Zechariah, Reuven
Son of Rivka and Zvi, was born on July 25, 1924 in Bialystok, Poland. When he was 12 years old in February 1936, his parents immigrated to Israel and the family settled in Jerusalem. Until his arrival in Israel, he attended an elementary school and knew Hebrew at home abroad. Reuven studied for a year and a half at the “Hebron Yeshiva” preparatory course, and then began studying at the Mizrachi Talmud Torah school and after graduating he studied for a year at the Mizrachi Teachers’ Seminary. At the end of this school year, he learned how to polish diamonds. He was a member of the Histadrut. He joined the Irgun underground and was known as “Lieutenant Galili.” After various operations in the underground he was arrested by the British in 1944 for seven months in Latrun, and was arrested for the second time after the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. After the liberation, he was active in the Haganah forces and later in the Israel Defense Forces during the War of Independence, and participated in many battles around Jerusalem, where Malha, on July 14, 1948, . He was wounded and continued to fight. With his last remaining strength he ordered his men: “Go on … strong fire … grenades …!” And with the recitation of Shema Yisrael, his soul departed. He was buried in Sheikh Bader Aleph. On the 7th of Elul 5710 (7.9.1950) he was put to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The synagogue in Malcha (Malcha) is named after him, “the memory of Reuven.”
