Osterowicz, Aharon

Son of Chana and Shimon, was born on the 17th of Kislev, December 1, 1927 in Berlin, the capital of Germany, and made aliyah on the ship “Italy” on September 1, 1932. He spent his childhood and studies in the Neve Ilan group, and later in the Masuot-Yitzhak group. After completing his studies and training, he moved to Jerusalem. By day, he worked as a builder, and he devoted the evening to training. He wanted to be an engineer. From the day of the outbreak of the War of Independence, he participated in the defense of the Old City of Jerusalem, and was the deputy commander of the place. Aharon was injured several times, recovered and returned to his post. When the boundaries of the Jewish quarter under severe attack were mined, they were arrested by the British, who wanted to hand him over to the Arabs. A wild Arab crowd charged at him. But his composure and his confidence stood, and he was saved. A British military court sentenced him to prison in Atlit Prison. He was found to be a good and disciplined member of the prison, and they said that his spiritual influence on the prisoners was great. Aharon was an excellent soldier. He would say, “We must not follow in the footsteps of the foreign armies, we must design for our army a popular army figure, a fighter and a builder.” When the British army left Atlit, Aharon was released from prison, and immediately returned to his comrades in the service. He was always in a hurry to fulfill his duties, and refused to accept his family’s request, to rest after being released from prison. His commanders offered him a position in the home front, in training, or in the military police, because of his strength and experience as a sportsman, and because of his comfortable qualities and his attitude toward his fellow man, but he did not agree and joined the Givati ​​Brigade. On the night of June 2-3, 1948, during Operation “Flesh”, Givati ​​forces attacked the Egyptian alignment near the Ashdod Bridge. The assault was halted by heavy enemy fire, and they were forced to retreat. The attack failed, but forced the Egyptians to prepare for the ground, and halted their advance northwards. Aharon fell in this battle, on the 25th of Iyar, June 3, 1948. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in the village of Warburg.