Klein, Moshe (“Musa”)

Moshe, son of David and Pearl-Malka Klein, was born on January 28, 1934 in Neruchad, a remote community in Hungary. In 1947, he immigrated to Israel from there. When he reached his destination he began studying in the son of Shemen Youth Village, but then the War of Independence broke out. In January 1952, Moshe was drafted into the IDF infantry brigade, and after completing his basic training he went to a squad commanders’ course. He then completed an officer’s course, completed it in early 1955 and then returned to his battalion. During the Sinai Campaign he commanded the infantry company. At the end of 1959 he moved to the paratroop unit and served as a commander. In 1964 he was hit in the back during a parachute jump and was no longer allowed to jump. At the end of 1965, after graduating from the School of Command and Staff, he returned to the brigade, where he began, as a staff officer. A year later he was appointed battalion commander. At the outbreak of the Six-Day War, Lt. Col. Moshe was the commander of the force that was moving in half-tracks to capture Tel-Fahe. Lt. Col. Moshe organized a relatively small force and charged his head at the target, and after clearing a number of positions he went to the top of the mound to coordinate his forces, was hit by the enemy’s bundle – and fell. It was on the fifth day of the fighting, on the 9th of Sivan 5767 (9 June 1967.) His behavior affected his soldiers who continued the battle and conquered the target in a number of separate hubs. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa and was immortalized in a booklet of the Kiryat Motzkin local council in memory of the fallen soldiers.