Zefania, Chaim

Son of Najla and Shlomo, was born in 1930 in Damascus, the capital of Syria. He graduated from elementary school and continued to attend high school. When his friends began to immigrate to Israel, he harassed his parents, who allowed him to immigrate, until finally they agreed to send him and his sister to cross the border. In June 1945, he managed to reach Eretz Israel. From the immigrant home he was sent with a youth immigrant to Ashdot Yaakov, and his sister was sent to another kibbutz. When he found no satisfaction in kibbutz life after half a year to his aunt in Haifa, and after much deliberation worked out in a grocery store and made a good living from his salary. The parents tried to send him back and even sent a messenger to persuade him to return, but he replied: “It is better for the parents to come here, because I will not leave the Land of Israel anymore.” Over time, he immersed himself in the life of the country, found his place in a youth organization and joined the Haganah. When his friends were recruited in the winter of 1948, at the beginning of the War of Independence, which broke out after the United Nations General Assembly decided on 29 November 1947 to divide the country into two states, he volunteered with them, even though he had not reached the age of enlistment and served in the Oded Brigade. He participated in battles in the Upper Galilee and in the liberation of Safed. During Operation Brosh to destroy the Syrian bridgehead in Mishmar Hayarden, he fought in fierce battles in this area and fell in battle on 3 July 1948. He was brought to rest at the military cemetery in Rosh Pina.