NAME: Shatzman, Tzvi

LEHI ALIAS: Shamir

DATE OF BIRTH: 1927

Tzvi was born in Binyamina in 1927, grandson of founders of Zikhron Yaakov, the son of Asher and Devora. His grandfather, Israel Schechter, the twin brother of Solomon Schechter, discovered and decoded the Cairo Genizah and served as the second president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York. His parents were among the founders of Binyamina in 1922.

Until 1943, Tzvi was a Hagana member, and he had graduated from the squad commanders’ course. Afterwards, he joined Lehi. He participated in most of Lehi’s activities in the area, and he often was the commander. He also took part in many other Lehi operations throughout the country, including the great Barclays Bank robbery.

Some of his operations to expel the British include: disrupting rail service between Lod and Haifa by blowing up bridges and bombing locomotives, which caused many derailments. After the Partition Plan, he took part in blowing up a train filled with armed Arabs headed to Haifa to harm Jews, in the battle for control of the city. He also attacked the village Qannir, which was a base for rioters. These were only some of his missions.

When he joined the IDF, he participated in a number of important battles: Operation Danny-Ten Days, Operation Horeb, Operation Ayin, and more. In the attack on Auja el-Hafir (Nitzana), he was a platoon commander under Dov (Yaakov Granek). He captured an Egyptian captain. In his last service in the IDF as a permanent officer, he was the deputy commander of Metzudat Eilat, in 1950.

Afterwards, Tzvi went back to his family farm, and he still works in agriculture, maintaining vineyards and orchards of apricot, persimmon and olive trees for oil.

As a reservist, he fought in both the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, as a deputy battalion commander with the rank of major.

He serves in various public institutions: the vintners’ union, the farmers’ association and the agricultural council of Binyamina.

Tzvi married Michal Hamburger. They have three children: Naama, Yair and Asher.