 Reminder
Tribute to the defenders
and families of the battles of 1948
May 9, 2007
Kibbutz Kfar Etzion
beginning at 2pm!
We would be grateful to receive any additional information related to this historic period from our readers and friends
please contact us at our e-mail on the bottom of this page.
Our next newsletter will be covering the event.
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Before The Tribute
Events leading to the last days of battle
May 4, 1948
Gush Etzion is attacked by the Arab Legion, British troops and large numbers of local Arabs. Twelve men are killed and many others wounded. Valuable ammunition is used up. Shelling causes considerable damage to Gush Etzion.
May 12, 1948
The Arab Legion, supported by thousands of local Arabs, launches a carefully planned attack on Gush Etzion, which finds itself divided. Its commander, Moshe Silberschmidt, is among those killed in battle.
May 13, 1948
The Arab attack continues and its major force is directed at Kfar Etzion. All but four of the defenders are massacred.
May 14, 1948
Massuot Yitzchak, Ein Tzurim and Revadim surrender to the Arab Legion. Its members are taken as prisoners of war. The State of Israel is declared.
The Outposts and Defenders
Outposts were scattered around the Gush Etzion area. They were situated at strategic points, usually at high point, nestled into the terrain for camouflage. Most of these posts had an unbelievable view of Jerusalem and Hebron, situated overlooking the main Jerusalem Hebron highway.
Today we past these outposts everyday, only to see the remains and ruble of what existed 59 years ago. Together with historians and survivors a few field trips and discussions took place in order to mark the actual sites today and to memorialize.
Two of the main posts were the 'Russian Monastery", located before the Gush Etzion army base on the left side of the road and the "Chish Hill". inside Alon Shvut.
The youth department of the Regional Council set out on a project to clear the paths of rock and weed that accumulated, leading to the posts and the Organization for the Soldiers Memorial, the Ministry of Defense and the Regional Council dedicated the outposts with memorial stones for the brave defenders that fell at these posts May 12, 1948.
The memorial park, for the four communities that fell, located by the famous lone Oak Tree
Russian Monastery
Remains of the gates to the Russian Monastery
Memorial to Chish Defenders
Memorial to the 4 communities at Lone Oak Tree
Behind the Scenes
In the framework of the research for this special tribute there have been incredible new friendships and information that has been established around these historical events with donors an new connections.
Below you can see some of the correspondence.
Shalom Shani,
Thanks for the email and the invitation. I live in California,
and won't be in Israel in May. I'll be in Israel in August. I visited Kfar Etzion last June at met Ora.
My father, Moshe Nitsan, and my mother Rachel were members of Kvutsat Avraham, and were among the first
to arrive in Kfar Etzion. My father was the "Mukhtar" and
is seen in the pictures and videos riding his white horse.
My mother was the "Economit" (chef) of the
kitchen of the Convalescent Home (Beit Havra'a) of the kibbutz. I was the 5th child of the kibbutz, we left Kfar
Etzion a few months before the war of Independence
broke out, and moved to moshav Bnei Dror, were my father
was killed in the war while serving in Khativat
Alexandroni. In 1950 we moved to Hertzlia. My mother
passed away in 2001 at age 84.
Regards,
Uzi Nitzan
This picture was sent to Uzi last week for the first time.
Uzi and his Mom
Shalom,
I am the granddaughter of David Shalti who was killed defending Gush Etzion a day before the birth of the state of Israel. I was born in TA, but have been living in Texas since I was 12. I visited Gush Etzion a few years ago, saw the bunker, the movie and received copies of the documents from my grandfathers file, related to his death.
Your cause is very close to my heart and I appreciate everything that you are doing to keep Gush Etzion in existence. If there is anything that I may do to contribute, I'll be glad.
Thanks for doing this important work for Am Yisrael.
Mica Shalti
David Shalti (Shaltiel) fell in the last battle at Kfar Etzion on May 13, 1948. He fought in the Etzioni division,( Chish) leaving a wife and two children. Mica's dad Shimon was born on May 14, 1948.
Mica and her mom will be arriving from the USA to join us .
Raffi Capon, dear friend and defender of Gush Etzion.
Dear Shani,
I am sorry to miss the Gush celebration and to meet members
from old times.
Wishing you and all members of the Gush Happy 40th anniversary, Hasack Ve Ematz.
To my History :
I was in special training in Schneller School for two weeks, when orders came to join the Palmah convoy
with our Browning 1001 heavy tri-pod machine gun at Mahale Ha Hamisha.
Our crew was put on the last Meshuryan going "somewhere " to be in Gush Etzion. We left early on Saturday from Schneller, passing Bethlehem to arrive at Kfar Etzion.
It took too long to unload and then to load the famous Bull, finally we left on the way back, only to be ambushed at Nabi Daniel.
Orders came, to turn around and go back to K. E. while
the shooting was getting heavy from both sides of the road. Only a few trucks managed to turn around. Our job was to help build the air strip , so light planes could land for emergency.
I was on duty watch in K.E. overlooking the main road and the Minzar when the Arab Legion attacked us in early May.
It was very heavy and strong bombardment, I was wounded by a six pounder and had to lay on the ground till dark,while my
friends on both sides were not so lucky. Finally I was picked
up and taken to be operated by the famous Russian Dr. that did not speak a word Hebrew. Later the next day I was taken to Massuot to recover. The nurse in the kibbutz treated me very
well.
The final days were very hard not knowing whats next, and on May 13, 1948 the last battle in K.E. all my friends of the
Palmach were killed. I was lucky to be in the Massuot infirmary . That day we were taken by bus to return to Jerusalem. The bus with the wounded could not cross the British barricades, and sent us back to the Hebron police station where all the rest of the Gush survivors were taken.
Two to three weeks later all the prisoners were taken by trucks to camp in Um-E-Jamal which is near Mafrak, near the Iraqi border. After eleven months in the desert we survived and came back home.
Hag Sameah Ve Lehitraot from Rafi Capon
Malka Kleinberg Gerlitz a young Holocaust survivor , 13, lost her whole family from Kovel, Poland except for her dad. She came to Israel, to the Mikve Yisrael agriculture school and then transferred to Massuot Yitzchak in Gush Etzion late 1947. On May 14, 1948 she was taken with other men and woman as prisoner of war, to Trans Jordan. The men were in captivity for 11 months while the woman were released after a month. Malka met Chaim Gerlitz a fighter in the Harel unit of the Palmach who was wounded in Latrun. They married and had 5 children. Rabbi Gerlitz our wonderful friend and mentor passed away on June 6, 2003.
In 1998, the Gerlitz family made a small donation to our foundation from a direct mailing, I visited them in NY and the rest is history.On July 4 ,2000, the "Lamizrak Emergency Station" was dedicated in memory of Malka's family who perished in the Holocaust and the Gerlitz family turned into our extended family.
Malka upon her return from captivity 3rd from right
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