Brown, Joshua
Son of-Hendel and Shmuel, was born on 28.6.1927 in the city of Lucentz, Czechoslovakia. Old son to his parents. He was educated in the “cheder” and in the elementary school in his town. At the same time, he also learned carpentry. He was 17 years old when the Jews of the city were imprisoned in the ghetto (1944). His parents were taken to Auschwitz and he and his brother were put into labor camps under the command of the Hungarian army. Yehoshua worked on the Russian front and was wounded. With the advance of the Russians, the workers of the Jewish camps were transferred to Germany, where he worked in forced labor until his release by the Americans. In 1946 he immigrated to Israel together with his brothers, often risking their lives by stealing borders. They were among the immigrants of the illegal immigration ship Haviva Reik. When he arrived, he began to work in Pardes Hannah. He found it very hard to learn Hebrew, but he had a great desire. Yehoshua was an active and devoted member of the Haganah, who was kind and Simcha, who loved his carpentry work and his quiet way of life. With the outbreak of the War of Independence, he immediately joined the Alexandroni Brigade and participated in the defense of the Haifa-Tel Aviv highway. After a while he was sent to a sniper course and when he finished the course he was sent to Hadera and from there, with reinforcements to the Mishmar Ha’emek front. He excelled in all battles and operations. On April 13, 1948, he went with his comrades to transfer ammunition from a judge to Ghawiya al-Fawqa, when he was one of the three Operators of the Bren machine gun, was hit in the chest by enemy shells, That same day Joshua was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Afula.
