Starkman, Elimelech
He was born in 1909 in Lodz, Poland. When he was about a year old, he began to suffer from scarlet fever, which bothered him all his life, causing him many problems. Elimelech completed his studies in an elementary school and later studied at the Hebrew Gymnasium in Lodz. In recognition of the necessity and importance of physical labor, he gave up teaching higher education and went to work in a workshop for frameworks. As a youngster, he joined the Hashomer Hatzair movement and later was active in guiding and managing the movement’s summer moshavot. In the summer of 1929, he immigrated to Eretz Israel with his friends in the kibbutz “Shomria” and with them founded the kibbutz “Ein Shemer” near Karkur in Samaria. In the kibbutz Elimelech worked in a metal shop, but he did not make do with this and made sure to improve working conditions in the various sectors of the agriculture. His friends remember his blue work clothes, his slightly swaying walk, his involvement in kibbutz life and his great love for singing in public despite his hearing limitations. He also traveled a lot and toured the country, taking advantage of his annual vacations. In the fall of 1944, he underwent an operation in a hospital in Haifa. On the night of the 26th of Kislev 5706 (26.11.1945), Elimelech was one of the cryptors to break through the siege of Kibbutz Givat Haim in the Hefer Valley. He was also among the seven men whom the British forces opened fire at and killed. Elimelech was buried in the cemetery in Ein Shemer. He left a wife, two daughters and three brothers. Kibbutz Ein Shemer took out a pamphlet in his memory, including writings from Shlomit, his daughter: “To an unknown soldier, if you saw an unknown soldier / my mother’s suffering and two sad daughters, you could not shoot any more.”
