Evacuation of wounded from the south in World War I (photo: official website, from Wikipedia)
107 years after Moshe Efroni was killed in the First World War, into which he was forcibly recruited by the Turks, his great-grandson, Paz, is asking the Ministry of Defense to recognize him as an Israeli soldier.
"This is how historical justice will be done to him. We ask that his name and memory be mentioned in the memorial ceremonies and in the archives. The family has no desire to receive compensation or money, but only that the state give him the last respect that he and his bereaved family are entitled to," said the great-grandson.
In 1915, at the outbreak of the First World War, Moshe Efroni (Nichiev) was forcibly recruited into the Ottoman army.
Like others who were forced to enlist, he was presented with the option of being drafted - or being deported back to Russia with his entire family.
He was sent to the battalions in Sinai and the Negev, where they were assigned jobs such as laying railroads, digging positions and paving roads.
In the camps they suffered from harsh conditions of hunger, plagues and diseases, as a result, the mortality among the conscripts was high.
Efroni fell ill with typhoid fever while staying in the settlement of Kadesh Barnea, he was evacuated to Be'er Sheva where he was pronounced dead.
His body was buried in a mass grave in Rishon Lezion, along with other settlers who died from the plague.
The tombstone reads: "The missing soldier, brought to burial from the southern Turkish front in 1915."
Work the land until starvation.
The Efroni family (photo: courtesy of the family)
Moshe Efroni, one of the pioneers of the first aliyah, immigrated with his family from Russia between 1902-1903.
They settled and were among the founders of the Sjara settlement in the Lower Galilee, today Ilanya.
Efroni and his wife Sarah raised four children and earned a living from farming.
They were among the community of the Russian Geri HaTzedek, whose origin was from a number of Christian sects, and they chose to join Judaism of their own free will, and after a process of adopting the customs of Judaism, they converted.
This is with the encouragement of Zionist activists including Meir Dizengoff and Hillel Yaffe.
Most of them came to the Galilee and their contribution to agriculture and the establishment of the colonies was decisive.
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Sarah Efroni (photo: courtesy of the family)
Although he died under security circumstances, he was never recognized as a member of Israel's systems, neither by the Jewish settlement before the establishment of the state nor by the state institutions after its establishment.
His widow and children also never received recognition, support or assistance - financial or otherwise.
His great-grandson, Paz Efroni, points out that "during his service in the Turkish army, my great-grandmother and her 15-year-old eldest son were forced to work the farm alone and their livelihood was severely damaged to the point of starvation. Even after the family learned of his death, it survived with great difficulty and in dire straits without the father of the family And without any assistance from the institutions of the Jewish community."
Haim Margaliot-Kalvariski, who was in charge of the establishment of seven settlements in the Eastern Galilee for the YKA company, commented at the time on the family's plight: "The immigrant works very diligently in the garden and in the field next to her husband, and if her husband falls ill or is widowed, she does not despair and shout for help to the clerks like the widows of our acquaintances do, Rather, she works even more in her husband's place."
"This is how historical justice will be done to him."
Paz Efroni (photo: official website, section 27a of the Copyright Law)
An inspection conducted at the "Yizkor" commemoration site, where all the martyrs of Israel's systems are documented, shows that martyrs who died under exactly the same circumstances were also recognized by the state.
For example, Dr. Gershon (Isaac) Krishevsky and Dr. Menachem (Mark) Stein who were recruited and placed in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Jerusalem.
In their work, they fell ill with typhus and died.
Eliyahu Yehoshua Rivlin, who was sent as a pharmacist's assistant to Be'er Sheva and died after being infected in Huliira while treating sick soldiers, was also recognized as a member of Israel's systems.
Now, nearly 110 years after his death, the family of Moshe Efroni is asking for his recognition as a member of Israel's systems, the same recognition he deserves in view of his work and the heavy price he paid and the price his widow and children paid following his death during his military service.
The family had already submitted a similar request in 2019, when it was rejected.
In the appeal this time, the historian family was assisted by Dr. Esti Yankelevich and lawyer Itamar Ben Zeev.
The Ministry of Defense stated that "following a professional committee that examined the recognition of victims who fell before the establishment of the state as victims of Israel's systems and in light of the family's request and your request, the request for the recognition of the late Mr. Efroni will be brought up for reconsideration before a committee of experts.
Once the exam is completed and a decision is made, an orderly answer will be sent to the applicants."
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