Zegelstein, Rachel

Daughter of Rivka and Efraim-Fishel, was born on May 3, 1924, in the village of Maidan, in the Carpatho-Rus region of the Marmarosh district (then Czechoslovakia) to Hasidic parents who were inclined to Zionism. The family moved to the city of Khust, first studying in a Czech school and later in a Hebrew school, quickly becoming acquainted with the Hebrew language and joining the Bnei Akiva youth movement, and after completing the school she moved to Budapest to study a profession. But in the end she managed to manage according to her wishes: In Budapest, she continued her activities in Bnei Akiva, especially in the study groups, and once received a first prize from the ” In 1944, she was sent to the Auschwitz death camp and was employed to sort out the belongings of the victims, and she was able to obtain food and clothing from the camp in order to provide relief to many camp inmates, despite the danger. Rachel found her two brothers and two sisters who survived the camps, and with the help of the older brother, a soldier in the Jewish Brigade who came to visit them, moved to Germany, to the “Bnei Akiva” kibbutz in the Landsberg camp. After immigrating to Israel at the beginning of 1947, she joined the Kfar Etzion group and was quickly absorbed in work and society. She had done weapons training and during the siege had served in the army and served in the army in full and carried the trials with courage and faith in victory, and one day before the fall of the village her spirit was still strong and her main concern was to bring water and food to the wounded in the cellar. Fall of Kfar Etzion – 4th of Iyar 5708 (13.5.1948). That same day her brother Yehudah also fell. On the 17th of Cheshvan 5710 (17.11.1949), she was laid to rest in the military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.