Berkovits, Boris (Berla)

Son of Klara and Zusia, was born on October 29, 1924, in the city of Glatz, Romania, during the Second World War in the forced labor camps in Romania and Italy, where he immigrated to Israel on the illegal immigrant ship “Galila” December 1946. In Israel, he worked in a sugar factory and sent his widow to Romania, where he joined the Haganah immediately and was a member of the Palmach. During the War of Independence he served in the Givati ​​Brigade and participated in all the brigade’s operations until they fell. He fought in Latrun and in the south. In one of the operations he was wounded and lay unconscious for 48 hours. When he awoke, he carried his wounded friend closer to the hospital. Near Tel Nof was injured by a mine, but continued to fight. Was a tall, dark-faced lad. A model soldier, devoted to his mother and helping his friends. He managed to fulfill his desire to bring his mother and the remains of his family to Israel two months before they fell. When his mother warned him of the dangers he faced, he replied: “We have to fight for our country, and when we have our own homeland they will not dare treat us like the Germans did.” On October 19, 1948, at a distance of three meters from an enemy position, an enemy bullet pierced his head and he fell in the occupation of Hulikat during the “Yoav” operation to break through the Negev. He was laid to rest at the Warburg military cemetery.