Tonach, Shmaryahu (Paul)

Son of Miriam and Bella (Edalbert in Hungarian) was born on April 9, 2222 in the city of Szegedin, Hungary (where he served as Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Lev). Because of his Jewishness he suffered at the Gymnasium and had it not been for the paternal attitude of the principal he would have been expelled because of a sharp exchange between him and one of the anti-Semitic teachers. Knowing that because of his Jewishness he would not be admitted to the university, he took part in various technological courses during his studies at the Gymnasium, and when he passed his matriculation exams he was already an expert on radio and motor work. He also attained an artistic level by playing the violin. Later, he completed a two-year course at the Technion in his hometown, and acquired complete knowledge in Hungarian, German, French and English. In 1943 he was drafted into a labor battalion in the front area of ​​Russia and almost perished in the scurvy. With the help of his older brother, he was transferred to Budapest, and after he recovered from his illness, he remained imprisoned in the besieged city and performed many daring heroic acts during the siege. Shmaryahu was captured by the Russian and managed to escape home barefoot and ill. He needed two years of convalescence until he recovered completely and continued his studies at the university in his city. When the news of the establishment of the State of Israel reached him, he could no longer remain in his foreign homeland. He sought connections with representatives of the Haganah and before leaving without an exit permit, arranged his “estate”. His private library, which contained several thousand volumes of value, was handed over to the Sikhini Library in Budapest and the collection of pictures and sculptures to the Segadin Municipal Museum. When he arrived in Israel in October 1948, he was sent to an essential service at Beit Alpha, but he volunteered for combat duty and was sent to Jerusalem where he fell in a bloodless position on the 12th of Tevet 5709 (12.1.1949). He was buried in Sheik-Bader Bet. His name is engraved in memory on a marble plaque in the Great Synagogue in his hometown of Szegedin. On the 17th of Sivan 5761 (21.6.1951) he was put to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.