Silberman, Yochanan

Yochanan, son of Edith and Benjamin Silberman, was born on May 3, 1926, in the town of Buzau, Romania. He was from a wealthy family. When he was seven, his mother died. In 1940 he separated from his father and stepmother and immigrated to Israel. As part of Youth Aliyah he worked in Kfar Yehoshua. In 1945 he left the moshav and settled in Tel Aviv to study music.
When the War of Independence broke out, he did not want to remain in the rear, although as a gifted pianist he could have remained. He enlisted immediately in full mobilization, served in the Givati ​​Brigade and was transferred to the besieged kibbutz of Gat and from there to Beit Daras. In the attack on Iraq Al-Manshiya, during an assault, he was hit in the leg. The platoon commander tried to help him and a bomb hit both of them. Yochanan died on the 17th of Tammuz 5707 (July 27, 1948).
Original compositions were found in his estate, including a concert for
the violin, a suite, and a number of songs. Composer Leonard Bernstein praised his extraordinary talent and transferred some of his works to the Voice of Israel in order to make them public. His teacher, the pianist Shmukler-Hess, played his works. On the 17th of Kislev 5710 (8.12.1949) he was laid to rest in the Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery.