Schwartz, Rina

Daughter of Gela and Haim was born in March 1928 in the city of Scenic, Galicia, and immigrated to Israel in 1939. Rina studied at a girls’ agricultural farm in Jerusalem and later in the nursing school in Hadassah, where she completed her studies as a registered nurse. During the Second World War, she volunteered for the British Army and served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (CA.TS). During the War of Independence, she worked with all her energy and devotion. On the morning of 4 Nisan, April 13, 1948, a convoy left for Mount Scopus, after the British promised that the road was open and safe. The convoy encountered an Arab ambush in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and hundreds of Arabs hurled heavy gunfire at it. Some of the vehicles managed to get out and return, but two buses, an ambulance and an escort escort were caught in ambush. For many hours the convoy members fought and tried to prevent the Arabs from approaching the vehicles. Fire from our positions in the city and Mount Scopus, as well as armored vehicles sent to the area, failed to help the convoy. British military forces in the area did not intervene and did nothing to help, despite appeals to them. In the afternoon the Arabs managed to set fire to two buses on their passengers. Only in the late evening did the British intervene and rescue the survivors from the trapped vehicles. Rina was among the fallen and brought to eternal rest in a mass grave in the Sanhedria cemetery in Jerusalem.