Schechter, Shlomo
Son of Feiga and Matityahu. He was born on October 7, 1917 in Khutin, in Bessarabia, to a family of rabbis and ritual slaughterers. He studied at the “Tarbut” Hebrew school and also helped his parents to earn a living. At the age of twelve and a half he left his city and moved to the Vizhnitz Yeshiva in Bukovina, where he studied for six years. Shlomo belonged to Agudath Israel, but his ambition was to immigrate to Eretz Israel and participate in its construction. In June 1939, he arrived in Eretz Israel after many tribulations on the illegal immigrant ship Ester. In Israel, he joined Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi in the Beit She’an Valley and there he did all the farm work, especially in the camp building. Later he became a ranger in the fields. All the while he continued to study Torahh, was careful to get up early in the morning to attend a Gemara class, and also organized lessons for his friends on Shabbat. He also found time to learn Hebrew, English and Arabic, to engage in carpentry and devote himself to renovating and decorating his place of residence and planting a garden around him. With all this he became known for his special affection for nature and being a pleasant singer he would serve as shaliach tzibur. ON 16 Nisan, April 21, 1943, he left with two friends from the kibbutz to guard the farm fields. There, he noticed an Arab cutting short clover in the fields of Tirat Zvi and the three guards began chasing him to catch him. Many Arabs from the area came to the aid of their friend and in the incident that broke out, the two friends were wounded and Shlomo was killed. His body was found the next day and it was determined that his death was caused by blows to the head. He was brought to eternal rest in Tirat Zvi. His name was commemorated in memory pages issued by the Gilboa Regional Council.
