Blatt, Moshe

Moshe Blatt, son of Chasidish parents, was born in 1900 and from his youth he believed in Zionism despite his father’s strong opposition. He made aliya in 1921 and he worked first as a construction worker and later joined the police, where he served for five years as corporal. During this time, he learned Arabic and English well, and traveled the length and breadth of the country.

and was active in the Land of Israel Movement and in the education of Jewish youth. In 1933 he returned to Israel, first working in Jerusalem and then in Tel Aviv, guarding the “Hatikva” neighborhood, which was then a central target of gang attacks. At the beginning of 1937, Moshe came to the Carmel forests as the supervisor of environmental protection. The conditions of the place were very harsh: the rooms were suffocating and the rain was dripping from the roof. Food supply was also inadequate and insufficient. But Moses accepted everything with love and tried to make life easier for his friends at work and to encourage them. On the 18th of Av 1838 (March 15, 1938), Mishmar, a six-guard under the command of Moses Blatt set out in a car from the Carmel Forests to Haifa, to bring supplies to the area as usual. At about 3 a.m., in front of the entrance to the wadi, the guard was surprised by intense fire from all sides. Moses ordered not to attack, both because of the small number of them and because they were surrounded, because he did not want to leave the wounded and the companies in the car.
The guards continued to defend and return fire until the army unit arrived. Moses and seven of his friends fell after a heroic stand in the battle. He was brought to eternal rest in Haifa. He left a wife in her seventh month of pregnancy and his son bore his name. Excerpts about Moses Blatt were published in a booklet that was published in memory of the fallen of the Carmel Forests.