Hefner, Shimon

Son of Sarah and Eliezer, was born in 1925 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. At the age of 13, he found the way to the pioneer movement – Tzofit Dror. During his studies in high school and his parents’ opposition to his deviation from Hungarian nationalism, he continued his activities and became a counselor and member of the Dror-Habonim Center and worked for the unification of the two movements. During the Nazi regime in Hungary, he endangered himself by underground activities, took part in the smuggling of Jews across the border, and arranged for their accommodation. When he learned of the easing of restrictions on the immigration of youth and children to Eretz Israel in 1943, he organized training groups in his movement, penetrated the ghettos, disguised himself as Christian Christians, and smuggled youths to the big cities and from there to Romania. In 1945 he also immigrated with a group of friends from Hungary as a training nucleus in the Kinneret group. Married a wife and immigrated with his group to settle in Ein Zeitim. Because of a social crisis he returned to Kinneret, worked regularly in the garden of the house, and marveled at his work. Despite the Lev disease that he suffered from his childhood, he volunteered for service at the outbreak of the War of Independence and served in the Golani Brigade. Shimon enlisted to preserve the Jordan Valley bloc. He participated in battles in the Lower Galilee and the Jordan Valley against the gangs and later against the Syrian invader. The Syrians invaded the Jordan Valley on May 16, 1948, took control of several of the area’s outposts, but were stopped by our forces in Zemach. On May 18 the Syrians launched an attack on a plant with the help of artillery and tanks. Our forces did not withstand the intensity of the Syrian attack. At first, the town of Tzemach fell, and finally the police station, and the defenders retreated under Syrian fire towards Degania. In this battle he fell on the 9th of Iyar 5708 (18.5.1948) and was brought to rest in a grave in the military cemetery in Degania A. He was survived by wife-Rika, a sister-Malka and brother Zev.