Katz, Avraham Isser

Born in 1922 in Polangan, Lithuania, to a religious Zionist family, his father, Shmuel Menachem, was the rabbi of the town, and when he was 16 he moved to South Africa alone and lived in Johannesburg with his uncle. He was one of the founders of the” Mizrachi Youth “organization and worked tirelessly to bring Jewish youth closer to religion, and was one of the initiators of Hehalutz in South Africa, the umbrella organization of the Zionist youth movements in that country. He joined the “Abraham Group,” which was named after Rabbi Kook and was founded by Hapoel Hamizrachi as a core settlement in Karkur. In September 1937, following the murder of two Arabs in the area, he was arrested with a group of other Jewish workers suspected by the British of murdering two Jewish workers nearby. Avraham was sent to the Acre prison and was held there for four months, and despite his harsh prison conditions, he encouraged his friends in prison and continued to maintain the religious lifestyle he used to live in. On 2 Tamuz, 1.7.1938, a group of workers in Hanita was attacked by Arabs. One guard was killed and Avraham, who was in the position, was seriously injured. He died of his wounds and was buried in the cemetery in the village of Pines, and after his death he was lionized among the religious Zionist youth in South Africa, and some of them joined the “Abraham Group”. Among them was one of the founders of Kfar Etzion, where a house that served as a temporary prayer house and a cultural center was built in his name. It was destroyed with the entire village during the battles for Gush Etzion during the War of Independence.