Shkedi (Mendel), Simcha

The young son of Chana Leah and Yehoshua Mandel. Simcha was born in Romania, in the city of Maruszewarshary in the Transylvania region on 19 January 1929. A young brother to Moshe Simcha grew up in Transylvania, Romania, and in August 1940, about a year after World War II, The family of Mendel, the parents and their two sons, were taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the parents were killed in the gas chambers, Simha and his brother were transferred to the Dachau camp and survived thanks to ” Close to “the camp authorities – Simcha worked as a clerk in the old camp’s office, and for that reason received another dose In April 1945, towards the end of the war, the Americans liberated the Dachau camp, and the Mandel brothers migrated to Italy, where they boarded an illegal immigrant ship to Eretz Israel. The British sent him to the detention camp at Atlit, where he was sent to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where he was escorted by the Haganah underground. From that moment on, the British wanted to be Simcha. After some time, when he was almost caught by the British after having made contact with his brother who had been in the agricultural school in Magdiel, the principal of the school, Shmaryahu Allenberg, suggested to the two brothers a name: Mendel, which means almonds, Tamari and this would make it difficult for the British to track down them. They did so, and for years the brothers were known as Shakedi and Tamari, even after Moshe changed his name to Moshe Shkedi. In 1947 he joined the police of the Jewish settlements. This force was subordinate to the Haganah, but served under the British until they left the country. Simcha was drafted into the newly established army, fought in the War of Independence and was wounded during the battles, causing injury to him. In 1951 he completed an officer’s course and later served in various positions in the Northern Command, including a 3rd Brigade Officer. In 1951, he married Leah (nee Markowitz). In 1963, Simcha moved to the Central Command, and in the following years served as an officer in the brigade, including the Six-Day War. He served for two years as commander of the Jerusalem district of the Haganah, and in 1972 Colonel Misha was released from the IDF. He continued to serve in the reserves as the Jerusalem City Emergency Officer. After his release, Simcha began to work for the state, at the Transportation Ministry. In 1981 he was one of the founders of the Ministry of Economy and Planning. For many years, he also managed the Central Bureau of Statistics’ nerve center and centralization of data. Simcha died in Jerusalem on November 21, 1992. Sixty-three years old when he died. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem. Survived by a wife – Leah, and an Irish daughter