Opher, Dov

Son of Hanna and Eliezer. Was born in 1901 in Zloczow, Galicia, to an affluent family, and in his hometown he acquired his basic education. With the outbreak of the First World War, his family moved to Vienna, the capital of the Habsburg Empire, where Dov continued his high school studies and eventually joined Hashomer Hatzair as a member of the Nesher group. At the end of the war, when he returned home, he founded the Hashomer Hatzair branch in his city. He had gathered many boys around him and despite his young age he bore responsibilities that required responsibility, judgment, quick decision and courage. He also reached a high position among the Jewish public in the city and headed the Jewish self-defense. In 1920 he immigrated to Eretz Israel at the head of a group of Jews he organized and joined the Hashomer movement in Beit Jann. Within a short period of time, Dov became the centerpiece of concentration, due to his rapid adaptability and practical and purposeful approach to every problem he encountered. On the evening of the first of Elul 5690 (August 14, 1920), he returned with his friend to Beit Jann, between Beitnia and Yavne’el, from the Galilee Workers’ Conference as part of the kibbutz mission, Three weeks after his arrival in Israel, a small building of Hashomer Hatza’ir, one of the cornerstones of Kibbutz Beit Alpha, was established shortly afterwards