Rosen, Shlomo

Shlomo, son of Hannah and Naftali Rosen, was born on March 17, 1919 in Siedlce, Poland. In his youth he was orphaned from his mother. Shlomo attended elementary school and Talmud Torah, and as a boy he began to work. Even at a young age, his literary talent was evident. His first articles were published in a newspaper of the Hashomer Hadati movement in Siedlce. He was active in “Hashomer Hadati”.
In 1937, he went to the “Rishit” group near Warsaw and prepared to immigrate to Israel, but in the meantime the Second World War broke out. Shlomo managed to sneak across the border and reach Vilna, where he joined the pioneering camp. He described his experiences in World War II in his book, “In the Avalanche”. In September 1941, once in Israel, he joined the Avraham group in Kfar Pines, worked in the Pardes of Karkur and in the forest in Hadera. In 1942, he married and in spring 1943 he was one of the first immigrants to settle in Kfar Etzion. Shlomo was in charge of the plantation work, active in social and cultural life and in organizing trips. He published articles in the press about the life of the settlers in the mountains and was a member of the Kfar Etzion Committee of Friends. During the siege and the battles in the Gush Shlomo served as liaison until his last minute and did not leave his post. In the last days of the attack, he repaired the antenna of the damaged communications device several times, at the risk of life. Shlomo fell with his friends in the fall of Kfar Etzion on the 4th of Iyar, 13 May 1948. On November 25, 1949, he was transferred to the military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem with the rest of the victims of the Gush.