The kibbutz is located on the coastal plain 7 KM NE of Ashkelon. Founded in 1943 on land belonging to the Jewish National Fund. The land was purchased from an Arab effendi in 1942, covered an area of 400 acres & included the resident mansion located on site. The first residents comprised of new immigrants, some of whom were holocaust survivors.
With the advance of the Egyptian army from the south on May 15 1948, the mothers and children of the kibbutz were evacuated on the following day in what was known as operation Tinok. Mira ben Ari, the only remaining wireless operator refused to leave. She entrusted her only son, two year old Danny to her friend Nechama, requesting of her to remind him that he had a mother.The Egyptian army chose to by-pass Nitzanim, advanced northwards & on May 31 reached Ad Halom which lies to the north of Netzanim & south of Ashdod. During this respite the kibbutz begged for reinforcements, additional weapons & ammunition, as well as a better wireless radio. The Givati brigade who were in charge of this front responded to the request, but only sent 70 untrained recruits to the kibbutz.
On June 6 1948, the Egyptians returned and attacked the kibbutz from the north. During the attack, 37 of the kibbutz members including 3 women were killed. Those that remained standing retreated into the mansion. With most of the defenders wounded, ammunition spent and the wireless no longer operable, the leader Avraham Schwartzstein decided to surrender. With a white sheet attached to his gun & accompanied by Mira ben Ari, they approached the Egyptian command post. In response to this approach, the Egyptian officer shot Avraham in the shoulder. Mira responded by picking Avraham up and together they continued walking towards the Egyptian officer who then shot and killed Avraham. Mira responded by shooting the officer and in so doing got herself killed. The remaining defenders were taken into captivity and only released 6 months later.
Abba Kovner, the brigade cultural officer & famous Vilna Ghetto fighter wrote with the consent of Shimon Avidan, the Givati commander, a report that described the actions of the Nitzanim defenders as being cowardly. The report was totally inaccurate as it was based purely on the outcome of the battle and did not take into account the circumstances under which the defenders had to fight. Then chief of staff Yaakov Dori appointed a committee to investigate the matter which concluded that the Nitzanim defenders actions were heroic.
Yitzhak Pundak, the local Givati commander at that time remained repentant throughout his life and asked to be buried with those killed. On 27 August 2017 at the age of 104 years, Yitzhak Pundak died and is buried alongside the fallen on Kibbutz Nitzanim. Mira ben Ari and 2 other women are today recognized as heroin's and are memorialized with a statue created by Shoshana Hefetz entitled "Fighting Women".
Ron Traub ( Tour Guide & Architect ) Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo's : From Wiki Commons.
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