Engelberg, Bar-Giora (Gigi)
The only son of Esther and David was born on March 15, 1962 in the city of Targumoresh, Romania. His father, a lawyer and veteran Zionist, sent his fifteen-year-old son to Israel in 1938 as part of the Youth Aliya. In 1940, he died from his mother who remained in Romania. Bar-Giora was educated in the “Shfeya” children’s village, was a member of the Nitzanim group and in Kfar Glickson, settled in Tel Aviv and became an expert mechanic. In 1942, he enlisted in the British Army and only in 1946 was he released and returned to his professional work. His father, miraculously saved from the Bergen-Belsen camp, succeeded in arriving in Palestine in 1945 and Bar-Giora was a relief worker. He recently worked for the Israel Electric Corporation in Tel Aviv. In 1948 he joined the Israel Defense Forces, held responsible positions and was sent to an officers’ course. After successfully completing the course he reached the rank of lieutenant. Bar-Giora was exemplary and an example of a soldier who knows his duty. When he came to console him if he felt sorry for the fall of a friend, he told her (in his death): “We must continue our war in order to reach the goal for which it has fallen.” Look, I do not know what a day will bring, but one thing to keep in mind. On December 31, 1948, he embarked on an important military mission to France and in an airplane accident near Rome (near the Italian village of Urbatello). He lost his life together with all the passengers. His body was transferred to Israel, and on the 5th of Adar 5709 (March 6, 1949) he was laid to rest at a military ceremony at the Nahalat Yitzhak military cemetery.
