Liwer, Menachem
| Surname, Name The spelling of names follows “Spis imion żydowskich” [The list of Jewish first names] (Warszawa 1928), as it was the only means to avoid the doubling of people on the list. Exception was made for famous individuals whose names are widely known in another form than that proposed in “Spis”.
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Liwer, Menachem |
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| Date of birth | 1928 |
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Location The country with which the applicant was associated. This is most often the country of which he or she was a citizen. Many cases involve a presumption of the applicant’s citizenship. People named on the list have been assigned a citizenship according to the day of the outbreak of the Second World War in their countries of origin or residence (in the case of Austria and Czechoslovakia these dates are respectively March 11 and September 28, 1938; in the case of Germany the date is prior to the NSDAP coming to power). Cases of citizenship deprivation by European countries in the years 1918–1939 have not been included. The last known citizenship has been used for stateless individuals.
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Będzin |
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State The country with which the applicant was associated. This is most often the country of which he or she was a citizen. Many cases involve a presumption of the applicant’s citizenship. People named on the list have been assigned a citizenship according to the day of the outbreak of the Second World War in their countries of origin or residence (in the case of Austria and Czechoslovakia these dates are respectively March 11 and September 28, 1938; in the case of Germany the date is prior to the NSDAP coming to power). Cases of citizenship deprivation by European countries in the years 1918–1939 have not been included. The last known citizenship has been used for stateless individuals.
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PL |
| Document | passport of Honduras |
| Fate | survived |
Liwer, Menachem (1928–2017) – an activist of the Jewish resistance movement and a senior officer of the Israeli Army.
The son of Dawid and Miriam née Kaminer, he was born into the wealthy, Orthodox Liwer family in Będzin, Poland. He studied for four years at the local “Mizrachi” primary school.
During the Second World War, he found himself in the Będzin Ghetto. He survived the uprising by hiding with his family in a previously prepared bunker. After passing to the “Aryan” side, the Liwers sought shelter with a Polish family. Next, through Slovakia, they reached Budapest, Hungary, and later, in June 1944, left for Romania. In July, they continued their journey and headed for Palestine, where they were placed in a British internee camp. Once released, they traveled to their family in Tel Aviv.
When he was 16, Menachem was sent to the kibbutz of Mishmar HaSharon, where he studied and worked.
He was soon arrested for being a member of Haganah, an underground Jewish military organization that was active in Mandatory Palestine in the years 1920–1948, and spent 45 days in internee camps in Latrun and Rafiach Yam.
After the War, Haganah helped organize the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivors, while following the creation of the independent state of Israel it formed the nucleus of the Israeli Defense Forces.
In 1947, Menachem moved to another kibbutz, Ma'ale HaHamisha, near Jerusalem.
In the summer of 1948, during the First Arab-Israeli War, he took part in the fighting for the liberation of Jerusalem. From 1950 to 1975, he served in the Israeli Air Force, rising to the rank of Colonel. After being pensioned from the military, he worked at Tel Aviv University as the Deputy Director for Financial Affairs, and also completed a year of Business Administration studies. From 1977 to 1980, he was Deputy Director of El Al Israel Airlines, while in the years 1980–1993 he served as a councillor in Tel Aviv. He was also active in various charitable organizations: Zevet, the IDF Veterans Association, Aguda Leman HaChayal, and The Tel Aviv Association for the Elderly.
In 2004, Menachem Liwer took part in commemorations held in Będzin, during which the square that had been the scene of fighting with the German occupier was renamed “Square of the Heroes of the Będzin Ghetto". Nine years later, in 2013, he participated in events marking the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the Będzin ghetto. In 2014, he was appointed Chairman of the Zaglembie World Organization.
Menachem Liwer was married to Hanka Sholowitch, with whom he had three children: Szmuel, Yael and Rana. He died in Tel Aviv on 19 February 2017.