Moshe was born in 1923 in the town of Prashov, Slovakia toYehuda and Malha Eisenshteter. His father was a merchant. In his youth he was a member of Hashomer Hatsair and studied at a secondary school, but his studies were interrupted after the Germans conquered Slovakia. He was taken to a labor camp where he experienced harsh conditions.
After the liquidation of the camp and the annihilation of the Jews he and his two brothers escaped using false identities and lived in the guise of Christians between 1941 and 1945, two years of which were in a bunker in the woods.
In February 1945, after the German defeat, he left for Romania in order to make aliya. Because the Romanian government gave in to the British demand and closed down Constanza Port Moshe went to France in order to set out from there. On his way to France he
joined the United Pioneer Youth Organization in Munich and was busy organizing Jewish orphans for making aliya. In 1946 he, too, made aliya. He was imprisoned in Rafiah Camp together with other orphans and from there was transferred to Latrun where he met Lehi men, was influenced by them, and identified himself with their ideology. He was released in February 1947 on condition that he reported daily to a police station.
During this period he was recruited to Lehi as Yoseph. He underwent ideological courses, weapons training, worked in the Operations Department and was integrated into Department Six (Intelligence). He eventually stopped reporting to the police, went underground and became wanted by the CID. In September 1947 the Lehi Center transferred him to Jerusalem. He was active in the
intelligence field and fought in the battles of Jerusalem. Following the assassination of Count Bernadotte, he was arrested and imprisoned in Jaffa and Acre, but released with the last Lehi prisoners following a hunger strike.
He joined the IDF and became an instructor in the School for Infantry Units. After his discharge he began working in the Ministry of Trade and Commerce and held responsible posts, such as the National Supervisor of Emergency Resources (food). He served in the IDF reserves and fought in the Sinai Campaign, the Yom Kippur War and the Peace for Galilee War.
He married Yona née Arzieli, a former Etzel member who helped defend Safed and was awarded a decoration by Yigal Alon. She served as an Ulpan administrator for adults and immigrants in the Ministry of Education.
He has three daughters, Shulamit a Kibbutz Osha member, Efrat an attorney in the Ministry of Justice and Ruth who followed in her mother’s footsteps as a Hebrew teacher in an Ulpan, and four grandchildren.