בטחון והגנה Security and Defense, 1936–1939
The year 1936 marks a fundamental shift in Arab-Jewish relations. On the national level, several events led to this transformation. Until 1933, the official Arab political party continued to advocate for political struggle. However, in retrospect, it is clear that during this time, speeches, resolutions, and articles began to increasingly adopt militant terminology, including terms such as: struggle (kifah, nidal), holy war (jihad), revolution (thawra), war (harb), and others. These expressions first emerged within radical factions but gradually became widespread across the Arab political spectrum.
The official party had insisted on acting within the boundaries of the law and using peaceful means. Yet in 1933, a turning point occurred when calls were made to act against the British government, opening the door for more extreme actions. That same year, a short but violent wave of riots broke out - primarily anti-British in nature. Following these disturbances, the authorities predicted that further violence and unrest were inevitable.
The major shift within Arab society occurred among the youth, who favored open warfare. They viewed the current political trajectory as a slow death, and preferred to fight - and if necessary, die - rather than await inevitable decline. The events of 1933 thus served as a preview of what would unfold in 1936. The use of force in 1936 was not the result of a new ideology, but rather a quantitative escalation. The principle of “armed struggle” ceased to be secondary to “political struggle” and became equally central.
The Jews, aware of the growing threat, continued to work intensively to acquire weapons, with the Haganah leading the efforts. On October 16, 1935, a large shipment of arms, smuggled inside cement barrels, was accidentally discovered during unloading at the port of Jaffa. This discovery caused an uproar in the Arab public, triggering a wave of protests and demonstrations across the country that lasted over a month. The Arab leadership presented demands to the British authorities and warned that if their conditions were not met, they would lose control over the population.
But the event that truly shattered the leadership’s grip came with the death of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam and three of his fighters on October 20, 1935, in a clash with British forces. Al-Qassam refused to surrender and fought to the end, reciting verses from the Quran as he fell. His heroic death left a deep impression on the Arab masses. He became a symbol of devotion and sacrifice, and his legacy channeled many into the path of armed resistance.
Despite this, the official Arab leadership still tried to maintain the path of political struggle, but the public had lost faith that independence could be achieved through political means. In April 1936, the Great Arab Revolt erupted, and the principle of armed resistance prevailed.
Source: Tel Mond Bloc Documentation Archive: Oron Tal, 2001, “Seminar on Defense and Security in the Settlements of the Tel Mond Bloc – 1929–1948,” University of Haifa.
The 1936–1939 Arab Revolt in Tel Mond
The events of 1936 did not bypass the Tel Mond Bloc. As unrest spread, the residents of the region recognized the need to strengthen and fortify their defense capabilities. The Haganah’s central command ensured that the settlement was equipped with weapons. Machine guns were brought in from Poland, and every settlement received two machine guns with sufficient ammunition. In Tel Mond, a mobile unit was organized to provide assistance in the event of an attack on any settlement. This unit was equipped with a heavy Austrian-made machine gun.
When the revolt erupted, the entire settlement was placed on constant alert. People worked during the day and stood guard at night in defensive positions.
The Jewish Agency demanded that the British Mandate government distribute defensive weapons to the settlements under government license and pay. This led to the formation of the Notrim (Jewish Auxiliary Police) - a legal Hebrew defense force. The British also employed Arab Notrim, who initially guarded Jewish facilities and lands.
In the Tel Mond Bloc, Arabs were also initially employed, but after a nighttime encounter between an Arab Noter and local residents, which was reported to the local Mukhtar, Spector, Arab Notrim no longer appeared in the area. (According to the testimony of Aryeh Alexandroni, dated 6.1.1959, the reason was that Jews had killed one of the Arab Notrim.)
The British government allocated 6 pounds per month for every two Notrim, including weapons and uniforms (3 pounds per person). This funding helped strengthen security and significantly boosted the local defense budget, as was the case in all settlements.
At the request of the Jewish Agency, a mounted mobile unit was also organized in Tel Mond, commanded by Alexanderovitz. The unit trained for a month in light arms, field training, and live fire drills in squad formation. Once training was complete, local Noter stations began to operate in the settlements. The weapons were upgraded to British rifles with better firepower, and later replaced by even better Italian rifles, which became the standard personal weapons of the Notrim. The settlement’s citizens were sworn in and could now legally carry arms, train, and officially guard their communities.
In terms of procurement, the Haganah acquired large quantities of weapons at the time, including German rifles, Spanish Mausers, and more. For Kfar Hess, the easternmost settlement and closest to Arab villages, two machine guns were purchased, and the Haganah developed locally made rifle grenade launchers.
Several members of the bloc were recruited to form an emergency platoon that would provide support to any attacked point using heavy firepower for cover.
The villages had “slikim” (illegal arms caches), primarily for hand grenades and large amounts of ammunition. These were divided into two categories: 1. Daily-access slikim, used for training and guard duty, and 2. Wartime slikim, buried deep underground and packed for long-term storage.
The slikim were made by a single person and consisted of 10-inch diameter metal tubes. Responsibility for the slikim lay with trusted members of the settlement. For security reasons, no one individual knew the locations of all the caches.
Initially, the person in charge was Yosef Kinmon, the first commander. Later, additional individuals trained for this task by the Haganah took over, having undergone specialized training at the Juara camp in the Menashe Hills. Maintaining the slikim was difficult - the weapons needed to be periodically removed, inspected, and oiled. Both men and women were recruited for this work, which was done at night and was labor-intensive.
Defense in the moshav was divided into sectors and positions (a “sector” included more than two positions). During alerts, the illegal weapons were distributed to sector commanders, who hid them in the local sector’s slikim. In times of need, these were passed directly to the position commanders.
From: Tel Mond Bloc Documentation Archive, Oron Tal, 2001. Seminar on Defense and Security in the Tel Mond Bloc Settlements, 1929–1948, University of Haifa.
The first casualty of the disturbances in Tel Mond was Yisrael Goldenberg, one of the settlement’s pioneers. He was killed while on guard duty near one of the young orchards.
On July 5, 1938, four members of Ein Vered - Aba Schrier, Mordechai Licht, Aryeh Cohen, and Shraga Orbach - set out to work in the Yakhin orchards. The path led through Arab-owned land. Midway, they were ambushed and came under heavy gunfire from one of the orchards.
From: Tel Mond Bloc Documentation Archive, Writings of Eliezer Esterin, p. 170.
“It Is Good to Die for Our Country”
On July 5, 1938, while on his way with three of his comrades to work in the Yakhin orchard, Arabs ambushed them and opened fire. Two of them, Aba Schrier and Mordechai Licht, were killed on the spot. Shraga and Aryeh Cohen were mortally wounded.
Shraga managed to reach the orchard’s water tower, and there, sensing that his end was near, he wrote with trembling, blood-soaked hands on a scrap of paper he found:
“It is good to die for our country.”
For twenty-two hours, doctors fought to save his life at the hospital, but on the morning of the next day, 7th of Tammuz, 5698 (July 6, 1938), he succumbed to his wounds.
He was laid to rest alongside his three comrades in a shared grave at the Tel Mond bloc cemetery.
He left behind a wife, a two-year-old son, and an eight-month-old daughter.
The Four Who Set Out to the Orchard
All were among the founders of Ein Vered.
• Aba Schrier, RIP (1905–1938)
• Mordechai Licht, RIP (1907–1938)
• Aryeh Cohen, RIP (1899–1938)
• Shraga Orbach, RIP (1905–1938)
Every year, during the Memorial Day ceremony, we - the younger generation - hear these four names echo in our ears and memory. We often ask: What is the story behind these names? What happened? Who were these four young men who left for a day’s work in the orchard and never returned?
On Tuesday, July 5, 1938 (6 Tammuz 5698), as they had for five years, the four comrades set out for their daily work in the “Yakhin Gimmel” orchard (the area between today’s Tzoran and Geulim, about five kilometers from Ein Vered). The road to the orchard passed through land owned by an Arab. Midway along the route, they were ambushed by gunfire from Arabs hiding in one of the orchards.
Aba Schrier and Mordechai Licht were killed instantly. Aryeh Cohen was critically wounded and could not be moved, so he was not transferred to a hospital. He died hours later in Ein Vered. Shraga Orbach was gravely wounded and died the following day, approximately 22 hours after the attack.
Shraga Orbach was apparently shot with a Mauser pistol, which fires several rounds in succession. He was struck in numerous parts of his body - around eleven bullet wounds. Before his death, with the last of his strength, he managed to recount what had happened. According to his account - the only testimony that exists - the four were attacked by an Arab gang, who fired at them from close range using hunting rifles and military-grade rifles.
Shraga’s evacuation to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva took about an hour and a half along a rough road. During that time, mortally wounded and with trembling hands, he managed to write on a blood-stained sheet of paper, in a broken scrawl:
“It is good to die for our country.”
The funerals of Aba Schrier, Mordechai Licht, and Aryeh Cohen were held that same afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The three were buried in a shared grave in the pine grove along the road between Tel Mond and Ein Vered, near the grave of Y. Goldenberg, who had been murdered about two months earlier. Shraga Orbach’s funeral took place the following day.
At the funeral, a member of the moshav, H. Arki, eulogized them with these words:
“Fate has decreed that Ein Vered would give three of its sons at once. What can we say, comrades? We must continue and faithfully carry the memory of our brothers whose lives were taken. We will go on - because there is no other choice.”
The residents of the moshav and the surrounding bloc were stunned and plunged into deep mourning.
Today, in an era of myth-shattering, even if some among us question the famous words of Joseph Trumpeldor at Tel Hai - “It is good to die for our country” - we must take pride in the legacy of Ein Vered, a legacy that reflects courage, diligence, devotion, and self-sacrifice for the homeland.
We will remember and recount the story of those who, with sincerity and humility, bequeathed us values - thanks to which we live here, create, and raise our children.
The Murder of the Four Comrades
By Shabtai Yaari
There are things from childhood we no longer remember after 66 years. But when a traumatic event occurs, many details remain vividly etched in memory. This is what happened on that morning of July 5, 1938, when four comrades - Aba Schrier, Mordechai Licht, Aryeh Cohen, and Shraga Orbach - were murdered. All four were members of the young moshav (village).
At that time, the members’ farms were small and undeveloped, so men and women alike were forced to take jobs outside the village - picking fruit, packing produce, and doing various tasks in the nearby citrus groves. That was how the four would go out each day, riding the same route on a horse-drawn wagon.
I was a very young boy then, one of the first children in the moshav, helping with small chores. That morning, I was taking milk to the dairy when suddenly, gunfire rang out from a distance. I saw and heard Alexandrowitz, the security officer, shouting: “They’re attacking our comrades!” He ran to his house, saddled his horse, and galloped off toward the orchards.
The terrible incident brought deep mourning to the village - grief especially hard for the young, who were now encountering murder and death for the first time. It left a powerful and lasting trauma among the residents and four families newly bereaved: young widows, small children left fatherless.
Words of Mourning
Published in the newspaper Davar on 13 Tammuz 5698 / July 12, 1938:
No longer will the caravan be seen at early dawn on its way to work,
After a night of sleepless vigilance, with a day of labor in hostile territory ahead.
No longer will we see them returning from the fields at sunset.
No longer will we hear their children call out with joy: “Daddy, Daddy’s home!”
In vain will the children wait in the evening at the street corner,
Near the same path their fathers took that fateful, bitter morning - never to return.
Seven small children have lost their fathers.
Three small houses now stare with empty windows onto the street -
The street darkened with their absence.
And there stands silently a fourth house. Its owner is gone.
No longer will they be seen toiling in their plots after a long, backbreaking day.
Will they now find rest - these men so full of life and energy,
Who in their short lives had never a moment to rest?
They were among the first settlers of the moshav.
For five years they had worked in the same isolated grove -
They planted the young saplings with their own hands and nurtured them.
Even during these wild times, with murder raging in the land for two years now - they did not abandon their work.
Every Arab in the area knew them -
So the vile act was made easy.
Partners in labor, partners in fate.
In life and in death, they were not divided.
Sources: Labor Archive; Davar newspaper, 7 Tammuz 5698 (July 6, 1938) and 13 Tammuz 5698 (July 12, 1938); Tel Mond Heritage Documentation Center.