Farhodnik, Bezalel-Meir

Was born on 19.9.1923 in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, and in 1925 he immigrated to Eretz Israel with his family in 1925. When the family settled in Jerusalem he was accepted to the Tachkemoni School, He attended the Beit Hakerem High School and after graduating volunteered for poetry and served in the Haifa area, where he joined the Haganah. He joined the Haganah, worked in the kibbutzim, participated in training and completed a course for commanders in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. Bezalel was accepted to the Technion in Haifa and at the same time served as a guard at night. In 1946 he passed the Technion’s final exams and received a degree in mechanical engineering. He began working at Solel Boneh where he worked until his enlistment. In the Haganah student group he tended to engage in heavy weapons, and therefore enlisted in the Carmeli Brigade, serving in the auxiliary companies. He also excelled in training, thanks to his great agility in practical sport. When they wanted to transfer him to the engineering corps in the army, he refused and said that he was in a combat unit. Bezalel fell on April 22, 1948, the day of the liberation of Haifa. When the enemy’s resistance continued in Beit Khuri, he was sent with his squad to occupy the house. When a grenade was thrown at them, Bezalel took him back to his murderers and saved his comrades – and was killed there. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa. He left behind a wife, Celina.