Hollander, Shimon

Son of Necha and Chaim was born on August 11, 1913, in the city of Stanislawow, in eastern Galicia. Shimon studied in Chedar and later became a regular at the Ohr Torah Yeshiva and fulfilled the general studies with the help of private tutors. At the age of 19, he joined the Bnei Akiva movement and after a year he went to the “Avraham” group in the city of Kosov. In 1938 Shimon immigrated to Israel with a group from the hachshara and they joined the “Avraham” group in the village of Pines, where he worked as a teacher, in the orchards and in road construction. He later joined the agricultural company in Givat Ada, and was known as one of the best workers. For about a year and a half Shimon served as a guard in reinforcements for guarding and protecting. He was sent by the Hapoel Hamizrahi groups to the young farm of Sde Eliyahu in the Beit Shean Valley, where he married his girlfriend, Judith, who immigrated to Israel as a member of the hachshara, and eventually had a son and a daughter. And after the liquidation of the group’s vegetable farm on land leased in Karkur, Shimon also went to Kfar Etzion in the wake of the founders and continued to work to prepare the land and participate in the social life of the group. Shimon supported the proposal to transfer the family owners to another place in Israel, and when his proposal was not accepted, he took upon himself his share in the danger and took part in the defense of the place. In the massive attack on the bloc, on May 12 he stood firm against enemy attacks, was hit by shrapnel from the shell in his head and, after being bandaged, returned to his post. On the following day, 4 Iyar 5708 (13.5.1948), Shimon fell on the fall of Kfar Etzion. On the 25th of Cheshvan 5706 (17.11.1949) he was laid to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.