Meliach, Shimon

Shimon, son of Chana and Yechiya Meliach, was born on Tisha B’Av, on August 12, 1902. He immigrated to Israel on a Pilsua ship in 1924 and established his residence in Jerusalem, where he studied religious-traditional education. He was one of the founders of the Nahlat Achim neighborhood and one of the first organizers of its civil service, and in the years 1936-1939 he joined the Haganah and served in the guardianship of the Jerusalem school districts. With the outbreak of the War of Independence, he was recruited to the “People’s Guard” in Jerusalem and held guard positions in the camp. Shimon was one of the convoy members who boarded the Mount Scopus convoy on April 13, 1948. The road to Mount Scopus passed through the Arab Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and when the war broke out, the movement was allowed to mount convoys secured by the British army. On the morning of April 13, 1948, a convoy left for Mount Scopus after the British promised the road was open and safe, and the convoy encountered an Arab ambush in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. For many hours the convoy members fought and tried to prevent the Arabs from approaching the vehicles. Only late in the evening did the British intervene and rescue the survivors from the trapped vehicles. Shimon was brought to eternal rest in a mass grave in Sanhedria in Jerusalem.