Daam, Ali

Son of Gizela and Eliyahu, was born on 23.6.1922 in Vienna, the capital of Austria. He graduated from high school and studied the upholstery profession. Ali was active in the Hebrew youth movement (the Young Regiment). In 1938, his parents emigrated to Czechoslovakia, and upon the annexation of this country to Germany they were sent to a concentration camp. There, too, he continued to deal with his Zionist activity. In 1939, he immigrated to Eretz Israel as part of Youth Aliya and came to Kibbutz Degania Bet in 1941. When his parents arrived in Israel, he was forced to leave the group in order to help them. He was an active member of the Gordonia youth movement and of the Ha – Po’el troop. At the outbreak of World War II he enlisted in the British Army and served as a driver in a company to transport water on the Libyan front. Ali was wounded on the El-Almin front. After his discharge from the army because of his injury, he began to work as a laborer in the Ata factory in Kfar Ata. He lived in Kiryat Bialik and was an active member of the Haganah. As part of the Haganah, he participated in many activities, such as the immigration of illegal immigrants to Nahariya and the raids on Tamara and Shfaram. In recent years he served as a medic. He was appointed as a roadblock guard and fulfilled his duties faithfully. At the outbreak of the War of Independence he was among the first to join the ranks of the Carmeli Brigade. During the battles for the defense of Ramat Yochanan, in April 1948, he joined the medical service and served as a medic. Eli died on April 16, 1948, in Ramat Yohanan, while he was helping a wounded friend, leaving behind a wife. He was buried in Kfar Ata On the 20th of Kislev, November 20, 1950; he was transferred to eternal rest in the Military cemetery in Nahariya.