Geron, Eli (Lico)

Son of Sara and Yitzhak-Moshe, was born on the 3rd of Iyar, 5688 (February 3, 2828) in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. He studied in a Hebrew primary school and later in a Bulgarian high school but stopped his studies in the middle because he wanted to arrive as soon as possible in the Land of Israel. Eli joined Aliyat Hanoar when he was 16 and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1944. Upon his arrival he was sent to Kibbutz Geva and two years later joined together with his girlfriend, Kibbutz Urim, and was one of the first settlers in the Negev. Then he was drafted into the 8th Battalion of the Palmach’s Negev Brigade. On the night of July 17-18, 1948, Operation “Death to the Intruder” was carried out with the aim of breaking through the Negev, as a matter of fact for the upcoming truce. As part of the operation, the Negev Brigade was forced to conquer the Qawhba and Julikat outposts. The attack failed and the forces were forced to retreat. On the 18th of Tammuz 5708 (18.7.1948) fell to me in the battle for the strongholds of Kokhba near Julikat; It was his first and last battle. He was buried in a mass grave at Kibbutz Ruhama. Shortly after his fall, his parents arrived in Israel. At his mother’s request, he was transferred to the military cemetery in the village of Warburg on 26.6.1950. His friends published a booklet to remember him revealed to me as a strong person both in body and personality, which places optimism and calm on his surroundings. His hobbies were dealing with mathematical and physical problems.