Reiss, Rafael

Son of Miriam (Helena) and Abraham. He was born on August 11, 1914 in Budapest, Hungary. His father was the manager of a farm, and the free nature of the children of the village left their mark on Raphael. In 1919, the family relocated to Slovakia, to the town of Nova Zamki, where Raphael attended elementary school and completed high school. In 1932 he was admitted to a university in Bratislava, joined the “Ben-Guria” Zionist Student Union and became one of its main pillars and activists of the Zionist movement in Slovakia. He ran an Aliyat Hanoar preparatory camp, was in charge of a camp of graduates of the movement and served as the secretary of the training commune in Yarava. In October 1939 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and joined the Slovakian nucleus for training at Einot, where he stayed for about a year. This group completed the Huliot group that settled in the Hula Valley (later Sde Nehemia). Raphael was a member of an exemplary group dedicated to any responsible and difficult role. In December 1943, he volunteered for action behind Nazi enemy lines aimed at assisting the Jews of Slovakia. In April 1944, a paratrooper course in Ramat David took place, and in September of that year he took off with two other paratroopers to Slovakia. After he landed safely at the destination, he was the commander of a group of Jewish partisans in Bukovina, but he was wounded in the German attack on the camp and his paratroopers Zvi Ben Yaakov and Haviva Reik were captured. They were taken to the prison in Banska-Bystrica and shortly afterwards they were taken to Kremnica and on 2 Kislev, November 20, 1944, they were executed by shooting. Rafael’s body was buried in a mass grave near Kremnica, and in 1952, he was laid to rest in the paratroopers section of the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. He left a wife and daughter. A pamphlet in his memory, which included the words of friends about his image: “Very rarely one man blends intelligence, every sharp intellect and courage are insensitive … ” was published. His name was also immortalized in the books” To Fire Brothers”, “Secret Shield”, “History of the Haganah” and more.