Son of Edith and Yosef Schneerman. Ehud was born on December 25, 1943 in Jerusalem, a younger brother of Dalia. His parents came to Jerusalem from Poland in the mid-1930s. He was a gym teacher and the father was a security man for many years, a member of the Haganah and a major in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army during World War II. At the beginning of the War of Independence, Ehud Katsin’s father was a liaison between the Jewish Agency and the British authorities in Palestine. Ehud was then four years old and experienced the events of the war in Jerusalem: shelling, rationing of water and food, collecting shrapnel of shells and bullets. The events left a strong impression on him, and when he was a son of a security guard, he decided at the time that his mission was in the field of security. At the end of the War of Independence, Yosef, Ehud’s father, was a member of the armistice committee with Jordan. He was later appointed as a member of the armistice committee with Lebanon, so in 1949 the family moved to Haifa. Ehud began his studies at the “Hugim” elementary school in Haifa. When he was about ten, the Paratroopers Brigade was established, and Ehud began to collect every detail about it. On the door of his wardrobe he drew a parachute. At the end of his basic studies, Ehud was accepted as an apprentice to eighth grade at the military boarding school in Haifa. At the boarding school, Ehud found the beginning of the fulfillment of his desires, the combination of army commanders, his military discipline, his dedication to studies and training, and he was determined to succeed in all the tests. At the end of the class, Ehud was standing on the parade ground, looking straight, determined and polished, when he was awarded the outstanding student certificate, while Ehud was a trainee and instructor In the “Scouts” movement, and stood out as a devoted guide who gave his students the values of the love of the Nativity From time to time, he also published articles on education and training, and all of them developed the qualities of leadership and personal example, and throughout his years Ehud was involved in sports, especially athletics, swimming and underwater fishing. He loved the country very much and took a walk in Merhavia – on foot or on a bicycle, always in shorts – and on his travels Ehud combined two more of his hobbies – collecting fossils and photography. From his mother, Ehud enjoyed a special love for art. During his free time, he used to visit exhibitions and museums, loved music and as a teenager established himself a library of folk songs from the United States. Ehud was drafted into the Paratroopers Brigade and was assigned as a squad commander, and his first days in the position were difficult, since his fellow commanders and apprentices saw him as a person who had come from the boarding school directly to the position of lieutenant colonel and had not undergone basic training. He soon became professional, full of leadership and identification with the values of the IDF and gained trust and esteem from all around him. In time, Ehud’s book recorded fifty drops, including free parachutes. Ehud’s talents were identified by his commanders and he progressed quickly; he completed an officer’s course as an outstanding apprentice, was a platoon commander, a company commander, and a company commander. As a commander he took part in many operations, including operations in Qalqiliya and in Samu’a, and his reputation preceded him as a daring fighter and a capable commander. After completing compulsory military service, he continued to serve in the paratroopers. The first parachutist officer, Aharon Davidi, and the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Rafael Eitan, marked Ehud as suitable for special assignments and sent him to a commando commando course in the French army. Upon his return, he was chosen to live in the paratroopsReligion A motorized patrol on armored cars purchased from France. To this end, Ehud studied French in an accelerated course and was sent to France for training on AML armored vehicles. He was joined by a team that was trained in the operation of the armored vehicles, which the IDF received as “Duchifat.” The newly formed unit was adopted by the Armored Corps, and its commanders passed a tank commander course, and Ehud commanded all the soldiers. On their training and formation as a fighting unit, and at the end of 1966 a Duchifat reconnaissance unit was established, and Lieutenant Ehud, the founder of the unit and its commander, stood out as a charismatic and admired commander, and many of them had already said that Kurtz was from the Chief of Staff. In the days of tension before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, the new commando unit had no operational role. On the first day of the war, June 5, 1967, the battles broke out in Jerusalem, at which time the border between Israel and Jordan crossed, and the commando unit was assigned to combat units. A platoon headed by the deputy commander was attached to Brigade 4, and the rest of the command unit was attached to Brigade 10. The section of the brigade was north of the Jerusalem Corridor and its missions – blocking forces coming from Jordan, and breaking into the Israeli enclave on Mount Scopus. Captain Ehud fell in battle on the second day of the Six-Day War, 27 Iyar 5727 (6.6.1967). The night before, the armored vehicles of the Duchifat patrol advanced alongside the tanks on the rocky road north of Jerusalem, and at the dawn of the second day of the war they reached the top of the mountain in the Tel al-Ful area on the Jerusalem-Ramallah axis (now Pisgat Ze’ev). Upon arrival, they received reports of the progress of a Jordanian armored brigade east of them and the commander of the brigade ordered the Duchifat reconnaissance unit, which was at the head of the force, to set up a position to stop them. Ehud Peres deployed his troops and began shooting at the Jordanian “Patton” tanks. A shell fired at Ehud’s armored car, while maneuvering to a dominant position, he and the gunman were killed on the spot. Ehud was twenty-three years old when he fell. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Survived by parents and sister. Ehud is commemorated in several ways: The Jewish National Fund planted the “Four Grove” in the hills of Jerusalem, in memory of four officers who fell in the Six Day War – and Ehud among them. The Ehud Prize was given annually to an outstanding student at the military boarding school in Haifa. A memorial film was produced by the Paratroopers Association. In 1988, the book of Moshe Gershovitz, Arieh Hashaviya and Yosef Eshkol was published: “With full faith: the story of the Dukifat boat and its commander Captain Ehud Shani.” In the area of the Danny Hay Park in Caesarea, which commemorates the fallen graduates of the military academy, there is a shooting range established in memory of Ehud, who dealt a great deal in shooting. Ehud’s name is commemorated in a number of memorials commemorating the fighters who fell in Jerusalem, among them: the memorial site at Ammunition Hill. Ehud’s father was the webmaster until his death. A monument in a public park on Givat HaMivtar in Jerusalem in memory of the twelve fallen soldiers of the Duchifat reconnaissance unit, among them Ehud, who fell in the Tel al-Ful area during the Six-Day War. A monument in the archaeological park in Givat Ze’ev in memory of all the fallen soldiers of the Duchifat reconnaissance unit. The monument was moved here from its original location, the battlefield at Tel el-Ful. Nearby is a street named after the unit – Sayeret Duchifat Street.
