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Weil, Hans (Naftali)

Weil, Hans (Naftali)


Hans (Naftali), son of Sophia and Shlomo Weil, was born in 1920, in Darnbach, Germany. He attended elementary and high school until he had to stop his studies because of the Nazi regime. In 1935, he joined the hachshara of “Youth Aliya” in Hindenburg. He trained in plumbing and other works, and at the end of 1936 he immigrated with his group to Eretz Israel and continued his training in Nahalal. Because of the Arab riots that raged in Israel at the time, he immediately joined the ranks of the Haganah. When his parents immigrated to Israel in 1938 and settled in Haifa he joined them and worked in the city. In 1940 he volunteered for the British Navy and served at the Red Sea and at bases in Alexandria and Haifa. After his release he opened a kiosk in Haifa and established friendly relations with British soldiers in order to purchase weapons for the Haganah during the winter of 1948. When the situation in Jerusalem worsened following the blocking of the road to it by the Legion Brigade in Latrun, the Brigade was forced to break through in Operation son of-Nun A. Hans was seriously wounded and was left on the battlefield, dying on 15 Iyar, 25.5.1948. He left behind his wife, Shoshana, and a son, Aharon, who was born four months after he fell. Hans was buried in the military cemetery in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

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