Yechiel Rosenfeld
Yehiel, son of Yosef and Rivka, was born on January 11, 1933 in Ostrowiec. His father was a Hasid and the Rebbe's influence was evident in his home. Yehiel studied in acheder and was considered to be among the outstanding students. At the age of 12, he began studying in a public school and later continued with private education. He had an easy-going nature, and inclined towards mechanics and various arts since childhood. At the age of 14 he joined the "Bnei Akiva" movement, and later was a counselor and worked for the national funds. With the invasion of the Nazi armies into Poland he was active in the Zionist work in the district. At the beginning of 1941, he was transferred to a labor camp and there he managed to rally the youth around him. Upon liberation, when he could not find a remnant of his family he moved to Lodz, and there, he and his wife was the first Jewish couple in the city who got married after the Holocaust. He entered with all his vigor to work in the "Bnei Akiva" movement, and devoted himself to the education of the children who survived the camps and monasteries. He later moved to Germany with a group of children. He was active there in the public and in Jewish life, and his wife served as a youth counselor. In the spring of 1946, his wife immigrated to Israel to Kfar Etzion, where their first son, Yosef Mordechai, was born in Tevet 5707. At the end of 5706 Yehiel immigrated on the Ha'apala ship "Latrun" and was imprisoned in Cyprus. In the spring of 5707, he was able to reach his group and his wife. Also there he continued his public activity in the pioneer-religious youth circles. In Kfar Etzion he was well absorbed at work and in the society. He worked in land preparation, in construction, and for that continued to study and read.
At the beginning of the War of Independence, Yehiel worked at the weapon warehouse and his wife as a medic. They sent their only son to Jerusalem and stayed with the defenders of the place. On May 12-13, 1948, they fell on their guard next to the German monastery building when the enemy troops infiltrated the village and captured it. On 25 Heshvan 5710 (November 17, 1949), they were brought for eternal rest in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. They left a son. After his fall, he was promoted to the rank of Segen [lieutenant] by the order of the Supreme command of the Israel Defense Forces.