Kellerman, Menachem

Son of Tova and Isaac, was born on February 9, 1925 in the city of Otwock, Poland. When he was 10, he immigrated to Israel with his parents, who settled in Nes Tziona. He excelled at school in his studies and behavior. When he arrived in Israel he joined Maccabi Hatzair and after a while he moved to HaPoel and for a while served as the secretary of the local branch. Menachem continued to study in evening classes in a high school course and was accepted to work as a postal clerk. When he was 15 he joined the Haganah, took courses and participated in training and training. In 1944 he volunteered for the Jewish Brigade, without permission from the postal authorities. During the period of his service in Italy, Austria and the Low Countries, he participated in the rescue activities for She’erith Hapleitah and in the organization of immigration to Israel. On a picture postcard depicting the heroes of Trieste who fell in the Italian War of Independence in 1918, he wrote to his friends: “There is no good in freedom and liberation, for them are also victims … Israeli history is rich in this … May we soon be able to erect such monuments in our free land “He said. When he returned to Israel, he worked first in agriculture, then studied building-building and worked in the profession. Devoted much of his time to activities in the Hagana and the Young Guard and was elected to its national center. The day after the celebration of the UN General Assembly resolution on the partition of the country into two states on November 29, 1947, he served in the Givati ​​Brigade and participated as a combat soldier in all operations against the gangs in the south. On April 28, 1948, he participated in Operation Chametz to encircle Jaffa, and his battalion attacked Tel A-Rish, conquered the hill and began to establish itself there. The enemy organized quickly and with the help of reinforcements from Jaffa carried out a counterattack. The force, which did not manage to organize itself, retreated under the pressure of the Arab attack. Menahem was wounded in the leg and his friends urged him to leave the battle, but he refused. After putting on his wound he continued to fight until he was hit by a bullet in his head. His last words were: “Give peace home” and fell. His burial place is unknown and a memorial to him was erected in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. In August 2007, in the framework of an investigation into the missing persons in the IDF, Menahem was buried in the Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery.