Ben Aryeh, Shmuel

Son of Otilla and Joy. Shmuel was born in Romania on June 5, 1925. He attended elementary and high school there. He immigrated to Israel in 1941 as part of the Youth Aliya, and since then he has separated forever from his parents and family. In Israel Shmuel arrived at Kibbutz Ginegar, where he graduated from high school. He later joined a group whose goal was to settle the Negev and was one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Am. During the War of Independence, during the difficult battles in the Negev and Nir Am, he served as a weapons and combat guide. He was also one of the founders of eleven settlement sites in the Negev – Homa and Migdal. In 1949 he was one of the founders of Moshav Yogev in the Jezreel Valley and served for many years as a moshav in Moshav Shmuel completed his officers’ course in the IDF in 1950. He served for a year in a regular army unit and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant. In 1954 he was asked to enlist in the Border Police, which was at the beginning of his career. He served as a district commander and later volunteered to serve as the commander of an operational division in Beit Shean. Wherever he served – Megiddo, Beit Shean, Afula – adapted to the environment in a quick and good manner. In September 1959 he became company commander. Shmuel was a model father and loyal to the family. Shmuel’s hobbies were stamp collecting, reading, woodwork and trips in Israel, community volunteering and helping others in every way. He was a human being and a model of his family and acquaintances, loved and admired for his special character. On Tuesday, June 28, 1960, during a tour of the settlement hill of Tel Katzir, together with other policemen, at the time of the exchange of positions, a fire was opened at a Syrian post, a bullet penetrated Shmuel’s belly and he was killed. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Afula, leaving a wife and two children.