Melk, Joseph

Son of Dirmata and Gabriel, was born on 23.4.1925 in Constantine, Algeria. At a young age he moved to France, settled in Paris, studied carpentry and worked there. Everything he earned from his work sent home to support the seven little brothers and sisters. During the Second World War he was drafted into the French army, participated in the victory campaign into Germany and received a medal of distinction (the war cross). A year after his release from the French army, he volunteered for the Israeli army. In the midst of the War of Independence, on July 2, 1948, he immigrated to Israel as a conscript and was sent to the front of Jerusalem. Joseph fell in the position of the comb, in possession of a mine, on the 19th of Av 5708 (August 24, 1948). He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Kiryat Anavim. He did not acquire his education at school, but in the labor and military life. The faith of God, in which he grew up, and the love of the land to which he aspired, were within him. For seven weeks he managed to live in the Land of Israel for which he gave his life.