Shlomo, son of Sarah Saada and Yaakov Atari, was born in 1928 in Sanaa, Yemen. He had four brothers and six sisters. The father was a Torah scholar. To support the family, he worked in ceramics, mainly taboons which were sold to the local Arabs. Shlomo decided at a young age to run away in order to make aliyah. He reached Aden and tried to make aliyah independently, but he was unsuccessful. After a long time spent in Aden, a group was organized, and he left with a number of youths, with the help of the Jewish Agency. They arrived in the Land of Israel, where he found the members of the extensive Atari family, who made aliyah in 1933. The Atari family lived in Rehovot, and Shlomo was in contact with them. He visited and sometimes stayed with them, while he worked as a civilian in British Army bases.
Shlomo’s parents died when he was young. His other family members, his siblings, made aliyah in Operation On Eagles’ Wings, together with the rest of the Yemenite Jews.
He joined Lehi in 1943. At the same, he worked as a civilian driver and in other positions in British Army bases. This allowed him to gather intelligence, explosives and weapons, which were needed for the underground.
With the establishment of the State, he joined the IDF with the other Lehi members at Sheikh Munis. He joined the 8th Brigade and fought in all its battles: at Lod, Iraq al-Suwaydan, Beersheba and the Negev. On January 6,1949, he was killed in action near Rafiah. He was buried in a temporary military cemetery in Mishmar HaNegev. On November 15,1949, his body was re-interred at the Nahalat Yitzhak Military Cemetery.
