Shifrovitz, Moshe-Haim

Son of Shifra and Yehiel (Michal) was born on the 11th of Tishrei 5711 (11.10.1911) in the city of Annopol, Poland. As a child, he died from his mother and suffered from scarcity. In 1923 he crossed the border to Czechoslovakia without papers, studied for a while in the yeshiva and excelled in all his studies, but the harsh living conditions forced him to stop his studies. In order to earn a living, he studied tailoring and worked in the profession. In his spare time he was active in Maccabi. During the Zionist Congress held in Prague in 1934, he requested a certificate (immigration permit) from the Palestine office and was not accepted. His brother’s efforts in Israel with the Jewish Agency did not help him obtain a certificate as a professional. In 1936, when the Czechoslovak authorities began to tighten their relations with foreigners, he returned to Poland, settled in the eastern part of the town of Tishin, on the border, married a wife and worked in his profession. He also organized a branch there for Maccabi. In 1939, when the German invasion began, he fled to the Russian part of Galicia and worked in forests on the Finnish border. When the Germans attacked Russia, he was sent to Siberia. After the Stalin-Sikorsky agreement he was hired in an apparel factory. He kept the Jewish spark in the hostile environment, completed his work quota on Friday and kept the Sabbath. On Yom Kippur he went to a synagogue, despite the ban, met senior Soviet Jewish officials there and died of any punishment. After the war he returned to Czechoslovakia, but he could not find his wife and the rest of his family. His relatives in America sent him documents to go to them, but he replied that only one way was before him – the Land of Israel, and even money asked them for nothing but a pair of tefillin. In June 1947, he informed his brother in Israel that he was on his way to Italy, and from Italy he wrote that his son would now be persecuted, and that he would come to participate in this persecution. Indeed, at the end of December 1947 he arrived in Israel on an illegal immigrant ship that brought its passengers to Nahariya. As soon as he arrived he volunteered for the army and served in the “Kiryati” brigade. Participated in the hostilities on the Jaffa border, was hit by a shell and fell on the day of the 22nd of Nissan 5708 (May 1, 1948). He was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak.