Strauss, Reuven (Rudolph)

Born in Berlin in 1913 to wealthy parents, he was admitted to the Faculty of Law at the University of Berlin and was a member of the Zionist Students’ Union in Germany, and took part in a dramatic band of young actors. He left for training camp at the beginning of 1933 on the farms of the Balsamoja farm near Riga, Latvia, where he continued his training in Germany and completed his training in the spring of 1935. Reuven first joined Kibbutz Givat Brenner, but for various reasons did not acclimatize in the kibbutz. Reuven lived in Kfar Saba and worked in the orchards of the area. He was modest and quiet by nature and was always ready to fulfill every mission he was entrusted with, and was involved in meetings and lectures and diligence on Hebrew studies. They were surrounded by Arab orchards, and only a few brave Jewish laborers agreed to go to work. One day Reuven learned that one of the laborers in the farm had not had the strength and decided to resign from his job. He decided to take his place. On the first day of his work, the third of Elul 5696 (1936), in the midst of the riots of 1936-1939, when the group of workers returned from the farm to Kfar Saba, he was ambushed by rioters. Reuven was seriously injured, transferred to Hadassah Hospital, and on 5 Elul (23.8.1936), died of his wounds and was brought to eternal rest in the Kfar Saba cemetery. Left parents in Germany. Together with him were Baruch Gurevitch, Meir Belkind and Shoshana Lazinsky. The details of the assassination were published in the press period. His memory was immortalized in the book “The Events of 1936-1937,” in the “Kfar Saba Martyrs’ Book” and in the “Boys Book” in Kfar Saba, on the anniversary of his death.