Stark, Joshua (Shake)

Son of Riva and Israel, was born in 1920 in the town of Beresteczka, Poland. From his childhood, he was educated in the spirit of Zionism. He studied at the “Tarbut” Hebrew school and aspired to immigrate to Palestine with members of Hechalutz. Joshua went through the horrors of World War II in Europe. He was a soldier in the Russian army, participated in battles and conquests, and was one of the first to enter occupied Berlin. At the end of the war, he boarded the illegal immigrant ship “23 Yordei Ha-Sira” and was deported to Cyprus, where he met with his cousin, Daughter of-David, who had survived. And in his letter to his cousin in Jerusalem, he expressed his willingness to enlist without hesitation and his concern for her and her family, the inhabitants of Jerusalem.Joshua was in the Palmach and was among the first to fight in the occupation Haifa, Acre and Malha. He was sent to a hospital in Safed where he died of his wounds on July 13, 1948. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Safed.