Ben-Meir, Ben-Tzion

Son of-Tzion, son of Sara-Leah and Meir son of-Meir, was born in 1913 in the Czech Republic. His parents were devout in their religion and he learned in yeshiva. When he was 18, he entered a training camp for Hapoel Hamizrahi and spent about three years there. When it was his turn to go to the army, he said that as long as he lived in the Czech Republic, it was his duty to protect her. He enlisted in the army and did not insist on his right to receive an immigration certificate, even though he aspired to it with all his soul. While in the Czech army, he established a group of Hebrew speakers among the Jewish soldiers. In 1939 he immigrated to Israel as an immigrant. Shortly after arriving in Israel he joined the Palmach and was among its first volunteers. son of-Tzion was one of the members of the “Halachah” Department, Palmach and Hachash fighters who were sent as reinforcements to Gush Etzion after the large attack on the Bloc on January 14, 1948. The fighters departed from Hartuv on the night of January 15-16. Due to the late hour of departure and the difficulties of the road, they were unable to reach Gush Katif in the middle of the night, and were discovered by villagers in the vicinity of the villages of Beit Natif, Jaba and Surif, (“Battle Hill” today). They fought with the masses of Arabs until they all fell in battle on the 5th of Shevat 5708 (16.1.1948). son of-Zion was buried in Kfar Etzion. He left a wife and a two-year-old son. On November 17, 1949, he was transferred with the rest of the fallen of Gush Etzion to eternal rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.