Mali, Yosef
Son of Zippora and Meir, was born on 18.6.1910 in the city of Hamilnik, Poland. At the age of 16, he had already borne the burden of supporting the household. At that time he also served as head of the Hashomer Hatzair branch. On June 1, 1936, he immigrated to Eretz Israel and joined his kibbutz, which initially settled in Nahalat Yehuda and from there moved to the Negev. One of the designers of the kibbutz. A prominent farm man who devoted himself to work in the vegetable garden. After the establishment of the state and the invasion of the Arab armies, the Egyptian army came to the vicinity of Negba and during the shelling, when the garden was destroyed before his eyes, it depressed him. Joseph was one of the security forces in the agriculture and was called to replace Yitzhak Dubno, the commander of the place, who fell during the shelling. Joseph immediately stood at the head of the defenders. Quiet and humble, he walked between the positions, encouraging, reassuring and gaining courage in the hearts of his friends. When the agriculture was concerned with the removal of some of the mother-companies, he objected and demanded that the parents stay on the spot. He would say that the children should be separated from the children and prepared for whatever might happen. And so he did, pain. “I believe that we will stand against them, because we are steel people of the new generation, we will not leave Negba without battle and sacrifice,” he wrote to his sister, a member of Kibbutz Beit Alfa. Joseph persistently demanded that the positions be used for observation and command purposes despite the danger involved. On the 24th of Iyar 5708 (June 2, 1948), during the great Egyptian attack on Negba, he fell in the position, which suffered the most severe fire, giving orders in his section. Joseph was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Negba. He left a wife and a child.
