Segal, Menachem (Mendy)

Menachem (Mendy), son of Batya and Leibush Segal, was born on May 4, 1928, in the city of Piatra, Romania. He received a Zionist education in his father’s house. His father was the head of the Jewish community in his city and one of the heads of the Zionist institutions. Menachem finished elementary school with honors, learned Hebrew and read extensively. In June 1944, after completing high school, he embarked on illegal immigration to Palestine, on a ship called “Balbal”,which was torpedoed on its way by the Germans. Menachem miraculously survived and arrived in Israel. At first he received agricultural education in the kibbutzim, and later he moved to Ben Shemen. Menachem supported his parents, who were preparing to immigrate to Israel. When the battles began in Israel, he was one of the first recruits. Menachem served in the Givati ​​Brigade, and in letters to his parents he expressed his faith in victory. On March 13, a convoy of 12 vehicles was organized to break through the road and bring supplies to Gat and Gal’On. The convoy members opened fire on the Arabs and in this battle he fell, on the second day of Adar II, 5708 (March 13, 1948) and was buried in Gat. On the 23rd of Cheshvan 5705 (15.11.1949), he was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Nahalat Yitzhak. His parents made aliyah two years after his death.