Schatz, Marcel

Son of Sophia and Raphael, was born on December 8, 1922 in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. After completing elementary school, he learned the profession of furrier. When World War II broke out, with the German invasion of Belgium – and he was a soldier in the Belgian army – he managed to evade his pursuers and join the French underground. Once the FBI discovered him and was almost caught, but managed to steal the Spanish border alone. Where he was arrested and held in prison for a month, but was released through the mediation of the Belgian Consul. When the opportunity arose, he went to England to join the free Belgian army there, but in the middle of the road he returned to Israel. Marcel boarded the ship “Nyasa” and arrived in Israel on 1.2.1944. Upon his arrival he settled in Jerusalem and married a wife. His parents, who stayed abroad, urged him to return to them, and he agreed to visit them for a short visit, but in the meantime the War of Independence broke out and he postponed his trip out of his concern for the homeland. “I have to stay here until the final victory, the victory of the Jews of the whole world,” he said. Marcel was one of the first to join the army, served in the Golani brigade and participated in the battles of Gesher, Zemach and Degania. In Degania he managed, with another friend, to catch an Arab armored vehicle. Won a number of vacation days in Nahariya where he learned that his unit was going to battle for Lubia. He was in poor health at the time, but he volunteered immediately for an action that all his friends took part in. The village of Lubia was one of the most important enemy strongholds in the Lower Galilee – it blocked the road to Tiberias and could serve as a springboard for an attack in the direction of Afula. On June 9, Golani forces attacked the village from the direction of Sajara, and another force, in armored vehicles, moved along the road from Tiberias. The attacking force encountered fierce resistance from the enemy, who even sent reinforcements to the area. The battle was fought until nightfall and finally the forces had to retreat. And was seriously injured in the attack, was transferred to a hospital and died a week later on the 16th of June 1948. He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Afula, leaving behind a wife.