Eli Shamir had fallen in a battle Seventy Years ago at the 22 of January 1948
And we commorate him in this article
“Elik was born from the sea”….
These are the most famous opening words in modern Hebrew literature. This sentence became a literary watchword, defining the quintessential sabra, or native born Israeli: born of the sea on the shores of Tel Aviv, This powerful image has come to be associated withthe entire Sabra generation of Israel .
This words begins the novel With his own hands: Elik’s Story (1951() written by Moshe Shamir and described the life of his brother Elijah “Elik” Shamir the commander of a guards station on the way who had fallen in a battle with six members of his squad on a journey that never ended in an aid convoy to besieged Jersualem the city of Jerusalem in the in the War of Independence On 22 January 1948, 70 years before the publication of this article. , A journey that became part of Israeli national memory. The Last day of Elik Shamir was burned in the national memory. It served as the basis .to the final of a classic book
The book With his own hands: Elik’s Story is an account of the short, eventful life, of Moshe Shamir’s brother Eli, from his childhood to his murder by Arab marauders. ספר של גHe was leading a group of Hagana defenders The book became an icon of that war and of Israeli literature in general. Elik’s Story was translated into English, adapted into radio plays, And for television movie . It is one of the greatest Israeli bestsellers of all time, selling to date over 150,000 copies. It even became part of the program of study in schools
To commemorate Elik Shamir death we bring here 2 chapters from the book in English translation: The first are the thoughts of the writer about the character of Elik his brother and his heroism and was written shortly after the death of Elik rand is taken from The Living rampart :an anthology dedicated to the struggle of Israel /edited by Yehuda Haezrahi London : Zionist Youth Council, [1948]
Elik at the final battle .picture by Samuel Katz
The second describes Elik last hours and the final battle and is taken from With his own hands / Translated from the Hebrew by Joseph Shachter Jerusalem : Israel Universities Press, 1970
THE GREEN PICK-UP
Elik Shamir picture by Yaacov Guterman
A new comics by Daniel Goldstein about the final hour of Elik:
After words to the book and about Elik Shamir by Hebrew writer Josef Aricha
More documentary material about Elik Shamir and his :last day can be found here
The longest day : more about Elik
Elik of the sea : an animated movie based on the character of Elik Shamir
Elyau Shamir |
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