Lewenthal, Zeev (Peter)
Son of Leo. He was born on November 16, 1921, in Hamburg, Germany. As a child, he often dived in the waters of the Elbe River and thus began his mental attachment to fishing. After graduating from elementary school, his parents believed that their son, who had an evening voice, should study at the conservatory. But Ze’ev, who was already an active member of the Habonim movement and felt the evil winds that had taken place in Germany, chose to study agriculture before immigrating to Eretz Israel. He immigrated to Palestine in 1938 after he had been in a training camp of his movement in Germany. In Israel, he received his training in the youth association of Ashdot Yaakov. He soon became familiar with all his acquaintances for his activity in social life and artistic tendencies, especially in the fields of music and drama. In 1940 he moved to the north of the Dead Sea to participate in the construction of the new “Beit Ha’Arava” site. He was also given the task of fishing, and he devoted most of his time and energy to it. On 13 Kislev, December 13, 1940, less than a year after Ze’ev and his friends moved to the new spot, he and his friend Jacob Lavie went fishing in the waters of the Jordan between the Allenby Bridge and the Dead Sea. They were attacked by Arabs who shot and wounded them with mortal wounds. The two were brought to eternal rest on the hill overlooking the Arava and the Jordan River. He left a father and mother in Chile. Their friends published a special booklet in their memory. One of the companies wrote about Ze’ev: “The Jordan, in which so much a young and dreaming fisherman was connected, also failed … At the last moment he put his trust in his waves and they betrayed him.” The cemetery on the hill was destroyed by the Arab Legion of Jordan, which conquered the Arava House during the War of Independence. After the Six-Day War, a monument was erected there listing the names of all the guards in the cemetery plot of Beit Ha’arava, including the name of Ze’ev.
