Sidney (Yeshiyahu) Rubinoff

The son of Menachem and Matilda, Sidney Rubinoff was born in the Jewish quarter of Toronto in Canada on 21st February 1926, the son of a extensive immigrant family. His early years passed in poverty and deprivation. The family was evicted twice when they were unable to pay the rent, and this very much affected the young Sidney.

His awareness of how it felt to be homeless was strengthened later in his life when he first came into contact with persecuted Jews in Europe. In Toronto he was far removed from Zionist activities, nor did he belong to any youth organization.

At the age of 18 he was mobilized into the Canadian Army, but only arrived in Europe at the end of World War II. Meeting with the surviving refugees of the camps shocked him to the core. His repose was shattered. On his return to Canada he entered a high-level technical school.

He learned of the events in Israel, and at the first call for volunteers he left Canada against his parents’ wishes, as they were content with the treatment and equal rights of Jews in Canada. His answer was, “Twenty years ago, in Germany, the Jews had equal rights.”

He was one of the first volunteers from the Diaspora to reach Israel. He arrived in Haifa in the Hebrew month of “Shvat” (January-February), before Haifa had been liberated. As soon as he arrived he volunteered for the Palmach Yiftach Brigade, and learned Hebrew diligently. He participated in battles at Malkiya, Nebi Yusha, Operation “Dani” and in the capture of Lydda and Ramle.

He was seriously wounded in one of the battles for Latrun on 17^th July 1948, and died on the way to hospital.

The next day he was laid to rest at the Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery.

Source: Translated from the Yizkor website by Joe Woolf