Shalom Tischler (my uncle) was born in Givataim, Israel in 1929. After his studies in school where he is said to have loved music, he went to a group in Kibbutz "Sarid". He joined the Hagana Resistance movement when he was only fifteen, and when he was seventeen become a guard ("noter") at Kibbutz "Efal".

When the battles of the war of independence began, he joined one of the regiments of the "Alexandroni" battalion, he finished explosives course and became a sergeant.

He participated in the battles of Tel Litvinski, Kfar Salame, Tantura and Latrun. Much is told by his comrades in arms about his bravery and courage in the most dangerous situations.

In the last battle (in 1948) he participated in - the battle of Latrun (called Bin Nun Alef), when his regiment was forced to retreat from its last held position, he was among the last to retreat. Suddenly, he ran back, by his own decision, positioned himself under a cover and with his machine gun withheld the enemy for an hour - allowing his friends to retreat. But he could not save his life.

His father used to say that when Shalom was young, he was educated to be strong and relay only on himself. For as a Jew that would be the only way to survive in a hostile (anti-Semitic) world. When he would come home and ask his father for help with his "fights" with other kids, the later would answer that he need solve his problems on his own. Get tough and strong and overcome the difficulties. Perhaps Shalom would have been glad to receive some assistance from others when he held the fight alone in Latrun.

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Emails are gladly received: shakedtg@hotmail.com