Bankier, Shlomo

Son of Chaya and Yehoshua, was born in March 1911 in Poland. After finishing high school he was sent to Belgium to study the diamond polishing work. Despite the prospects for a well-being, he decided to immigrate to Israel together with a training group of Hashomer Hatzair from Belgium. In 1935 he arrived in Israel and joined Kibbutz Mizra in the Jezreel Valley. From the day he arrived in Israel he was a member of the Haganah and participated in the defense of Mizra and Petach Tikvah in the events of 1939-1936. He was rescued from a large and extensive family that was annihilated by the Nazis who conquered Poland during the Second World War. Together with his wife, he settled in the Geva neighborhood of Netanya, where he worked since then – polishing diamonds. He was one of the first to enlist in his age group and served in the Alexandroni Brigade. On 15.8.1948, on his way with his operations officer to a tour of the outposts between Kfar Yona and Kakon, their car was placed on a mine and two days later on August 17, 1948, he died of his wounds and was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Netanya