Ptzanowski (Gavish), Mordechai

Son of Yonah and Yehuda, was born in 1899 in Lodz, Poland, to a Hasidic family. On November 20, 1934, he immigrated to Eretz Israel and worked at the “Lodzia” factory in Holon. At the beginning of 1948, he left his job and served as a guard at the mental hospital in Bat Yam. When things got worse there the security services suggested that he move to a safer place, but he refused to leave. He fell while guarding his post on the eve of Pesach, 14 Nissan 5708 (April 23, 1948). He was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak. He left a mother, wife, Tova and two children.