Horowitz, Mattityahu

Son of Shoshana and Avraham. Was born on November 13, 1906 in the town of Bibulari, near Iasi, Romania. His father was a town resident and an ardent Zionist, and he worked as treasurer of Ahuza in purchasing land on Mount Carmel for the Jews of Romania. Matityahu attended high school, and later studied at the city’s high school for commerce. He joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. He was elected head of a group and was a member of the leadership of the Jasi clan. In 1927 he went to the hachshara and became the first pioneer of the Hashomer Hatzair branch in the city. From 1928-1929 he served in the Romanian army, and when he was liberated he was appointed a member of the main leadership of the Ha – Shomer ha – Tsa’ir youth movement in Bucharest. As part of his job, he coordinated all activities and contacts with the institutions of the Zionist movement in Romania and its youth movements. In 1932 he emigrated to Eretz Israel and joined Kibbutz C of Hashomer Hatzair, which was then in Bat Galim in Haifa. At that time he was an active member of the Haganah in Haifa. Mattityahu joined a building group but two years later left the kibbutz to bring his parents to Israel and help support them. With his own hands he built their home on the Carmel estate. Afterward he moved to Jerusalem, worked in construction and was active in the construction workers union. Here, too, he continued his vigorous activity in the Hagana, commanded patrol and patrols in Jerusalem. As part of his job in the Haganah, he was sent as a guard to guard the isolated Har Tuv settlement, and later he remained on Mount Scopus. In 1941 he joined Kibbutz Ma’abarot and a year later he was drafted again to the Nutrim corps and served in Emek Hefer. On the 28th of Elul 5702 (September 10, 1942), on his way to Jerusalem he was injured in a car accident and was killed. He was laid to rest at the cemetery in Maabarot. He left a wife and son, parents, three brothers and a sister. His friends and parents put out a pamphlet in his memory. Articles on his personality and history were also published in the journal “Hashomer Hatzair” and in the Romanian newspaper Viata Nostra.