Koenigsberg, Shmuel

Son of Utah and Zvi, was born on July 10, 1919 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. As a child, he was circumcised by his parents and educated in the home of his older brother. After graduating from elementary school, he studied at the weaving school in Kazemrock, but he tended to mechanics and began working as a locksmith. Under the influence of his religious environment, he joined the “Bnei Akiva” movement at the age of 15, and from the beginning of 1936 he was in the labor and training companies in Vilna, Prague and Bratislava. During the Passover holiday of 1939, after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in Aliyah Bet, where he joined the “Avraham Group” of HaPoel Hamizrachi in the village of Pines and worked in the orchard, the building and the quarry. He was a cheerful, open-hearted, honest man who was good at helping and encouraging every member, loved sports and hiking, went through defense training and was in the army. In July 1941 he volunteered for the infantry in the British Army and served there for five years in Israel and Libya. With the establishment of the Jewish Brigade (the Brigade) he was attached to it, fought in its ranks as a gunner and participated in its operations in Italy as a motorcycle rider. He also participated in helping the refugees in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. After World War II he went to Czechoslovakia to look for his relatives. Found his sister and her family and did not rest until he brought them to Israel and helped them settle in it. All his years in the army he was connected to the movement and his group, which had meanwhile moved to Kfar Etzion. During his vacation, he was informed that he would soon be released, and when he was discharged he worked in various jobs in the group and eventually worked in driving, a profession he had learned in the brigade. The War of Independence led to water and supplies from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, and he said, “We must prepare supplies as long as possible and we must not show fear.” His only concern was that he would have his own “tool.” On December 11, 1947. He drove to Gush at the head of a convoy (an “Enrichment convoy”), 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem, were arrested by a stone barrier erected on the road and Hu Capo difficult. Shmuel was wounded among the first, but restrained his pain and asked: “Quiet, friends … They answered with fire … I can not, get my blood …” and died on the spot. On the 17th of Cheshvan 5710 (17.11.1949) he was transferred to the eternal military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.