Leichter, Zvi-Rachard (Rishak)

Son of Sarah and David, was born on 20.11.1923 in Poland, in the city of Krakow. On October 19, 1946, Zvi and his wife Shifra, whom he had recently married, boarded the illegal immigrant ship “Latrun” on their way to Israel. At the beginning of the War of Independence, Zvi volunteered for the battle and was attached to Battalion 14 in Brigade 1, Golani. After training, he participated in many activities in the northern region, fought in Bethlehem of Galilee, Ein Dor, accompanied convoys in the Jordan Valley, Lubia and more on the way to liberate Tiberias. In June 1948, Zvi’s unit was stationed in the area of the village of Sejera (now Ilaniya) in the Lower Galilee, which was on the front line opposite the Arab “Salvation Army” concentrations in Lubia and Tur’an.To Afula. Already in the first battle, on June 9, Zvi stood out. “Richard showed great courage in the battle from the first moment, the first in the advanced, with a grenade in his hand, quiet and cool, for example to others, acted as an old soldier with absolute confidence.” Such was his behavior on June 11, 1948. That morning the first cease-fire came into effect, the unit was preparing for a vacation, and Tzvi was expecting to meet his wife. In the afternoon the Arabs broke the truce and attacked Sejera, and the squad was called up to defend the settlement. A friend told us: “We came to Sejera under a barrage of fire, and the occupants of the area are occupied by the enemy … Our strength is meager but we must defend ourselves … Richard worked endlessly, as if it were his profession … at 13:00 the enemy used artillery and mortars against us … The fourth shell fell near us and I felt a terrible shock all over my body … I recovered a few moments later and before my eyes, Richard rolled in pain in a puddle of blood … ” Was evacuated to the hospital in Afula, where he died the next day, on the 5th of Sivan, June 12, 1948. He was one of over 45 fighters who fell in the defense of Sejera on June 9-15, 1948. Zvi was twenty years old. He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Afula.