In memory of the five.
The Jewish National Fund is now carrying out the Forest of the Five project, dedicated to the memory of the five martyrs: Yehoshua Pukhovsky, Aharon Olshevsky, Yitzhak Migdal, Moshe Bar-Giora and Aryeh Mordkovich, the five members of the Gordonia group "Bemaale", who were murdered on 5 Kislev 5698 at 8 in the morning while paving a road in the hills on JNF land near Kiryat Anavim B. In this connection we publish excerpts from the book "In Memory of the Five", issued by the Federation of Kvutzot and the Gordonia union in the Land of Israel.
The story of the horrifying event.
On Tuesday morning (5 Kislev 5698) the five members of "Bemaale" went out to work paving the road on JNF land, five kilometres from Kiryat Anavim; among them was Yitzhak Migdal, a supernumerary policeman. When they reached the place and began unloading the work tools from the donkey, a hail of shots suddenly rained down on them, and all five were murdered. The group of comrades who were planting on the other side of the hill came to the spot immediately after the disaster and still managed to see the murderers fleeing. The five murdered men lay in one row with their faces to the ground. The bodies were shattered. About an hour and a half after the murder two aeroplanes arrived and circled over the area until evening. A guard of Jewish supernumerary police from Kiryat Anavim and Arabs from Abu Ghosh was posted at the scene of the murder. The army surrounded the area. Police dogs set out on the murderers' trail to the villages of Yalu and Beit Thul; Arabs were arrested and houses were marked for demolition.
A common grave.
At about 5 in the evening the funeral reached Kiryat Anavim. The sounds of weeping and wailing shook the hearts; the two cars in which the bodies of the murdered were carried were wrapped in black. The children of the group came out in a line carrying wreaths wrapped in black bearing the inscription: "Men of labour and peace who fell at the hands of murderers while at their work." By the dining hall two minutes' silence was declared, and then the funeral went out to the group's cemetery. Darkness fell, and the bodies were brought to the graves by lantern light. The graves were dug side by side. Psalms were recited, and then the eulogies began.
The father eulogises.
Horrifying was that hour when the father and mother of Moshe Baumgarten arrived from Ein Harod. The mother's wails and the father's weeping shook the gathering. Weeping, the father spoke a few words of eulogy and said: "When I heard the terrible news of your death, Moshe my son, I remembered those days when you left the cheder and went to awaken and encourage a new Jewish youth. Many people did not understand your deeds and aspirations, until they themselves were privileged to see with their own eyes the reality here. Your death is a great loss to us and to the whole Yishuv, which pays a very dear price for its life and for all those for whose sake you went to acquire a new land and a new life. You were very devoted to your parents, brothers and sisters, but your devotion to your people and its revival surpassed it. Our only consolation is the consolation of the whole people: that we may be redeemed from the bitter exile, in the Diaspora and in the Land. And we shall take not the revenge of blood but the revenge of building the people and the land in peace."
Our revenge.
Only a day or two ago the dear and faithful comrades lived among us. 5 men, 5 sons. Yesterday they worked, built, toiled, acted, and today they are no more. The wick has burned out and the spark called life has gone out. A cruel hand robbed, murdered and took their souls from them in one brief hour.
The blood shed in vain cries out from the graves. With the multiplying of the holy sacrifices grow the drive and the will to attain a new life, to redouble energy and strength for building and creation. The suffering and pain that we pay for every achievement and conquest tell us clearly: our work is precious, our task is great. With pain and gnashing of teeth we shall remember the murdered. The desolate rocks that serve as a nest and ambush for murderers and destroyers of human lives and human toil shall be clothed in life and culture despite the obstacles. We shall bring them to life. The project will be the recompense for our grief and the continuation of the will of our murdered comrades.
We shall bring redemption to the hills, settle their bareness and add a point to the Hebrew Yishuv. That will be our answer. This we resolved in moments of searing pain, as we choked on tears and on the insult of the lawlessness toward our lives. We shall not stop what our dear brothers, the fallen, began; we shall not flinch and not retreat. Despite everything we shall afforest the desolate hills of Judea and pave roads for their feet.
The blood will not be in vain.
On behalf of the Federation of Kvutzot came the proposal to settle in the hills. A long debate began: are we capable of settling, settling permanently in the hills, of creating the type of Hebrew farmer in the hills who will live by his toil? These questions gave us no rest. All the while there were those who argued for settlement in the valleys, following the established line of Hebrew settlement. We did not finish the debate. We did not reach a conclusion.
And one cloudless morning five went out to pave a road for carrying saplings to the forest, a road for this generation and the next. They were not afraid. They continued for 6 weeks, advancing slowly day by day; their souls rejoiced to see the road advancing. And suddenly they fell as one man.
Our souls are crushed, our bodies broken, but we shall keep their testament. We shall conquer the parched wasteland and its growths too. The blood, the blood of the young men of Israel that soaked into it, will not be in vain.