Honouring SA’s Six Day War volunteers

GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

Committing to six months in the Israeli army, a total of 1 200 South African volunteers were flown to Israel by the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF). Arriving just days after Israel’s miraculous victory, they worked tirelessly, helping the country deal with the aftermath of war.

At the breakfast organised by the SAZF on November 6, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein, Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa Lior Keinan and SAZF President Avrom Krengel, paid tribute to these brave men and women who answered the call to help Israel during the 1967 war.

Hanegbi recalled his own experience of the Six Day War, which took place when he was only 10 years old, growing up in Tel Aviv and not understanding the gravity of the situation.

“I had a great time – there was no school and we were living in the shelter with mattresses everywhere and all the kids in the apartment got to have sleepovers,” he said.

“We knew something was going on, though, and our parents listened to the radio constantly. One day our mothers started crying and I asked mine what was happening and she explained that people could cry from happiness – a new concept for me.

“She attempted to explain how we’d won the war. Today I wanted to be here to thank you personally,” he told the volunteers. “Every Israeli is thankful for everything you did.”

In a touching video featuring clips, photos and interviews, volunteers spoke of how they’d been forever changed by their experiences.

The SA Jewish Report talked to some of them after the morning’s formalities. Gina Bergman (nee Gibor) who’d served in the Israeli army in 1961 and 1962, returned to volunteer in 1967.

“I’m very passionate about Israel. I come from Sabra stock, my father and my mother’s parents were born there, and I’m a real Zionist,” she said. “Before I volunteered for the Six Day War, I was one of the selectors at the SAZF – we went through thousands of applications from aspiring volunteers and only allowed those who we thought could help Israel, not those who Israel could help.”

Epitomising what it means to be a strong woman, Bergman was determined to really work when she volunteered. “I was stationed in the Sinai Desert in Jebel Libni and the madricha was sending the girls to the kitchen,” she recalled. “I said: ‘There’s no way I’m going to work in the kitchen, I’ve served in the army; I want to do a job here.’

“The madricha asked if I could use a big truck and I said, ‘Of course I can.’ I’d never been in a truck in my life!”

Yet Bergman embraced the role. “I loved everything, we’d leave at midnight and return at 08:00 – you couldn’t drive in the day as it was too hot – 40-45 degrees. We’d drive the booty to El Arish where the trains would take everything up to Israel for the army.

“We picked up bullets, weapons – Kalashnikovs, you name it, it was there. The Arabs had just dropped their weapons.”

Eventually becoming the madricha of the volunteers herself, Bergman said the experience changed her. “I’m sure I might have been a different person if I hadn’t experienced the army and the Six Day War. I matured in a different way.”

“We did a lot of travelling in the Sinai and got as far as the Suez Canal,” recalled volunteer and mischief-maker Jack Riback. “I jumped into the Suez Canal to go for a swim, which didn’t go down too well with the Israeli army!

“On another occasion, I saw an abandoned tank and drove it back to the camp and told the neighbour it was a present from Drom Afrika.”

Asked why he volunteered, Riback joked: “Because it was free!” Actually, seeing the chance to serve in Israel as a great opportunity, Riback drove the enemy’s abandoned tanks, which he recalled were brand new.

“We used to collect guns like Carl Gustavs made in Egypt where you had to be careful as they’d start firing by themselves. One South African blew his ear off with a bazooka by mistake.”

Knowing that the South Africans were hard workers, the Israelis treated them well. “The South Africans were liked because we were grafters,” said Riback.

“We were working in Jordan in the Dead Sea area and it was really hot. You could see who came from which country because the English were passing out and we’d drag them under the trucks for some shade and carry on working! Meeting Jews from around the world was a great experience.”

Shirley Shevel (née Elian) was living in the UK when she volunteered. Upon arriving, she was thrilled to be placed with her fellow South Africans.

“An incredible image I have is of getting there and seeing convoy upon convoy that stretched as far as the desert went. There were sand missiles, trucks, bulldozers and tanks, just abandoned. The tanks had instructions in Russian and here were these poor, virtually peasants who’d been forced to go to war and they’d abandoned the tanks with their boots lying nearby.

“We were treated like absolute heroes, like we’d won the war, when we actually only flew in a few days afterwards,” she continued. “Not knowing what to expect, I caught a bus on the first morning and was told we were going to the Sinai Desert.

“We loved being in the desert and watching the sunset and the moonrise – Tel Aviv seemed so loud in comparison. I drove trucks and we brought back an enormous amount of equipment – everything was used.”

Some of the South African volunteers were also among the first to visit the Western Wall after Israel won it back in the war – one of their most momentous victories ever.

“I was determined to get to the Wall and two days after I was stationed at Kibbutz Shamir by the Golan Heights, we got a lift with an army Jeep to Jerusalem,” recalled Marcus Orelowitz.

“They opened the gates and we were allowed to go right up to the Wall and touch it. The people started pouring in – religious, non-religious started davening and dancing – there was no mechitza so everybody was mixed and it went on through the day – it was unbelievable. For over 2 000 years, thousands of Jews had longed to get to the Wall and there it was; we got there – I felt so privileged.”

Orelowitz worked in El Arish between Gaza and the Suez Canal, where he helped load Jeeps, tanks and trucks onto flatbed trains and send them back to Israel.

“A lot of that armour was re-used in the 1973 Yom Kippur War,” he said. “I was also sent to Sharm El Sheikh which was basically the cause of the war. When I got down there, I saw that they’d blown their cannons to pieces and they’d opened the Straits and now the ships were going up to Eilat.”

For Hilton Sawitzsky, volunteering was a non-negotiable. “I wanted to serve,” he recalled with tears in his eyes. “My mom had passed away at a young age and they didn’t want to send me to Israel as I was a male child of a single parent, but I fought to go. It meant a lot to me, it really did. My late mom was a staunch Zionist.

“As a South African I knew straight away that I needed to stand on my own two feet – there were no phones or communication. I made lots of friends there and never really wanted to come back to this country, but things changed. It was an outstanding journey. I’ve always been a staunch supporter of Israel.”

* The breakfast was arranged by the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) and was held at the HOD Centre in Oaklands.