Festing, Dov

Son of Yosef and Gusta. He was born on the 12th of Adar 2, 1919 in the city of Lvov, Poland, where he absorbed a Zionist atmosphere from his early childhood in the small town of Kopichintzi, and during the Second World War he was forced to hide with the other farmers in the area, When the Red Army liberated his native city from the Nazi burden, he volunteered for the Polish Air Force, which was then established in the Soviet Union, in order to avenge the blood of his family, who graduated with honors from the Red Air Force Naval Officers’ Academy. Was active in air battles and bombing, and at the end of the Second World War he was appointed chief navigator of an air force in the Polish air force, The pride in his Jewishness and delivered himself to pilot the Jewish army did not see another way but to defect from the Polish Army, where he served with the rank of captain recently, and on his way to Israel came to Austria, called the Irgun and took pity actively in all activities and preparations. In 1948 he came to Israel on the ship Altalina and immediately joined the Air Force to contribute to this corps from his professional knowledge and his war experience. Participated as a navigator in most of the aerial battles during the War of Independence and was the first to join the permanent army. Participated actively in the Sinai Campaign. In his service he reached the rank of captain. He loved all his knowledge because of his cheerfulness, enthusiasm and devotion to his role. He fell in the line of duty on Tuesday, October 16, 1958, and was put to rest at the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul.