Jacob, Joseph

Son of Gitel and Israel, was born on May 10, 1925, in a village in the north of Transylvania, Romania, to the family of a blessed Jewish tailor with five sons and two daughters. He completed elementary school and learned crafts like the other brothers. In 1940 the rope was returned to Hungary, and in 1944, with the German occupation of Hungary, the whole family, among other Jews, was transported to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Joseph and his brothers were separated from the family and taken to a labor camp and were subjected to hard labor and starvation. As the Russians advanced, they were taken westward to the Dachau camp, and from there to Mildorf. Joseph fell ill with typhoid fever, and his brother treated him with great devotion, so that he would not be taken for extermination. Shortly after he recovered he was released by the American army, returned to his village, left the Bericha route and returned to the West. Yosef immigrated to Israel in March 1946 aboard the “Tel Hai” ship. He was absorbed in Ashdot Yaakov and began to become involved in society and work. In February 1948 he was drafted into the “Barak” battalion in the Golani Brigade and participated in securing the road from the Jordan Valley to Haifa, retaliating in the vicinity, in the battles of Beit Keshet and Netzer a-Din near Tiberias, and recently in the battle for the quarantine camp in Zemah, (21.4.1948). He was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Ashdot Yaakov. Pages in his memory were dedicated to the book “Our Fallen” by Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’akov.