Zechrer, Meir

Son of Amalia and Albert. He was born on the 19th of Tevet 1918 in the town of Boopingen in southwestern Germany. He attended school in his home town, but was forced to stop them after his parents’ financial situation worsened and he went to work to help support the family. He worked in a large trading house, and during his work he studied accounting. In 1933, when Hitler came to power, he decided to immigrate to Palestine. In 1936 he joined the youth movement “Bet” of Youth Aliyah and immigrated to Eretz Israel. After three years of study and work in Ein Harod and Naan, he joined Kibbutz Hulata and began working in the cowshed. Influenced by his letters from the country, his sister and older brother came to visit him. For a certain period he was sent on behalf of the kibbutz to work for the potash company in Sodom and then returned to his work as a bookkeeper. Meir was tall and had a charming smile. He and some of his friends went to the aid of the residents of Kfar Giladi in the Upper Galilee besieged by British forces due to the “Night of the Bridges” operation on 17.6.1946. The soldiers of the Transjordanian Expeditionary Force guarding the access roads to the kibbutz opened fire on them and Meir was among those injured by this fire. For four days he fought with death and on 24 Sivan, 23 June 1946 he died of his wounds. He was laid to rest in the Hulata cemetery. He left a sister and brother in Israel. The rest of his family perished in the Holocaust. On the 30th day of his death, his kibbutz issued a pamphlet in his memory.