After the invasion of Poland by the German Army on September 1,1939, the first massacre of Jews in occupied Poland occurred in my hometown Krasnosielc. There, 50 prominent Jews, among them my father Chaim Himelfarb (of blessed memory), were murdered by the SS on the 5th of September 1939, in the town’s synagogue. Following this tragic event, my family was expelled by the Germans to the Soviet Zone of occupied Poland. Seven months later we were again expelled, now by the NKVD to a family gulag at the northern region of Russia. While a refugee in Russia, I volunteered and was accepted as a cadet in the Polish Military Academy in exile. At the end of the war I returned to Poland, and from there, after the Kielce pogrom I left for France.
In 1948, while studying at the Ort School for Electronics in Paris, war broke out between Israel and the Arab countries. I felt that I could not live with my conscience at such a crucial time if I did not join the fight for Israel’s independence. I got in touch with the representatives of the Haganah in Paris, and was mobilized. As I was a temporary French citizen, I was put into a unit with Machal (Volunteers from Abroad). I was given to understand that after the war I could return to France and continue my studies.
We spent two weeks in a training camp in Marseilles and were then flown to Israel as newspaper correspondents. This was in order to pass inspection by UN personnel. In Haifa we were classified according to our individual skills and know-how. I did not mention my technical background so that I would be classified as a “fighter”. I was sent with other volunteers to Kfar Yonah to train with the Palmach which planned to reinforce the Negev Brigade.
Attached to the 8th Battalion of the Palmach, we were smuggled into the blockaded Negev through Beer Yaakov. Our assignment was to guard the water line and protect Negev settlements. In the end we were sent to an army post at Bir Asluj. There were about 80-100 volunteers from France and North Africa in the Negev Battalion, in a combat unit called –“Commando Francais” under the command of French (non Jewish) Colonel Diffre Thadee. (Later he adopted a Hebrew name, Teddy Eitan.) Communication and combat commands were in French. Some of the men had served in the “Maquis” (the French resistance movement against the German occupation forces) during the World War II. Although I had come from France, at that time, I was not in the “Commando” for a long period, and I joined the 8th Palmach Battalion under the command of Major Chaim Bar Lev (later Lieutenant General Bar Lev – IDF Chief of Staff). Subsequently, we were at army posts (“mishlatim)”, where most of the soldiers were Machal and Gachal people. Only the commanders were from the Palmach. As there was no common language between the French speaking soldiers and their Hebrew speaking commanders and, since I knew Hebrew from my home in Poland, and French from my stay in France , I was among the few who could translate.
Subsequently, I went sent to a course for mortar men at Kibbutz Nirim, which had been destroyed during the Egyptian invasion in May 1948. I was responsible for a 3 inch mortar (without sights), one of the few mortars in the Negev. This mortar later contributed significantly in the effort to block the Ouja-Beer Sheba road, blocking Egyptian reinforcement forces during the capture of Beer Sheba.
After the “Ouvdah” campaign (capture of Eilat) which was the last campaign of the Independence War, I was transferred to the Communication Corps and was sent to a refresher course for communication technicians at Sharona near Bnei Braq. At the end of the course, I was put in charge of the communication laboratory of the Negev Brigade at Beer Sheba, until I was demobilized at the end of 1949.
Instead of returning to France to continue my studies, I went to live in Haifa and
worked at the Navy’s central laboratory for radar, sonar and other electronic equipment. Later, I volunteered to help new immigrants in the northern town of Kiryat Shemona, teaching young people electricity and electronics so as to provide them with the technical knowledge needed to help develop the town. I remained there for seven years, and then joined one of companies of the Israel Aircraft Industries engaged in weapon development (‘Gabriel” sea-to-sea missile system). Later, I served in Italy as the representative of the Israel Aircraft Industries.
After a number of years as the director of a commercial company I retired but still continued to participate in a variety of volunteer activities. I was the initiator and driving force in helping to establish a memorial on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem for Jewish soldiers who served in the Polish Armies during World War II. For this, I was decorated with a medal and nominated to Officer Rank by the Polish Prime Minister. I served in the IDF Reserve forces until I was 55-years old.
In 2006 I wrote my autobiography entitled “From the Holocaust to the Dawn”, published in Hebrew by Docostory Ltd., P.O. Box 916, Raanana.