Shachori (Schwartz), Hillel

He was born in 1913 in the city of Salz, near Kartuz-Bereza, Poland. In his hometown he studied at the “Tarbut” elementary school and after graduating he went to study in Vilna at a teachers’ seminary, also founded by Tarbut. After completing his studies, he began to work as a teacher in the city of Siedlce, where he saw his role not only as a teacher but also as an educator and a friend of children. In the hours following the instruction he organized an evening club for the children. In addition, he founded a Hebrew literature department where he lectured on the history of literature and initiated the publication of a journal of graduates of the school called “Our Covenant”. In 1933 he left the school where he taught and went to the training kibbutz in Grochow near Warsaw, before immigrating to Eretz Israel. In 1935 he was drafted into the Polish army and served there for a year and a half. There he never complained about difficulties but gained experience that he could exploit in the kibbutz. In the autumn of 1936 he returned to the training kibbutz and resumed his social and cultural activities. He organized a choir, held parties and published various publications. He was a model for his friends in the moral virtues he was blessed with, his devotion to others and the perfection he demanded first of all. He was loved and honored by his friends. In March 1938 he arrived in Palestine as an immigrant and joined Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh. These were difficult days for the settlement and the kibbutz, but his spirit was not diminished and his energy did not diminish. On 7 Av, August 4, 1938, he returned with seven friends from their work in a truck to the kibbutz, where the truck boarded a mine that had been planted by an Arab gang, exploded and Hillel and seven comrades were killed on the spot. They are remembered in the book “Days of Ramah”.