Lotker, Zvi (Grisha)
Zvi (Grisha), son of Yaakov and Chana Lotker, was born on 17.7.1901 in the city of Nijin, Russia. He was active in Hehalutz and in Tarbut, and in 1922 he was sent as a delegate on behalf of his city to the Tzeirei Zion convention in Kiev, where he was arrested and sentenced to several years years imprisonment by the Soviet authorities for because of Zionist activities. In 1925 he made aliyah and he began working as a secretary in the Strauss Health Care Center in Tel Aviv and was a member of the Department of Public Health Services. Zvi joined the Haganah and was passionate about speaking Hebrew although he loved the Russian language. He translated Russian military literature into Hebrew. In 1936, Zvi took a course for self-defense instructors and lectured in various places around the country. During the War of Independence, Zvi participated in the defense of the country even though he was above the age of enlistment. Zvi refused to work in the Civil Guard, was a member of the Jewish Brigade, and was among the conquerors of Jaffa, Lydda and Ramle. On the 20th o Adar, March 21, 1949, he fell in the line of duty and was brought to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak. He left behind a wife and two children.
