Ratzon, Yosef
Son of Leah and Moshe. He was born on 14.12.1918 in the Neve Tzion neighborhood of Rishon Letzion. He studied in the “Mori” cheder in the neighborhood and afterward at the Haviv school in the moshava. Yosef excelled in his studies and was also of great physical fitness. He played as a Maccabi Rishon LeZion player, excelled in pole vaulting and a lot of sailing on surfboards at Tel Aviv’s beach. He also had musical talents,he played a harmonica, sang and even wrote poems. After graduating, he decided to help support his family. In the winter he worked in orchards of the settlement as Erez Perry and as manager of a packing house and worked in the building during the summer months. He was loved by all, cheerful, with a sense of humor, courageous and energetic. During the years of the bloody riots of 1936-1939 he joined the Haganah and among his other activities in Israel took part in the maintenance of Rishon leTzion. He married a wife from Jerusalem and a short while later, on the night of the 11th of Tevet, 1939, he celebrated his twentieth birthday. In the middle of the joy he stood up and said, “Go on until morning,” and went out to do his job guarding the Neveh Zion neighborhood. That night when he was on duty, he was shot from ambush and killed on the spot. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Rishon Letzion. He left a wife, parents, two sisters and a brother. A list in his memory was published in Davar and in the book “Rishon Lezion 1882-1941”. A monument was erected in his memory and a public park was planted in his honor in the Neve Zion neighborhood.
