Kopelowitz, Yosef

Son of Leah and Shlomo-David, was born in 1931 in the city of Poltosk, Poland. He studied in an elementary school and lived abundant and spacious life in a wealthy parents’ home. At the beginning of World War II he went with his father (wounded in his service in the Polish army), his mother and his little sister in the refugee route to the Russian occupied territory. In the Russian Diaspora, the boy worked hard in helping his mother work for the agriculture of the sick father and sister. When the father and Polish institutions were established in Russia, the boy was accepted into a school for refugee children. In 1946 he returned with his parents on the repatriation route to Poland and the family settled in Szczecin (formerly Stettin). Desiring to immigrate to Palestine, he wandered through DP camps in Germany, joined a Zionist pioneering training commune of Hashomer Hatzair and traveled to France as well. He boarded the ship “Exodus” and traveled through Port-de-Bauch to Germany, and during the identification order of the returnees in the Papandorf camp, a secret order was given to the illegal immigrants, who presented themselves with false names. When he arrived in Palestine in January 1948 and found her in a state of war, he felt compelled to join the ranks of the defenders immediately, even though he was not yet 17. He volunteered for the Harel Brigade of the Palmach, And trained at the Kiryat Anavim base. Went to his first “baptism of fire” in the battle for Nebi Samuel. Towards the end of April 1948, a “Yevusi” operation was carried out in the Jerusalem area, intended to create a territorial contiguity within the city and between Jerusalem and the northern communities. For the purpose of the operation, the Harel Brigade was transferred to Jerusalem and on April 22-23, 1948, its forces attacked Shuafat, Beit Iksa, and Nabi Samuel. The force movement to Nebi Samuel took a long time and the assault began at dawn. In the face of the enemy fire, the force was forced to withdraw and in the difficult retreat in broad daylight there were many casualties. This battle fell on the 14th of Nissan 5708 (April 23, 1948). He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Kiryat Anavim.