Son of Menachem-Ben-Zion and Feiga-Mindel, Moshe Rosenbaum was born in Dovzin, Poland on 30th March, 1920. His parents were veteran Zionists: his father was active in “Poalei Zion ” When he was an infant of 11 months, his parents immigrated to the USA and settled in Brooklyn, New York. There he grew up and completed high school. He was educated in a Zionist background and was proud of being Jewish and living in the atmosphere of freedom in the USA.. Chaim Weitzman and Abraham Lincoln were his heroes..
When the U.S. entered World War II, he was a student at a college in central New York and immediately discontinued his studies to volunteer for the American Air Force. He completed his nine months course as a navigator with distinction. With the rank of Second Lieutenant he was sent overseas to participate in the Allied Air Force’s Mediterranean theatre of operations. He was based in Italy, where he became acquainted with soldiers from the Jewish Brigade. They became good friends and, as a result, he decided to settle in Eretz Yisrael at the first opportunity.
On his 13th bombing mission over the Romanian oilfields, his aircraft was shot down and he fell into the hands of the Germans as a prisoner-of-war.
After 13 months in a German prisoner-of-war camp in the Dachau area, he was liberated by the Allied Forces in May 1945. While he was a prisoner, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Decoration from the U.S. Defense Department, that was presented to his father.
After the war he returned to his university studies and enlisted in a mechanical engineering course with the intention of having a useful future profession once he settled in Eretz Yisrael. He studied for two-and-a-half years, completing the engineering course, but did not wait for the graduation ceremony as he did not want to miss even one day as a volunteer in Israel’s Air Force, in its War of Independence.
During his last years at the university, he was active in the Bnei Brith Hillel organizaion and Habonim. He excelled in a number of sports and won a championship cup as the best boxer and trainer at the university, for the 1947-48 season. He loved painting and showed exceptional skills, especially in sketching scenic work. He also excelled in singing and in meditation.
He served in the Israel Air Force for a very short time. He died together with other heroes near Kibbutz Hulda, on 23rd May, 1948. Upon reaching Ekron from Czechoslovakia at night, an Air Transport Command C-46 aircraft encountered heavy fog, and unable to see the runway the pilot tried successive lower landing approaches, aided only by the Ekron flying controller who informed him whenever he heard the sound of engines overhead. On the last try, the plane crashed into the top of a low hill. The cargo broke loose on impact and shifted forward, slamming Navigator Moshe Aaron Rosenbaum against the bulkhead, fatally injuring him. The pilot and two other crew members escaped with injuries.
Moshe Rosenbaum was buried at the Rehovot Cemetery. After his death, Cornell University posthumously presented his family with his Degree Certificate in Mechanical Engineering.
On 29th September 1948 on the orders of the Chief-of-Staff, Moshe Rosenbaum was posthumously promoted to Flight Commander.
Source: Translated from the Yizkor Web site by Joe Woolf.