** Webmaster Note: The following is a translation from Hebrew by Laia Ben-Dov as sponsored by George Zilbergeld. Additional clarifications are provided in parenthesis ( ).

MY BROTHER, DAVID BAS, OF BLESSED MEMORY

My brother David was born in 1927 in Vladimirets.  When he was a baby, our parents left the town of his birth, Vladimirets, and moved to Rafalovka.  There, David spent the happy years of his childhood with the family.  He was a handsome and wise-hearted boy.  Here, he completed his studies at the "Tarbut" school, and he looked forward with hope to his future.

The days of war and the Holocaust arrived.  The Nazi conquest put an end to the dream of David's youth, and like everyone, he also knew troubles and misfortune.  Since he was with the forced-labor squad outside the ghetto, he, together with me and our father, were rescued from the murderers on the day that the Jews of Rafalovka were slaughtered.  Among the victims were our dear mother Zelda and our dear brother, Natan.

Together with us, David wandered over the desolate roads of the villages and forests, and knew hunger, cold and illness, until we joined the ranks of the partisans.  He was still a youth, but because of his height and sturdy build the partisans were not overly particular and accepted him as one of their fighters.  With a weapon in his hand, he fulfilled the order for revenge toward the destroyers of his nations and family.

When our area was liberated by the Red Army, David did not part from his weapon, but as a volunteer, he participated in finding the murderers, who overran the country also after the Nazis were defeated and walked freely through the streets.

David came with us over the escape route, and arrived in Italy.  Here, he was drafted by the soldiers of the Jewish Brigade to one of the groups where weapons were stored for Jewish settlements in the Land, who were embroiled in a bitter struggle for existence and independence.  Together with other young men, he packed the weapons and prepared them for shipment.  In 1946, David arrived in the Land of Israel and joined Kibbutz Ginossar.  Then also, he continued his military activity in the ranks of the Hagana.  He joined the Palmach, and was occupied most of the time in guard duty.

David was beloved by all who knew him and all who came into contact with him.  He hoped to build his life as one of the pioneers, but fate set his hope at naught.

In 1948, on January 1, when my brother went out with other comrades on a patrol – in order to secure the road from Tiberias to Safed, they encountered an Arab gang, and in the ensuing battle, David was wounded seriously.  He was brought to the hospital in Tiberias.  He knew that there was no hope that he would recover, and in his last moments, he requested that they send his regards to his father and sister, and tell them that it was easy for him to die with the feeling that he had fulfilled his task as a faithful son of his people and his Land. 

May his soul be bound in the bond of life. 

David Bas.  Fell at Ginossar in the War of Independence,

January 1, 1948