Sidney Steller, the son of Moshe-Yacov and Leah, was born in Vienna, Austria, on 18thAugust 1924. He was orphaned at the age of six when his father died. In order to support herself and her children, his mother worked all day long in her store, while Zigi and his young sister were cared for by their aunt, who was faithful to her Jewish roots.
When Nazi Germany annexed Austria, he and his sister were sent to England at the eleventh-hour by Kindertransport of 1939. Placed in an institution for refugee children, he endured appalling conditions and was eventually compelled to accept a generous offer from a gentile family who offered him a place in their home. He studied radio technology at a trade school, and in 1944 volunteered to serve in the Independent Jewish Brigade, whose soldiers came from Eretz Yisrael. He served with them in the final battles of the Italian campaign.
After the allied victory he served as an interpreter in the British Intelligence Corps in occupied Germany. In this way, he was able to help refugee survivors, but could find no trace of his mother, who did not survive the German extermination camps.
He became embittered, and after his discharge he returned to England. There, he discovered that his sister had converted to Christianity in his absence. He cut off all contact with her in order to prevent himself becoming involved in a similar tragic situation. He became close to a Jewish family in order to retain his Jewish background.
When the obvious danger of a Jewish war of survival became imminent, he joined Machal with three friends, all former Kindertransport refugee children; they arrived in Eretz Yisrael via France on a refugee ship with a group of volunteers in May 1948, and all three joined the 51st Battalion of the Givati Brigade. His three friends had also served in the Jewish Brigade – Joe Fishbaum, Benno Katz and Rudi Sheinhorn, all from Stamford Hill.
On the night between 9th-10th June, after participating in the actions at Latrun, their unit occupied defensive positions on Hill 69 near Beit Daras, east of the coastal road, in order to block the Egyptian advance.
In the early morning of 10th June, the Egyptians counter-attacked, supported by tanks, half-tracks, and preceded by a heavy artillery barrage. The Givati company was forced off the hill, and the Egyptians took control and endeavored to sweep on towards Beer Tuvia, but the Givati defenders stood firm and stopped the Egyptian advance. The rest of the platoon withdrew without notifying their group.
Katz was knocked unconscious by a blast, the other three – Joe Fishbaum, Rudi Sheinhorn, and Sidney Steller – held their ground until the bitter end, on 10th June 1948. For a considerable time all three were listed as missing, until on 31st August 1950 they were finally laid to rest at the Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery.
Source: Translated from the Yizkor website by Joe Woolf, and including information from a letter written by Benno Katz to a friend