrated to Israel. During the 1936-1939 riots he began to work as a warden at the central hospital in Afula. During the Second World War, he volunteered for the British Army, served two years in the Jewish Brigade as a corporal and reached the Low Countries. Upon his discharge from the British Army he returned to Afula and was the driver for the hospital’s first ambulance. He was very much liked for his kindness, his gentleness and his willingness to help anyone. In the winter of 1948, he was involved in transporting the wounded casualties of the Arab attacks, and he was not afraid to go to the firing zones. He was on the brink of getting married and beginning to build a Jewish home, but he decided to take part in building the security, independence and peace for all of Israel. Upon discharge from the Israeli Army, he volunteered as a paramedic in the Golani Brigade. Ephraim fell on the front in Mishmar Hayarden on the 30th of Sivan, 11th of June 1948 while aiding a wounded soldier. The next day he was buried in Rosh Pina. On the 30th of Sivan, June 23, 1952 he was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Afula.