Marcus, Ovadia

Son of Bina and Jacob, was born on February 22, 1913 in Haskovo, Bulgaria, and attended elementary school. In 1932 he immigrated to Israel. During the first years of his life in Israel, he worked in agricultural occupations as well as in paving – a profession that dealt with him in Bulgaria. Afterwards, he was one of the organizers of the “Truck” organization, the “Path”, where he lived in Petah Tikva. He was a devoted member of the Haganah, spent many nights in his service, transferred people to guard the Triangle and participated in all the training. With the blocking of the road to Jerusalem at the outbreak of the War of Independence, he was one of the first volunteers to transport supplies to besieged Jerusalem. In April 1948 he remained in Jerusalem for two and a half months, unable to return home. When he returned from Jerusalem, he was drafted into the army’s transport unit with his car and was one of the convoys to Jerusalem. Ovadia bought him many friends in Jerusalem and bothered to send them food parcels to the extent that amazed his knowledge. When asked, he replied: “I would rather have ten friends than one enemy.” There were many dangers on his head and he was saved – until a shell hit his car near al-Qubab on his way to Jerusalem, and he fell on 9 July 1948. His last words, before he died, were told to his wife: I fell victim not in vain, but for the sake of the independence of my people and the liberation of my homeland. “He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Petach Tikva, where he left a wife and two sons.