Benjamin, Alfred (“Freddy”)

Son of Bluma and Aharon, was born in 1930 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. He attended elementary and high school and studied textile. The five children of the family (three boys and two girls) were educated in Zionist youth movements, and he and his brother and their little sister belonged to the Dror Habonim youth movement. In March 1946, the three of them set out as pioneers of the family, through Yugoslavia to Italy, to immigrate to Israel, with the intention of bringing the whole family behind them. The parents ordered them not to leave all the way until they arrived in Israel. In Italy they were preceded by many as a “Aliyah Bet” and they, because of their youth, were placed in a youth institution of Hashomer Hatzair, without their movement, and during their two years there they adapted to the life and outlook of the institution. In April 1948 he went to a training course of the Hagana underground and when he returned from the course he left his younger brother a kind of “will”, which would also be prepared to sacrifice his life for the Jewish homeland when his turn came. Alfred came to Israel as part of the Gahal party the day after the declaration of the state, and upon their arrival in Tel Aviv they experienced the war experiences when the port was bombed by Egyptian planes, and Alfred was immediately attached to the newly established Brigade 7. At the end of May 1948, The brigade was forced to break through to Jerusalem as part of Operation son of-Nun A. The brigade’s fighters encountered enemy forces and were forced to retreat, and on the 15th of Iyar, (24.5.1948) On the 11th of Adar 5702 (28.2.1950) he was put to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.