Stern, Aharon (Freddy)

Aharon (Freddy), son of Francisca and Meir-Max Stern, was born in 1928 in the city of Eisek, Thuringia, Germany. When he was 10 years old, in 1938, his parents immigrated to Israel and settled in Kiryat Motzkin. His father, who worked at the Naaman factory, was wounded and Aharon was forced to help the family and worked temporarily in the school office. He was a member of the youth movement “Scouts”, active in organizing parties and participating in plays of the movement. At the outbreak of the War of Independence he joined the army and served in the Carmeli Brigade. When he went, he said goodbye to his friends and students, saying, “See you in the Hebrew state.”
Aharon was among the convoy escorts in the Western Galilee, between Acre and Nahariya, and participated in the conquest of Tamara. He was then transferred to Yiham. On the afternoon of 16 Adar II, March 27, 1948, a convoy of seven vehicles and 90 people left Nahariya to deliver supplies, fortifications and reinforcements to Yechiam. Near Kabri, the convoy encountered an Arab ambush. The first armored vehicle managed to break into Yechiam, but the rest of the vehicles were ambushed. The convoy members fought until the evening and under cover of darkness some of them managed to escape, but about half of them, Aharon among them, fell in battle. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Nahariya.