Avraham Avigdorov ( he, אברהם אביגדורוב; July 2, 1929 – September 4, 2012) was an Israeli soldier and recipient of the

Hero of Israel A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

award (today the Medal of Valor), the highest Israeli military decoration. Avigdorov received the award for destroying two Bren machine gun positions on March 17, 1948, during the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

phase of the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

Biography

Early life

Avigdorov was born in 1929 in

Mitzpa Mitzpa ( he, מִצְפָּה) is a moshava in the Lower Galilee Regional Council, Israel. Located next to the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Th ...

, a

moshava A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist immi ...

near

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. His father Gad, a member of HaShomer, was killed in the 1936 Arab Revolt. Avigdorov studied agriculture at Mikve Israel.

Military service and aftermath

After finishing his studies, Avigdorov joined the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...

in July 1947 and was assigned to the Yiftach Brigade. On March 18, 1948, during the civil war fought in the dying days of the British administration and shortly before the establishment of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the outbreak of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, he was part of an ambush of an Arab weapons convoy in the Kiryat Motzkin area. Avigdorov killed two

Bren The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...

machine gunners defending the convoy and damaged their vehicle, thus turning the tide of the battle in the Palmach's favor. The vehicle he damaged exploded, seriously injuring Avigdorov. According to Avigdorov, he was placed in the morgue in the

Rothschild Hospital The Rothschild Hospital, named after its founder Baron Anselm von Rothschild, was the hospital of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in Vienna, Austria. The hospital lasted from its opening in 1873 until its closure by the Nazis in 1943. After Wor ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

after being proclaimed dead by a local doctor. He was taken out after showing signs of life and stayed in a hospital with burns and a broken jaw until 1949. In that year he was operated on by South American plastic surgeons and released. In July 1949 he was awarded the

citation, and in April 1973 he received the Medal of Valor automatically. Following the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

of 1973, Avigdorov visited bereaved families, as well as wounded veterans, to show them that one could live with an injury.

Later life

In civilian life, he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in testing

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

Personal life

Avigdorov married Aliza and they had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avigdorov, Abraham Israeli soldiers 1929 births 2012 deaths Palmach members Recipients of the Medal of Valor (Israel) People from Tiberias