Damst, Yosef

Son of Miriam Chaya and Chaim, was born in 1919 in Tarnow, Poland, and grew up in a religious and traditional home. In the Hebrew Gymnasium in his city he was educated as a national educator and was a member of the Hashomer Hadati youth movement. When he completed his studies, he prepared to immigrate to Israel, but the Second World War broke out, preventing him from doing so. Together with his comrades he fled to the Soviet-occupied zone in Poland and from there moved to Vilna, which was in the hands of the Lithuanians. In 1941 Yosef finally managed to reach Palestine. After a short stay in the religious group “Avraham” Yosef began to study at Hebrew University. Here he joined the “Yavneh” student group, which set out to the Old City to raise the level of its old settlement. Yosef devoted himself to educational activity among the youth, took a course in camp counselors and organized a youth club. He was deeply religious and tolerant of people who behaved differently.
Yosef tied his fate to the fate of Kfar Etzion. In 1946 he married and, after completing his studies, settled permanently in the village. Was appointed to serve as a regional guide to the orchards of the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency. Yosef was a member of the Haganah since his arrival in Jerusalem and participated in defending the bloc from the first day of the war until the last day of the campaign. During the siege, Yosef undertook the task of organizing extensive and varied cultural activities in Kfar Etzion to an extent that was not common until then in the Gush. This action helped to encourage the spirit of the members of the besieged Gush. In addition, Yosef was an active member of the “Halachic Committee” whose task it was to investigate various questions that arose frequently because of the siege and the needs of the war. On the 4th of Iyar, May 13, 1948, he fell at his post during the last attack on Kfar Etzion, when the village was conquered by the Legion and local Arabs. He left behind a wife and a child. On the 25th of Cheshvan 5710 (November 17, 1949) he was laid to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
For complete memorial, see Hebrew biography.