Tomashoff, Felix Shimshon
Son of Chaya (Johanna) and Joseph, was born on May 26, 1927 in Vienna, the capital of Austria, but his parents’ residence was in the city of Brno, Czechoslovakia. Where he attended elementary school and later in the Gymnasium of the Jewish community. After the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, his parents sent him with his two younger brothers in early August 1939 to London. In December 1939, his parents immigrated to Israel, but because of the war they could not bring their sons with them. At the beginning of the Second World War and the German bombing of London, he and his brother and all the pupils in his school were transferred from London to Bedford. Samson was handed over to a Christian family, quickly learned English and two years later, when he finished elementary school, took the first place in the examinations, which earned him a scholarship to continue high school in a technical course. Because of his foreign citizenship, he could not enjoy the scholarship and began to work as a apprentice in a large building and hardware trade house, but continued to study at evening classes. At the age of 18 he was in charge of one of the divisions in the business. During his six years in Bedford, he continued to maintain ties with Judaism by visiting Jewish families and through the Jewish Youth Club, where he served as a member and later served as its chairman. Shimshon was an active athlete and won the Ping Pong City Championship. For a while he was also the head of his club’s soccer team. In November 1945, the parents succeeded in bringing their sons to Jerusalem. Where Shimshon began to work in a profession that he specialized in in England and progressed quickly in his knowledge of Hebrew. When he found no satisfaction in his work, in the summer of 1946 he moved to work as a civil servant in a British military camp near Gaza. This work satisfied him, but because of the lack of chances of tenure he moved in February 1947 to work at the Barclays Bank in Jerusalem. In December 1947 he was recruited for a partial maintenance service in his parents’ residential area, on Shmuel Hanavi Street, opposite Sheikh Jarrah. On 13.5.1948, he was drafted into full service and served as the commander of the unit in that area. During the first truce, he completed a scouting course and was attached to one of the battalions, but because of his familiarity with the area, the Mandelbaum houses were sent to serve there and participated in battles that resumed after the truce. Samson loved a quiet life in the family circle. He read books a lot and listened to music broadcasts, in which he was interested in his youth. Although he did not like military life, he fulfilled his role as a soldier and fought with loyalty and devotion and without hesitation, and in his quietness and his mental confidence affected all his subordinates and comrades. According to his comrades-in-arms, he displayed heroism and courage in all the activities he took part in and while most of the fighters near the Mandelbaum houses were replaced during the various periods of the fighting and sent to rest – he was there from the beginning until the end. When the position was temporarily taken, he was among the first to regain it with great composure and daring. On the first day of the second truce, the Arab Legion attacked the Mandelbaum houses. Shimshon, who only two hours earlier had been at home on a 24-hour vacation and visited that morning with his friends at the bank, was sent from the battalion headquarters to bring reinforcements to the place. After he managed to transfer the reinforcements to his testimony, he returned alone through an unbroken opening between two houses. He was hit by a cluster of bullets and fell there on the 11th of Tammuz 5708 (18.7.1948). He was buried in Sheikh Bader. On the 17th of Elul 5706 (August 30, 1950) he was transferred to the eternal rest of the military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
