Benish, Shlomo (Moni)
Shlomo (Moni), son of Haviva and Yitzhak Benish, was born on 27.4.1921 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. He excelled in his studies at school, but due to financial difficulties he was forced to stop his studies at the Gymnasium and to work in mechanics to help support the family. In the Hashomer Hatzair movement, in which he was a member, his Zionist consciousness crystallized. In 1940 he immigrated to Israel with his family on the ship “Darian B.” He spent a year and a half in the Atlit detention camp and completed his studies with the help of dictionaries in Hebrew and English. After his release he went to the Nitzanim group and worked there for about six months.
For personal and familial reasons he could not become involved in the group’s life, left and began working in a socks factory. With the outbreak of the War of Independence after the United Nations General Assembly Resolution, it was difficult for him when he saw the others who were going to fight instead of him, but his wife and two children needed him home, where he stayed until he was drafted. He served in the Givati Brigade and was sent to protect Nitzanim. The Egyptians realized that this point could serve as the basis for the activity of our forces in the rear and therefore concentrated considerable force in order to conquer it.
The Egyptian attack was launched on June 7, 1948. All the night the army was heavily shelled and the assault began in the morning, but it was stopped by the defenders. The advanced infantry and armored forces managed to penetrate the Egyptian territory and take control. In this battle Shlomo fell on June 7, 1948 and was buried in Nitzanim.
