Paglin, Neriel (Neri)

Son of Sima and Gershon. He was born on 3.7.1920 in Tel Aviv, where he first studied at the Tel Nordau elementary school, and in 1937 graduated from the Balfour Real School. He was a member of the Hagana organization, first as a liaison and later as a “nodedet” and in guard posts in the settlements. During the bloody riots of 1936-1939, he enlisted in the Naval Guards and was assigned to the moving guard in the lower Galilee under the command of Yigal Allon. He took part in the hikes to Hanita and Ayalon and in securing the construction of the fence on the northern border. When the “Special Night Squads” (SSNS) were established, commanded by Orde Wingate, he joined them and when he was discharged, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was sent to the course of the Hagana commanders in Yavne’el. On October 1, 1939, 43 of his participants were caught by a company of the Arab Book Force under British command and sentenced to various prison terms. Neri, who was not there at the time, was released from prison. He volunteered for the Palmach, took part in training courses and took part in the illegal immigration activities, and in 1941 he was chosen as one of twenty-three young men for an operation later known as Operation Yordei Hasira. On 21 Iyar, May 18, 1941, after weeks of intensive training, the men left Haifa on an engine of the British Coast Police to sabotage the oil installations in the port of Tripoli in Lebanon under the Vichy government. There was an explosion and 23 were killed, including Neri. He left behind his parents, two brothers and a sister, and his name was immortalized in “Secret Shield” and “From his Outing” – a booklet in memory of the students of the Tel Nordau School. The Naval Officers School in Acre is named after the 23 Yordei Ha-Sira. His burial place is unknown.