Netzer Sereni ( he, נֵצֶר סֶרֶנִי) is a kibbutz in central

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 ...

. Located in the

Shephelah The Shephelah or Shfela, lit. "lowlands" ( hbo, הַשְּפֵלָה ''hašŠǝfēlā'', also Modern Hebrew: , ''Šǝfēlat Yəhūda'', the "Judaean foothills"), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel str ...

between

Be'er Ya'akov Be'er Ya'akov ( he, בְּאֵר יַעֲקֹב, ''lit.'' Jacob's Well) is a city in central Israel, near Ness Ziona and Rishon Lezion. The town has an area of 8,580 dunams (~8.6 km²), and had a population of 30,338 in 2022. History Be'e ...

and

Ness Ziona Ness Ziona ( he, נֵס צִיּוֹנָה, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a town in central Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams (). History Early history Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of an Arab vi ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Gezer Regional Council Gezer Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית גזר, ''Mo'atza Azorit Gezer'') is a regional council in the Central District of Israel. Established in 1949, it had a population of 20,700 in 2006. List of settlements The council covers fiv ...

. In it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Netzer Sereni was founded in 1948 by

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

survivors liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp, who had established themselves in 1945 as the "Kibbutz Buchenwald", an agricultural collective designed to prepare Jews for life in Palestine - the first such

Hakhshara Hakhshara ( he, הַכְשָׁרָה; also transliterated Hachshara or Hakhsharah) is a Hebrew word that literally means "preparation". The term is used for training programs and agricultural centres in Europe and elsewhere. At these centers Zioni ...

group established in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after the war. The kibbutz was established on the land of the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village named

Bir Salim Bir Salim ( ar, بئر سالم) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 9, 1948, by the Givati Brigade. It was located 4&nb ...

. The name was changed later to Netzer by the Buchenwald members. The kibbutz was named ''Netzer Sereni'' after

Enzo Sereni Enzo Sereni (17 April 190518 November 1944) was an Italian Socialist Zionist, co-founder of kibbutz Givat Brenner, celebrated intellectual, advocate of Jewish-Arab co-existence and a Jewish Brigade officer who was parachuted into Nazi-occupied ...

, a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

intellectual,

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader and

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

officer. Sereni was one of the founders of Givat Brenner. He was parachuted into

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-occupied Italy in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, only to be immediately captured by the Germans and executed in Dachau concentration camp; in Hebrew ''netzer'' means sprout, shoot or branch. In 1948–1951 a national political separation between the two labour parties, Mapam and

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

, led to a split within the kibbutz movement.''Kibbutz Movement in Israel Splits; Mapai Delegates Walk out of Mapam-Dominated Parley.'' Jewish Telegraphic Agency
May 23, 1951
/ref> In 1952, 120 Mapai members of Kibbutz

Givat Brenner Givat Brenner ( he, גִּבְעַת בְּרֶנֶר, lit. ''Brenner Hill''; ar, غفعات برينر), is a kibbutz in the Central District of Israel. Located around south of Rehovot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Brenner Regional C ...

broke away for ideological reasons and moved to Netzer Sereni.Daniel Gavron (2000
''The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia''
Rowman & Littlefield, p59

Notable people

* Eyal Ben-Reuven

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1948 Populated places in Central District (Israel) 1948 establishments in Israel German-Jewish culture in Israel