Klein, Yosef-George

Born in Hungary and immigrated to Eretz Israel. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the British Army, was assigned to Unit 608 of the Israel Defense Forces and was sent to Tobruk. On Tu-B’Shvat (12.2.1941), a ship of gasoline caught fire at the port. The entire sea was flooded with flames and the city’s inhabitants were evacuated quickly. The oil ship approached an ammunition ship anchored nearby. Those who were on the Ammunition Ship lost their heads, some ran around on deck and some jumped into the burning water. The fire caught them and they swam to the beach, twitching in pain and crying for help. Yosef, who was standing on the beach, jumped into the water and, being an excellent swimmer, managed to swim quickly toward two young men who were 50 meters from the shore. He grabbed one of them and managed to bring him safely to shore and immediately swam back to the other, even though the fire had already seized him and there was no hope of saving him. He leapt into the flame, hugged the boy, and headed for the beach. The fire caught him too, but he tried to row. Suddenly the two heads disappeared under the water and the next day the bodies of the two men were pulled from the sea. Josef Georg was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Tobruk. His act of heroism was recorded in the pages of the Book of Volunteerism.