Bronstein, Shlomo (Solly)

The only son of Zivia and Yehezkel was born on October 6, 1928, in Poland. When he was seven he moved to London, where his father was appointed rabbi. In London he graduated from elementary and high school and studied for two years in Yeshiva near London and for a year at the university. Shlomo excelled in language studies and acquired knowledge in English, French and Hebrew. He also earned a reputation as an athlete and was a sports instructor. In his letters to his aunt who traveled to Israel, he often wrote about his longing for the Land of Israel and his strong aspirations to come and live in it as well. At the outbreak of the War of Independence he threw everything behind his back and through France he arrived in Israel in June 1948 as a volunteer from Machal, and he did not reveal to anyone, even to his parents, that he would object to this because he was an only child. And was assigned to the 1st Platoon of Company B of the Seventh Brigade of the 7th Brigade. His first request from his commanders was that they send him immediately to the front: “I came here to fight the War of Independence,” he said, adding, “If I do not I will live in a liberated country, perhaps Avi and younger sister, for whom I will live, and for the sake of the land I am alive. “Three weeks after his arrival, he was sent to the outposts, on September 7, 1948, In an enemy counterattack, after his unit, reinforced by another platoon, attacked the mountain the previous day with the aim of destroying sniper nests and observers found on it, and captured it. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Nahariya. Left parents and sister.