Holzberg, Simchah

views updated

HOLZBERG, SIMCHAH

HOLZBERG, SIMCHAH (1924–1994) Israel Prize recipient for special contributions in social and national fields. Holzberg was born in Poland where his entire family was exterminated by the Nazis, he alone surviving the concentration camps. He immigrated to Israel in 1949. After his army service he was employed as a construction worker, but at the same time devoted himself to organizing public libraries on the Holocaust and assisting in the publication of books on this subject. Known as "the father of the wounded," from the Six-Day War on he devoted himself to assisting wounded soldiers and their families as well as terror vicims. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1976. An Israeli stamp was issued in his honor in 1999.