Halperin, Aharon

The only son of Ahuva (Leibova) and Haim, an agronomist who served in a number of senior positions in pre-state and post-state times, was born on March 12, 1925 in Tel Aviv. Aharon was handsome, pleasant and talented, with honor and nobility of soul – a source of love and pride for his parents. Aharon attended elementary school “Beit Hinuch for the children of the workers” and graduated with honors in high school from Mikve Israel Agricultural School. After completing his studies, he enlisted in the British Army and when the Jewish Brigade was established, he joined the ranks and fought in Italy. After the fighting he participated in rescuing survivors from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After the war he went to Paris to study veterinary medicine. Under the guise of his studies, he worked on behalf of the “State in the Making”, purchasing weapons and within the framework of Aliyah Bet. Upon the establishment of the State of Israel, he immigrated to Israel as an escapee on the illegal immigrant ship Ha – Morad. The ship was terribly overcrowded and the Ma’apilim were not allowed to board the deck, and Aharon went down to help and cheer them up. Aharon was drafted and assigned to the newly established navy, and belonged to the IAF landing squad. On the night of July 18-17, 1948, Operation “Death to the Intruder” took place, in an attempt to break through the Negev. For this purpose, the landing company increased the Givati ​​Brigade and was ordered to attack the village of Beit ‘Aafa to the north, together with the Givati ​​company that attacked from the south. The landing company broke into the village and clung to its north, but the attack from the south failed. The Egyptians concentrated their efforts against the landing company that had seized the village and eventually had to retreat. Our forces had many dead and missing, including Aharon. Since several Egyptian soldiers were captured by the Egyptians, his parents refused to believe that their son had fallen in battle, based on the testimony of a Red Cross officer who had seen him in a hospital in Egypt. On 9 October 1949, he and his friends were brought to eternal rest on the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak, where his parents distributed scholarships to outstanding students in agricultural studies at Mikvah Israel and the Ruppin Midreshet. Close friends of the family, the son of Ze’ev family from Sde Warburg, gave their firstborn son the name Aharon, and his name was immortalized in a club for the students of the boarding school in Mikve Israel.