The son of Carl and Marta, Benjamin Stein was born in Honagen, near Frankfurt in Germany, on 19th November 1920. He was a shy, retiring and quiet youth, and a thoughtful student who enjoyed reading and learning.
When Adolf Hitler came to power, his parents decided to emigrate to Eretz Yisrael, but because of financial difficulties they delayed their departure. In order to at least secure the life of their oldest child, they sent Benjamin, then thirteen, to the United States to live with relatives. Two years later, in 1935, they finally emigrated to Eretz Yisrael with their second son and settled as farmers in Nahariya.
Benjamin then wanted to join them in Israel but they convinced him to first complete his education in the USA at an agricultural school, so that he would be able to help them in Nahariya. On completing his studies he moved to California to advance his education.
In the meantime, World War II broke out and he volunteered for the U.S. Air Force. He served in England from where he participated in 20 major bombing missions over Germany, including Peenemunde.
When the war ended he joined his parents in Nahariya on 16th August, 1946 after not having seen them for 12 years. His aim was to continue his studies. He was accepted into the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Technion in Haifa and was amongst the few Americans there who mastered the Hebrew language and the lectures. He was quiet, isolated, and devoted.
At the outbreak of Israel’s War of Independence he refused to return to the USA until the danger was over and volunteered to join Israel’s Air Force.
On 6th June 1948, a Fairchild F-24 was about to take off on a night bombing mission from Sde Dov Airport. When the flight crew realized that bombs had to be replaced as the battery was flat, they left the engine idling. The armorer, returning with the correct bombs, walked into the plane’s spinning propeller. Killed with him was bomb-chucker Israel Tannenbaum and Benjamin Stein, the flight engineer. South African pilot “Kappy” Kaplan was seriously injured, losing one eye.
The next day Benjamin Stein was buried at Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery.
Source: Translated from the Yizkor website by Joe Woolf.