Bula, Alexander (Alex)

Was born on October 10, 1921, in the city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where the Jewish neighborhood where he was born and grew up was populated by hard-working people, among them Alex’s father, who barely supported his family with many children by selling fish In the most prestigious areas of the city, a handcart that pushed all over the city with the help of Alex or one of his brothers, the family was a religious family that was meticulous in their mitzvot, and after eight years of study at the Talmud Torah he learned tailoring in order to acquire a profession and help with the household agriculture. Where he was also an excellent football player.According to the outbreak of World War II and the German invasion of Holland, Alex’s father was kidnapped in the street by the His mother and some of his brothers found refuge with Christian families and Alex and two other brothers were granted permits to perform forced labor in Germany under the guise of Christians, and during the war Alex worked with a German farmer without knowing what happened to his family, as they knew nothing about him. 1945, when the Netherlands was liberated from the burden of the Nazis, Alex tried to return to his homeland but because of the problem of stuttering was suspected by Dutch border guards at the border with Germany that he was a Dutch collaborator with the Germans and therefore did not allow him to return to his country. With the help of the International Red Cross, he returned to Amsterdam where he discovered that many of his family and friends had perished in the Holocaust. Alex realized that the Jews had no future in exile and in July 1946 immigrated to Israel, settled in Tel Aviv and worked as a tailor. At that time he joined the Haganah. During the War of Independence, Alex enlisted in the IDF as a combat soldier in the Oded Brigade and participated in Operation Brosh, whose goal was to destroy the bridgehead of the Syrian army in Mishmar Hayarden. The battle was successful, but on the following day, on July 10, 1948, our forces were attacked by a large and well equipped Syrian force, who were forced to retreat. 1948), his body was found and he was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Rosh Pina, after which trees were planted in the forests of the Jewish National Fund and one of his nephews was named after him.