A knight of the "last fortress" in Carmel, with Torrey and a dream  • The story of Mickey Gottschalk

Mickey's life story is fascinating and unusual. They agreed and listened:

Miki Gottschalk, an old Haifai, an avid sailor, a curious nature child and an adventurer, is a special person.  

He graduated from the Maritime School in Haifa, served as a fighter in the navy and held a senior position in the Rafale. Since his retirement, Miki has been resolutely researching missing cases in Haifa's history and his achievements are impressive. When he tells me about it, his eyes sparkle. He is brimming with optimism and it is impossible not to get carried away by his enthusiasm.

The roots of the Gottschalk family

Friedrich-Fritz Gottschalk, was born in 1864 to a wealthy family in Bernburg, a small town in Germany where several Jewish families lived. When he was 16 years old, against the background of growing hatred of the Jews, he enrolled in fencing lessons and used to walk the street with a heavy walking stick, with which he hit without hesitation anyone who dared to criticize him for his origin. In some cases the event even led to sword duels. In one of them, Fritz hit an anti-Semitic youth in the eye with his sword and he lost his sight. Since that day, Fritz has not touched his sword again.

At the age of 30, Fritz married LAgnes to home Frolich. About a decade later, the two divorced, Agnes returned to her hometown in Germany and Fritz was left alone to take care of their two children: Rudolph (8), fMargarita-Greta (6). Later, when the Gestapo soldiers went from house to house in May 1942, Agnes swallowed poison that she had prepared ahead of time in order not to be taken to the extermination camp.

In Weizmann's office in London, Queenie and Fritz immigrate to Palestine

In 1934, due to rising anti-Semitism, Fritz immigrated to Palestine-Land of Israel with his daughter, Greta, and the two settled in Jerusalem. At the same time, his son Rudolf successfully completed his final exams in law studies in Germany, but since they did not comply with the British law according to which the mandate government operates in Palestine, he went to London to make up the gap before immigrating to Israel. To settle the matter, he went to Haim Weizman's office in London, where he met Queenie (Billy) to home Field.     

Queenie, the daughter of a seafaring family, grew up in a rural atmosphere at her grandfather's house in southeast England and worked as a secretary in Weizmann's office. Later she said that when Rudolph entered the office, she told her friends that she intended to marry him and indeed it was so...   

Thus Mickey was born

On February 1.2.1936, XNUMX, about a year after the marriage of Queenie and Rudolph, their eldest son was born in England, Michael (Mickey). When he was two months old, the young family sailed on a ship to Israel. When the boat arrived near the shores of Jaffa, baby Mickey was placed in a bread basket that was tied with a rope from the ship and slowly lowered onto the boat that came to pick up the passengers.

Mickey says:

From the port of Jaffa we went to Jerusalem, to my grandfather's house. Grandpa and Greta lived on the top floor of the house, while my parents and I shared a small two-room apartment on the top floor. We lived as one family and ate meals together. 

Moving to Haifa, childhood memories on Mount Carmel

Daily life produced frequent disagreements between the women until at some point Rudolph and Queenie decided to move to Haifa and rented a two-room apartment at 31 Yarakon Street, a house that still stands today. Not two weeks passed, and Fritz, who wanted to be close to his family, also moved to Haifa with Greta...the two rented an apartment at 11 Zafaririm Street, not far from Miki and his parents. About a year later, Miki's younger brother was born in the "Molda" hospital. Uncle (My uncle).        

Mickey tells with shining eyes:

Childhood memories are like precious, tiny stones scattered on a huge sandbar. Here and there shines a stone that refuses to disappear, like a bright star in a quiet night...

"Not far from Beit Saba was a British camp, where jeeps that needed repair were brought. We children infiltrated the camp every day, sat on the jeeps and dreamed that one day we too would have a dusty jeep with a tall antenna and a hat with an impressive emblem. The British soldiers brought We occasionally get slices of fresh bread spread with Australian butter and strawberry jam. Sometimes they bring us bullet casings, empty of course. Once we were privileged to receive an emblem of one of the brigades and another time, a military belt."

"And the modesty went"

At the "Harieli" school, Miki excelled in drawing, history and running long distances. In the other subjects, Mickey testifies to himself that he was a bad student. "I'm sure they allowed me to go up a grade every year, only out of fear of my father's reaction, who was a well-known figure in Haifa and known as a strong person...
At the "Rieli Ahuza" school we wrote with a fountain pen with a nail, and we placed the ink bottles on the wooden tables. Like our predecessor, we also engraved our name on them... especially a sailing ship engraved by an unknown student on one of the tables many years before left an impression on me.

We went on trips to Khirba, Maayan and Wadi Keren near Nahariya. From time to time we visited the magnificent "Armon" cinema, waiting with bated breath for the roof to open and watch Errol Flynn or Clark Gable movies and beautiful actresses that we dreamed about at night. To this day, when the light goes out in the movie theater, I close my eyes and wait for the old "Yoman Geva"..."   

Rudolph digs trenches in Carmel, almost a trip to Africa

In 1942, at the end of World War II, the settlement in Israel faced a tangible threat of occupation by the Nazi German army led by General Rommel. Among the plans drawn up during the "Two Hundred Days of Anxiety" was the "Last Fortress" (also called "Medasa on the Carmel") designed by Yohanan Ratner and Yitzchak Sde and included the construction of fortifications, defense trenches and land obstacles on the Carmel that would allow for defense and fighting. The British, for their part, They provided the diggers with cement and digging equipment while at the same time they prepared detailed plans for the withdrawal of their forces through the port of Haifa.

Dr Rudolf Gottschalk, Miki's father, along with some of his friends at the Haifa Bar Association, responded to the request to volunteer and participate in the excavation of the positions. Equipped with a turret, Rudolph worked alongside members of the "Haganah" and British soldiers in building the fortifications. Miki, then a young boy, joined from time to time a van that went to distribute sandwiches to volunteers and met his father at the excavation site. In those days Mickey did not know, that decades later he would be deeply drawn to research the subject. We will, of course, talk about this later.

"One day, Dad came back from the excavation site in Carmel and declared emphatically: 'With Toria, you can't beat the Germans!'" says Miki. "We stay here and fight. This is our country"! determined

We breathed a sigh of relief and returned to our routine. On the other hand, our neighbors, members of the Van Halder family, who left the country for Burma, found themselves in a Japanese POW camp for two years following the occupation of Burma by the Japanese.      

In the meantime, fortunately, following the victory in the Battle of El Alamein, the fear of a German invasion of Israel was removed.

On toilet paper and a suit stained with tar

The strict upbringing of a father of German-Yikki origin and a mother born in a village in England, often gave rise to complex and sometimes amusing situations in everyday life. Such was the story of toilet paper:

"One morning, when dad woke up to go to work, he discovered to his surprise that the toilet paper at home had run out and started a serious scandal. On his way out, he slammed the main door until the frame was dislodged and mom decided to learn a lesson...

On my return from school, my mother sent me to Rosiner's grocery store to buy 100 rolls of toilet paper and spaghetti string. After several rounds of "back and forth" with the help of a small cart, the house was filled with a huge amount of rolls of paper.

For hours, mother and I hung the rolls with the help of the spaghetti thread and thus dozens of rolls of toilet paper dangled from the lamps, from the windows, from the pictures... When Dad returned from work he was amazed to see the whole house full of hanging rolls. The message was internalized, but about a month later, father started shouting again after it became clear during the meal that the ketchup had run out. Mother, in a calm tone, asked: "Do you want Mickey to bring home 100 bottles of ketchup at noon?" Dad called out and immediately replied: "No no, sorry! We'll do without ketchup! Thanks"!       

Another case was during the Passover holiday in 1945, when all the children of the neighborhood went out to watch the construction of a road on Yarakon Street and build a retaining wall. A large truck from the surplus of the British army brought large stones that were dumped in a pile near the family's house. Another truck brought yellow barrels full of "Shell" tar.     

"The sturdy Horanian workers took off their shoes and began work, among them a stonemason, who sat on a tiny wooden stool and with precise hammer blows chiseled a stone into a square block. The other workers placed a large barrel with large stones and lit a fire under it. The smell of tar mixed with burning wood wafted through the air. When the tar started As it bubbled, one of the workers took a long stick to which an old can was attached and began to pour the boiling tar on the road. I stood mesmerized with my friends, and I did not feel that bits of tar landed on the white suit that my mother had knitted for me.

In the meantime, a steam powered road press arrived. The workers placed rough stones on the road route (soling) and poured gravel on them ("polia"). The press went back and forth and then again boiling tar on the top layer. The press wheels were wetted with water which again passed back and forth to tighten the gravel and tar.   

The noise of the press and the shouts of the workers mingled with my and my friends' voices of enthusiasm. In the evening, moved by the fascinating experience, I entered the house dressed in a white suit that looked like the clothes of the chimney sweep in the stories of Charles Dickens...

Mother, anticipating my father's reaction, quickly wrapped the suit in newspaper and when it got dark threw the package in the depths of the street garbage can. For years after that, Dad used to ask from time to time: "When will Mickey finally wear the white suit"? And mother, in her wisdom, replied: "The suit is too beautiful, it is reserved for special occasions..."    

The visit of the Italian count

"One day," Miki recalled, "when I was about 10 years old, there was a knock on the door. At the door was an Italian count whom my mother had known before her marriage to my father, a time when she went on cruises alone around Europe.  

Mother invited him in and offered him a cup of tea. It turned out, she said later, that the count came to Haifa to convince her to leave her father and join him in a life of luxury in Italy. Mother politely but firmly explained to him that she would not leave her family and sent him to find another wife for him. I saw the count with my own eyes when he said goodbye to his mother, and she told me the content of the conversation after he left."

About mischief and broken glass

As naughty boys, fights and injuries were a daily occurrence for Mickey and David. But one event was particularly traumatic and the scars that remain on Mickey's hands to this day testify to that.  

It was in 1947, shortly after Rudolph and Queenie and their children moved into a small apartment at 13 Smolenskin Street. Its doors were made of opaque glass and its windows offered sea and mountain views, a wonderful Haifa landscape that Mickey loved to paint. One day, when the parents were absent from home, a fight broke out between the brothers.

"I was reading a book in my room, suddenly my brother grabbed the book from my hands and ran away. When I was about to get it - he slammed the glass door hard in my face. I hit the door while trying to stop it with my palms. The glass shattered everywhere and jagged pieces of glass cut deep into my arms. A lot of blood flowed On the floor.

In front of my brother who was silent in shock, I took towels from the bathroom and wrapped the wounds and torn muscles and ran to Dr. Lam, not far from our house. When she saw the cuts, she sent me in a taxi to the clinic of Dr. Pfizer on Hzvi Blvd., a well-known surgeon in Haifa and a client of my father's.

The floor of the taxi was filled with blood that was continuously oozing from the open wounds, and so was Dr. Pfizer's waiting room. Mother, who had arrived in the meantime, took a taxi with me to the "Ezra" hospital and there, without anesthesia, when my screams were clearly heard in the space of the building, Dr. Pfizer stitched me up the cuts…” 

Mickey was sent to rest and hospitalization for three months, during which he enjoyed the peace and the surrounding nature, talked daily with the subject of the letters and eagerly read books by Mark Twain, Jules Warren, Jack London and others. From time to time one of his classmates brought him his homework, which, he confesses, he never prepared...

Every morning, when his father left for work, his mother worked on preparing lunch and Mickey enjoyed listening to the conversations of the neighbors, who told of Mrs. Flair hosting British officers in her home to calm them down from the stress of the battles against the Etzel and the Lehi...    

A year later, Rudolph built a new house for the family at 22 Vitkin St., a green house with a wonderful view of the sea.  

The Gottschalks during the British Mandate period

Upon the family's arrival in Haifa, Queenie initiated "coffee clutch" meetings of the wives of senior British officers and civil servants in key positions who served in Haifa. At the meetings, which she hosted at the Gottschalk family's home on Yarakon Street once a month, the women discussed the situation in Israel, the activities of the underground, the level of British officers' salaries, and more gossip as they liked... "Mother bought cakes and made salads and sometimes allowed me to join them, promising that I would behave politely." , Mickey recalled with a smile.  

Rudolph was hired at a law firm located on the second floor of the Barclays building, a beautiful stone house near the train station on King's Road (today's Independence Street), not far from one of the British camps. When he became an independent attorney, he rented an office on the second floor at 3 Bialik Street in Hadar HaCarmel, from where he ran his business for decades.    

In 1957, Rudolph wrote the book "Mountains of Moab" which he signed under the name: Reuven Ben-Dor. In his book, he recounts from a British point of view events that took place in Israel during the years of the mandate, which he witnessed as part of his extensive ties with the British: about British trials and laws that opposed the pioneering spirit in the country, about miscarriages of justice, about marriages of British officers to Jewish women who received derogatory names in the settlement that forced them to leave the country, and more . Due to the individual's modesty, the names were changed.

"The atmosphere was filled with worries and despair," Rudolph described the mood for fear of the German invasion. "Tofik Effendi, the famous lawyer, his friend Nachum Cohen, and Joshua the architect, were sitting on the balcony of the cafe at the Hyatt Beach, drinking beer, smoking and listening to the sounds of the orchestra. "The situation looks rather bleak, Nahum," Tofik Effendi raised his voice, "but you can trust on me I will give you and your family shelter when the Germans come... but a few days ago I was wondering what would happen to your beautiful home and your garden on Mount Carmel. The Nazis will no doubt confiscate it. Then who will benefit from it, your library, your furniture, your pictures and your precious space? Isn't it better to transfer all of these to my name already today, ahead of time? And as for your beautiful wife, won't you be safer in my house than in yours for any trouble that may not come?..."

In 1972, Rudolph represented Emma Berger, a German Christian who settled in Zichron Ya'akov in 1963, where she founded the "Beit El" community. He resulted in her winning the petition to the High Court following the objections of the local council, in a highly publicized trial that raised its profile. Over the years, the members of the "Beit El" community have developed a unique industry of manufacturing air filtration systems against chemical and biological warfare that are supplied to command rooms of mobile and protected hospitals for NATO armies, and there is a close relationship with the local population. 

Dr. Rudolf Gottschalk was one of the senior lawyers in Haifa and in his last years served as a lawyer in the disciplinary court of the bar association.

Naval School, Naval Commando Service

The love of the sea burns in Miki's bones from a young age, since he thirstily drank his mother's stories about his grandfather's travels. Thus, when he reached the age of 14, Mickey was determined to transfer to the naval school, but his father's refusal caused him to rebel and run away from home. With a loaf of bread and half a lira at his disposal, he settled in the shack of the "Zebulon" youth association in the port of Haifa and spread sails on the floor that served as a makeshift bed. During the day he walked around the port.

"I looked at the renovation of the fishing boats that were taken out of the water on the railroad tracks," he recalled nostalgically. "The whole place was full of the smell of seaweed, ropes, fresh paint and tar. A mixture of smells that disappeared long ago..."

Three days later, when he returned to his home, the subject of the escape was not mentioned and Miki was sent by his parents to an old tailor on Halutz Street, to sew uniforms and a hat for the maritime school. . One of his fondly remembered teachers was the sea wolf. (I will tell his story, recorded by me in the book Eb Kars, in one of the following articles - J.H.)  

In 1954, upon graduation, Mickey enlisted in the Navy. "When I saw the old ships, lumps of rust, I fell into deep despair," he says.

Fortunately for him, the founder of the Naval Commando, then Lt. Col. Yohai Ben Nun (later Commander of the Navy) came to visit the ship he served on and Mickey asked for a personal interview. When he appeared before him, in a white uniform and shoes polished with cooking oil, he asked to be transferred to the Naval Commando, his wish.

"It's not for you, we need tall and sturdy guys," Yohai Ben Nun told me. "But I didn't say desperate. Two weeks later, I asked for another interview and again received a similar answer. The third time, Yohai ben Nun pondered for a long time and finally, praising my determination, equipped me with a letter, swearing that I would not dare to open up to him, and sent me on a cruise.    

Full of hope I got off the ship, floating happy. On the cruise, I was treated very harshly for three days, with hard training on land and at sea, with almost no sleep. I didn't break.

On the third day of the exams, the instructor said to me: "You're not worth anything physically, but your stubbornness is something. I'll put you in courses and fitness."

Mickey's frustration turned to joy and pride. Day by day he got stronger in training and his military service, in the years 1954-1957, was one of the most beautiful periods of his life. One of the most exciting moments during his service, Miki tells me, was when he received an order with some of his unit mates to dive off the coast of Bat Galim and search for the remains of the immigration ship "Chaim Arlozorov". "When we found the engine of the ship and subsequently the remains of the ship, there was a huge excitement that I will never forget."  

Wedding with the girl in the red dress

It was in 1950 when Mickey the boy went with his father and some of his friends from the "Nature Enthusiasts Association" on a three-day trip from the Achziv Bridge to the Kinneret. At noon on the second day of the trip, the group arrived in Safed.

"Tired and thirsty, we looked for a store where we could buy gezuz to quench our thirst. In the heart of the deserted city we found a suitable shop. Behind a large table on which was a soda machine was placed and a pretty girl in a red dress handed us gezuz.    

My heart, the heart of a 15-year-old boy, danced with joy. I wrote the address of the store on an old bus ticket I found in my pocket and when I returned home I wrote a letter. On the envelope I wrote: "To the girl in the red dress at store No. 68 on A. Safed Street." The letter, miraculously, reached its destination. After a long exchange of letters and five years of stubbornness and perseverance, love blossomed between the two and led to the marriage of Miriam and Miki on October 3.10.1956, XNUMX, a month before Miki's release from the IDF. The event was held in a small forum on the balcony of the Gottschalk family home on Vitkin Street in Haifa, and the ceremony was presided over by Rabbi Chail After the wedding, the young couple moved to live in Miki's parents' house for about two years.    

The transit manager in Hazor HaGalilit, work at the "Hola" factory

In 1958, Miriam and Miki moved their residence to the Galilee. Miriam worked at a bank in Safed and Miki was hired by the "Jewish Agency" as the director of the crossing in Hazor HaGalilit, where immigrants from Morocco, Yemen, Romania and Hungary were taken in. For about two years he treated about 100 immigrant families. During this time their daughter was born, Dorit.

"It was an interesting experience during which I was exposed to different customs and cultures that I did not know," Miki recalls. "I remember one case in particular. I came to visit an immigrant family from Yemen a few days after their arrival. When I asked how they were doing, they expressed admiration that they had received an apartment with an olive production facility. I was surprised and asked to see what it was all about. The father took me to the bathroom, where the toilet was full It's all in olive trees and he even told me enthusiastically that there's even a washing machine! I was left speechless. Where do you defecate? I asked. "In the grove, as always," was the answer." 

Later, Miki moved to work at the "Hola Textile" factory owned by Muller, which was in the process of being established, and the Gottschalk family moved to Kiryat Shmona, where the son was born, Ron. It was hard physical work in huge textile machines during which he specialized in disassembling and assembling delicate parts that required precision and patience.    

Raphael - for determination and courage

Three years later, when he had experience working with machines, Miki enrolled in the first engineering course in Israel and the family moved to a small apartment in Kiryat Haim, where the family expanded once more with the birth of Dafna and Tami. At the end of the course, Miki was accepted to work in the research and development unit at Rafael and a year later he was appointed in charge of the experiment technicians. An idea drilled into his mind.   

"I was raised by my mother, that when you think you can, try, don't hesitate, even if it's big," he says. Boaz Popper, to allow me to develop a certain security project. The budget request I submitted was very high. To my surprise, my financiers put their trust in me and so, during a year of intensive work in the laboratory and thinking outside the box and with the help of many good people who helped along the way, I fulfilled the development task with honor." Naturally, it is not possible to go into detail beyond that. After 33 years of work full of interest in Raphael and a sense of satisfaction For his important contribution, Mickey retired.

Mickey builds a boat, buys a yacht, cruises around the world

Even as a child, his mother's stories of sailing the stormy seas to remote islands and meeting new cultures ignited Mickey's imagination. In the mid-seventies, he decided to build a small ship himself.

For 100 pounds sterling, he purchased detailed blueprints from Australia, bought wooden boards, plywood and epoxy glue, which had just arrived in Israel, from a carpentry shop in Haifa. In order to avoid rusting of the iron nails that were then in Israel, he went to England to buy copper nails. 

For about two years Miki worked on its construction. "I put in a sword, built a deck, built a cabin with a roof, Perspex windows," he fondly recalls.   

Finally, with great excitement, Mickey led the boat to Kishon port, with the help of a cart that he also built himself. "The whole family stood around, we excitedly lowered her into the water and I went with a friend on my first two-week cruise to Cyprus. A few years later, Miki went to a factory in England, where he purchased a yacht and after a while, replaced it with another, improved one.

For six months he sailed with his wife and son throughout the Mediterranean Sea, anchoring in countless ports, traveling and having endless fun. "In the month of August," Miki recalls, "after six months at sea, we finally see Mount Carmel on the horizon. The sun's rays illuminate the mountain, which at first appeared to be an island, and the houses on it... the sun sets and thousands of lights turn on in Haifa and the Kiryat. The police boat emerges from the harbor and escorts us to Kishon port. The walkie-talkie comes to life and the Hebrew language is heard again. The excitement and tears choke the throat..."

From time to time Miriam and Mickey used to sail to Tel Aviv. For a few days they spent in the big city and we had a yacht anchored in the marina. "We would spread the shade cloth over the ship and rest in bed," Mickey recalled. "Slight vibrations move the ship gently from side to side. A flag flutters in the wind and a lone seagull clings to the ropes on the deck. Time seems to stand still. Heaven. Happy and relaxed we returned to Haifa."         

Endless curiosity, researching disappearing cases

Mickey learned his curiosity and passion for historical enrichment from his parents, who often traveled the world and learned in depth about every place they visited. On Saturdays, the family used to walk in Carmel. They especially liked to climb the mountain from the maritime museum to their home in Carmel.      

Along with endless curiosity and "thorns in the tussock", Miki, a retiree with his time in his hands and a mentor in his training, sought to enrich his knowledge. He conducted his first research in conversations with residents while swimming at the beaches of Bat Galim and later, in historical research on the antiquities of Caesarea and the Atlit fortress, which he got to know from a different angle during his service. These were the first swallows to investigate disappearance cases in which Mickey invested his energy and time for long periods.

The mystery of the burial place of two "Shira" divers

In 2008, Miki responded to a "call" published by journalist Hanan Rotem, seeking information on the location of the graves of two Italian frogmen from World War II.

In June 1940, Italy joined the fighting on the side of Nazi Germany. Several waves of air strikes on Haifa and Tel Aviv caused heavy damage to lives and property. In the next two years, additional attempts were made by enemy planes to reach Haifa.

In August 1942, the Italians renewed their attacks, this time by sea, using the submarine "Shira", which crept into Haifa Bay in order to attack British ships. With the help of early intelligence, the submarine was captured by the British and its crew was sunk with the help of depth charges, about ten kilometers north of the Haifa coast. 

The bodies of two of the Italian divers who were outside the hull of the submarine when it sank, were washed up a few days later on the shores of Crete. The British buried them in a cemetery in Haifa, without specifying where. As a result of Hanan's appeal, Miki also joined the mystery research that has occupied many researchers and volunteers for over twenty years.

Mickey devoted the next four months to in-depth research. He visited the various monasteries and cemeteries in Haifa, as did Dr. Alber, Hanan Rotem, Eli Ravid and others, in an attempt to decipher the affair. At the same time, he contacted a variety of parties related to World War II and turned to websites around the world dealing with British cemeteries, as well as monasteries , to commemorative sites in Israel and around the world and sites related to the Italian and English navies. He sent the details he collected daily to Dr. Michael Alber who was researching the affair. 

One of the many people who responded to his appeals was an Italian officer named Marco Massalani, who sent Miki pages from the book "Poetry" written by Nessi. One of the pages, which included a photograph of the British cemetery in Haifa from 1950 and in which the two graves were mentioned, brought Miki back to the British cemetery again .

"Every day I went down to the British cemetery and checked the hundreds of tombstones, one by one. One day, after countless times, I decided to try to go through the vegetation at the northern end," he says excitedly. "To my surprise, three meters from the entrance I discovered a small cemetery, where British policemen and sailors, foreigners and civilians from the years 1939-1949 are buried.

With the help of a rake, I discovered that under the layer of gravel, at a depth of a few centimeters, there are round concrete bases in the center of which are the remains of a wooden cross that has disappeared over the years. The guard of the cemetery with whom I became friends, who replaced his father in the position, recalled that his father told him that many years ago the bodies of Italian soldiers were taken out of the cemetery and moved to Italy."     

Now Mickey crossed the end of the important thread with the data in the book and marked two of the unmarked graves in the cemetery that seemed suitable to him. He sent the material and the photo of the location of the graves to Dr. Albert in Italy, to the Italian submarine site and to officer Masalani, who provided the tip to solving the mystery, who contacted the commemoration office in Rome. This is how it turned out that the graves of the two divers were moved in 1965 from the British cemetery in Haifa to a burial in Italy. 

For about a decade, Miki took part in cleaning and renovating graves in the British Cemetery, alongside friends and activists from the "Haifa History Association" and was recognized for his contribution.   

A knight of the "last fortress" in Carmel is equipped with a shield, scissors and a dream

As I recall, as a child Mickey visited his father during the excavation of the positions in Carmel that were intended to protect against the invasion of the German army, a fear that fortunately did not materialize. Over the years the canals were covered with vegetation and the issue dropped from the public agenda. 

"After I retired from Rafa'al, I took a lot of walks in my favorite Mount Carmel, just me and nature," Miki recalled. "As usual, I strayed from the path. One day I fell and to my surprise I found myself in an excavation that was well hidden among thick and thorny vegetation. At that moment, while recovering from the blow, I made a decision to investigate the issue in depth and bring it to the travelers.

The next morning I arrived at the crash site with scissors, a bucket and a hoe. I began to prune the many vegetation that covered the canal and with a Sisyphean work of digging I slowly removed the dirt that had fallen in over the years. I went to the archives, researched the subject in depth and analyzed the British maps from that period. At the same time, I consulted with Prof. Yossi Ben Artzi who helped me with information and from time to time even came to see the progress in the field. 

Over time I recruited friends who joined me in the excavations. I also approached the teachers of the "Shelach" at the "Alliance" and "Hogis" schools and invited them to bring the high school students to an excavation day in the field. The boys, who were happy to leave the routine of studying in the classroom, were guided and equipped by me and then deployed in the territory of the sector to which they were entrusted."  

With his special personality, Mickey managed to infect the boys with his enthusiasm. When they uncovered a tunnel section under the vegetation, everyone was excited. By the way, the dozens of buckets, hoes, tories, pickaxes and shears that he provided to the boys upon their arrival, he purchased with his own money.

During about ten years of intensive work in digging, removing dirt from the trenches and trimming the vegetation, Miki and his friends managed to clean and uncover about 30 positions from the Second World War, most of them in the area between the University of Haifa and Nesher.

"For the first eight years, I had the full cooperation of the director of the Carmel Park at the time, who was even invited by me every time new revelations were revealed. But after his retirement and personnel changes, there was a radical change in the attitude towards my activities and I was forbidden to continue on the claim that I was causing damage," Miki says sadly. "I'm not looking for fame. With my money, I purchased dozens of plaques with the inscription: "The Last Fortress 1942" without mention of my name and my activity on the subject and placed them in exposed positions."

"To my astonishment, on a tour of the place shortly after," Mickey continues, "I discovered that the dozens of marble signs that I had purchased with the best of my money had been violently vandalized and blown up with hammers. After receiving reliable information about "who gave the order", I went angry and hurt to the park director's office to complain about the damage caused to me. "The management of Carmel Park opposes your activity, I was told emphatically. "A day will come and the system will cooperate." I was terribly angry. I tried to activate various bodies that deal with nature and heritage but unfortunately I was not able to promote the issue.

Alongside this, it must be said that one excavation, small compared to the others, in which the bunker was obliterated, was handled and controlled with the assistance of the "Intel" company. I also had moments of excitement when British officers who came to Israel for a visit, were referred to me by the Association for the History of Haifa. I took them to see the historical canals that were exposed under the vegetation and they were very excited."    

2023, snapshot

On my tours with Mickey in Carmel while preparing the article, with the wonderful northern landscapes in the background, we encountered tangled and spiky vegetation that covers the canal openings. Equipped with scissors, we made our way. The tin roof that covered some of the stands rusted and partially broke over time and the piles of dirt that covered it further worsened their condition.    

The family

At the age of 33, Ron, son of Mickey and Miriam, died after a long illness. Miriam died about four years ago. "I asked for special permission to bury her together with our beloved son," he says. "A white marble slab on a huge basalt stone on which is engraved: "Mother and son in one grave, the mother is wonderful and adored, the son is a comet. May their souls be bundled in the bundle of life." After the death of his wife, Mickey moved to sheltered housing in Carmel and he is very proud of his family, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He happily embraces two one and a half year old great-granddaughters, from his two daughters. 

"Life is intertwined with many fragments of sadness and happiness", He says. "Like a diamond in the dark there are unexpectedly shards of light, on the side of the continuing darkness. Only the knowledge that there is a continuing generation gives some logic to the circle of life and death."

Who will pick up the gauntlet?

mickey's dream he is Develop an accessible, fenced and controlled trail between Givat Hagana and the University of Haifa, where travelers will be able to walk alongside the system of trenches and positions dug in Carmel during World War II and view along it the photos that tell of the unique period in the history of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.

Miki, optimistic as usual, estimates that with a passion for the preservation of history and a small budget, it is possible to invest in the preservation of some of the historical positions and develop the "Bunker Trail" for the inheritance of the important heritage. The mapping and the collection of photos (only a few of which I included in the article) can be used as a guide.

Who will pick up the gauntlet?

• The purpose of the article is to raise awareness of the existence of the historical positions in Carmel and to "call out" for their preservation. Since most of them are covered with tangled vegetation, we ask that you do not go looking for them independently, for safety reasons.