Survive and Tell (cont.)

In 1957, Rivka and I spent a week at the Ben Yehuda Hotel on Mount Carmel. Rivka's parents, who lived in Haifa, looked after Anat. At the hotel we met and became friends with other IDF personnel that had come, like us, for rest and recreation. One of them was Lt. (Military Police) Rivka Raz, who became a famous singer in the musical "My Fair Lady" and Commander (Naval Officer) Eliezer and Esther Armon.

Eliezer had been in the Navy and had then moved to Foreign Service. He told us of their experiences in Hungary during the uprising and of his service in other countries. This really impressed me. I told Eliezer that I was born in Lipcani, as was his best friend Shaike Dan. Shaike held special positions in the Foreign Service up till the second "Aliya". This chance meeting with Eliezer Armon almost changed my life.

In 1961, I received a message to call Shaike Dan. I called and, after clarifying some personal details, he asked me to his office in the Kiriyah, not far from my office. Outside there was a little sign "Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The Liaison Office". I went into the room where there was a bare wooden table and two very simple chairs, one of the chairs was for Shaike Dan and the other for a guest. Shaike warmly welcomed me and made me feel very comfortable. He told me about our hometown Lipcani and my family, with whom he seemed to be better acquainted than myself.

I did not know about his extended activities, which I learned of only 25 years later from Amos Ettinger's book "Blind Fall". Finally, he got to the point of our meeting and described a job that he wanted to offer me, which was Embassy 2^nd Secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Bucharest. My job would be to assist Jews to semi legally immigrate to Israel.

I was enthusiastic and I was thinking about meeting my sister who had stayed behind in order to complete her studies and could not get out. Shaike told me how he had "found" me through Eliezer Armon and how happy he would be that someone from his hometown would join the organization and assist Jews from underprivileged countries to come to Israel. I filled all the criteria.

He said that Rivka, who was pregnant, would have to give birth in Vienna because they did not trust the Romanian's treatment of diplomats. He detailed all the other conditions that came with the job and said that, if I agreed, he would approach the Chief of Staff and ask them to "lend" me to the Foreign Office.

For a few days, I felt as if I was in a dream. Rivka was proud and happy. We were not allowed to tell anyone else about the plan and this made the issue seem even more important and added to the pressure.

A week after our first meeting, Shaike called me to his office for a second meeting. This time, it was to tell me of his disappointment that the army had refused his request to release me. The army answered that they had no objection to my leaving the army forever, but they were not prepared to "lend" me, and that they could not guarantee a suitable position after 3 to 5 years, at the conclusion of my position with the Foreign Service.

I could accept the offer, leave the army and tie my future to the Foreign Office without any obligation on their side. I did not choose this option. I was angry with the army for preventing me the chance to serve the country in a sphere not less important than the security and strength of the IDF. It very well maybe that Shaike changed his mind about me and used this as an excuse because I had not stood the test, I do not know the truth to this day.

Rivka was very disappointed about the cancellation. I was also disappointed but quickly came to terms with the fact that we were not going abroad on a mission that I felt was very important and to which I identified completely.

I do not know how my life would have been had I chosen the diplomatic path. I have nothing to complain about the path I actually took, but I would be lying if I said that I am not curious to know what would have happened.

Ofra was born

On February 10^th 1961, in the early hours of the morning, Rivka woke me up in order to inform me that contractions had started. I asked the permission of our neighbor, the Coifman's, to use their phone and ordered a taxi. We went to the Beillinson Hospital. On the way, I told Rivka stories in order to take her mind off the pain. The whole procedure was very quick, and a little while later I was informed that I had a daughter. Rivka had already decided on a name. We called her Ofra.

As I mentioned, we had played with the idea that we would be in Bucharest and that we would travel to Vienna, a splendid European city with much history, for the birth.

In the end, Ofra was born in Petach Tikva. She was a good and quiet little girl who grew up to be serene and graceful. At the time that Ofra was born, I had begun my intensive plans to study at the Technion in Haifa, was fulfilling the position of Adjutant to the Nigerian Government officials and my position at the H.Q. Therefore, I gave her much less of my time than I had given to Anat, our eldest child.

Engineering Studies at the Technion.

Moshe Tamir had implemented what I had planned but had not been able to execute. The computer was installed in the mobile wagon that could move carefully from Herzlya to the antiaircraft firing range in South Netanya. A battery-shooting exhibition was planned and I was invited to attend. I sat on the guests' platform, next to the person who was recently appointed Chief Artillery Officer, Israel Ben-Amitai. Israel was an open and astute person who had progressed in the corps within the sphere of heavy mortar, after joining the IDF from the "IZL" (Irgun Zewai Leumi), an underground military Organization during the British occupation). Even though everyone was aware of his affiliation with the IZL and in spite of the unofficial taboo surrounding the IZL and "Lechi" (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, a more extreme and militant guerilla group), he was appointed this senior position because he really was discernable from the others. At that time, he still held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel because it was customary to work for at least a year at an appointment before receiving the rank of Colonel. (It is a shame that this practice was not continued, because it would have prevented many unfortunate incidents in the future, in view of unsuccessful appointments).

The preparations for the shooting were intense, but I was sure that something was wrong. Each gun barrel was facing a different direction, and the radar was facing a completely different direction. There was a problem with the orientation and paralleling all the instruments with the RADAR.

The Technical Officer, a young engineer, Lieutenant David Biran was not fully acquainted with the equipment. Moshe (Langer) Tamir was biting his nails and was very concerned, especially because many dignitaries and top Brass had been invited to attend – and the equipment wasn't functioning.

Israel Ben-Amitai, a pragmatic person, asked me if I could help. I thought that I could, but that the Battalion Commandant ought to ask me, because I do not like it when others interfere in my business so I did not want to do that to others.

Israel quietly offered my help to Moshe, who, in view of his despair, agreed to allow me to help to solve the problems, even at the expense of his own self-esteem. I think he had very few other choices and saving face was not a clever reaction at these circumstances. His decision to ask my assistance was a brave and wise act.

As I was better acquainted with the equipment than anyone else, in view of the great experience I had accumulated since 1955 when we brought the equipment to Israel, I knew that the problem had to be due to the contact of the various connectors. My estimation turned out to be correct. I cleaned the connectors with my handkerchief and, as I returned to place each of the connectors, the situation improved until, in the end, the battery was coordinated and properly oriented. The firing demonstration was successful. The good name of the Heavy AAA was maintained and Moshe was happy.

When I returned to my seat next to Israel Ben-Amitai, he thanked me for solving the problem and for preventing anguish for everyone concerned and, perhaps, for having influenced the destiny of the antiaircraft artillery as a whole. He asked if I was an engineer. When I told him that I was not, he asked if I would be willing to study at the Technion. I answered: "If you send me – I would be glad to".

The very next morning I received a phone call from the Chief Education Officer who informed me that I was a candidate for studies at the Technion, and that I had to take a math's, physics and English exam. In answer to my question what would happen if I failed the exam, he replied that whatever the result, I would study. So, he waived the need for me to take the exam and I was sent to attend a preparatory course that was already underway. I learned that I had already missed the first course, and that this course was the continuation of the first. The news that I was going to study filled me with joy, happiness and fear.

My family was very happy for the chance I had been given by the IDF to enrich my knowledge and which would, furthermore, grant me a profession that would also assist me if and when I left the army.

The preparatory course was held in Haifa and was strictly run by the mathematician, Dr. Avraham Ginsburg. There were many young, junior officers and Non-Commissioned-Officers attending the course. Only two senior officers older than myself were in the group, Lieutenant Colonel Shlomo Inbar and Lieutenant Colonel Uri Manheim. They were both from the Communications Corps. I was appointed the "Mukhtar" (The Mayor) of the course and was responsible for approving accounts and for administrative arrangements connected to the course.

During one of the statistics lessons, I had a very unpleasant incident with Dr. Ginsburg. In the introduction to statistics, Dr. Ginsburg explained that, in his estimation, there is every probability that two out of every 1000 people would have exactly the same number of hair. Before he had completed the sentence I said "Of course, two bald people". Avraham, who had a particularly high forehead, pointed to me and said, "He who laughs last, laughs longest".

That was the first sign that I would have problems at the Technion. I found out that it was forbidden to joke there. I had entered into a strict regime of utmost seriousness.

We took competitive exams. I wanted to study electronics, because of my background as a radar technician and because this was regarded to be the profession of the future. 500 applicants applied for 100 places. Most of them were young graduates from the best schools, such as "Bosmat" and Yad Singalovsky, in Natural Science subjects, while I, the "Hazuf" applied for a place with a condensed shortened external matriculation in literature.

I received the results and the news that I had not been accepted. I had already known that I did not stand a chance while we were waiting to go into the exam room. The candidates showed great knowledge and competence of material that I did not even know how to pronounce. I did not give up and gained a result of 67 in math and 63 in physics. I had never ever studied physics. All the answers I had given were made up and if that was worth 63 points, maybe I really was a genius.

I took my exam results to the Academic Secretariat and asked which faculty would accept me with "these impressive achievements". The Academic Secretary, who was apparently impressed with my uniform and the insignia of the Artillery Corps, said, "Why don't you study civil engineering?" I gratefully agreed. I had to bring authorization from the IDF. The army behaved wisely. I received the authorization and was accepted as a fully-fledged student of the course. There were other army personnel who had failed and there were those who had been accepted conditionally. I had been accepted without any preconditions. After this competitive exam, I filled in the "gaps" in my education. I asked David Biran to help me understand a chapter on the subject of vectors that I could not "swallow". He helped me, but "received" a telling off from his commander, Moshe Tamir, for helping me.

Both Rivka's family and my own, who lived in Haifa, were happy with the studies and – perhaps mostly – because I brought their granddaughters to live closer to them. It was 1961 and we already had two daughters. Ofra had been born on February 10 ^th 1961 at the Beillinson Hospital in Petach Tikva. I hope that one of these days, Rivka will describe the experience of childbirth. In contrast to the first birth, when she was surrounded by family - her mother, her grandmother, aunt, my mother and the two fathers, here she was alone with just me. We had left Anat with neighbors, Yossef and Truda Coifman (the family of Prof. Ronald Coifman and his younger brother, Michael).

The Coifmans were not only good neighbors, they were also friends and looked upon us as family. Their youngest son, Mickey, was Anat's babysitter, Rafi (Ronald) was an excellent high school student and he helped me in my math's studies while I was studying for matriculation.

I had a unique opportunity to compensate our good friends and neighbors when, already at the Technion Mickey, the younger brother, had been having difficulties studying for matriculation and was very unhappy. He came to stay with us and, this time, I helped him prepare for his math's exam, which he successfully passed.

The Coifmans used to invite us to join them in places of which I had no idea of their existence and where I could not afford to stay. They were very good to us and we are still in contact with them.

In Haifa, we rented a 4 room, ground floor apartment that had a fenced-in garden on 32 Borochov Road in Neveh Shaanan, opposite the Synagogue and the local clinic, within walking distance from the Technion. My mother took it upon herself to prepare the apartment for us. We had rented out our apartment in Tel Aviv. I began four years of difficult and painful intensive studies.

My friend Arie (Schwarts) Kedar, who was about to finish his studies that year, tried to instill in me a little intelligence and help ease the load. He heartily recommended that I immediately give up the crazy idea of studying. He described the years of study as real suffering and unnecessary. He described the agony that he had experienced and how he regretted "wasting" three years of his life. Even though I fully believed his words, I was determined to study. When he implored that I leave everything and go back to routine life because studies were frustrating and not worth the effort, I remembered the words of the tourists who had descended the 333 stairs in memory of the Great Fire in London. They also said it was not worth the climb but, anyhow, people still climbed the stairs and the people I had told that it was not worth it, also climbed.

The Civil Engineering Faculty.

I studied with enthusiasm. I did not feel sorry for myself. My family supported me. Rivka made sure I was not disturbed. The children learnt that they had to be quiet when I was studying at home. The first semester passed successfully. I also got through the next semester pretty well and received good enough results to be bold enough to ask to be accepted at the Electrical Engineering Faculty.

The Commandant of the Advanced Studies Unit 18 and his assistant, Lieutenant Rachel Sharir, used their influence so that the Technion would agree to transfer me to the Faculty. The syllabus for the first course was the same in all of the faculties, apart from sketching and lab work I caught up with the study material in the summer and was ready for electrical engineering.

I had been the oldest and most experienced at the Civil Engineering Faculty and, therefore, I was chosen for the Technion students committee. To the Electronics Faculty, I brought my Committee experience and I continued to be on the Committee all through my years there. My activities were limited and I focused mainly on trying to stop one of the students, who had been caught cheating in an exam, from being expelled. I managed to persuade the management to alter the punishment to redo the studies during the summer semester.

My activities in the Committee furthered my connections with some of the teachers I already knew. Prof. Yossef Rom and his wife Yael, the first Air Force woman pilot. She was the Captain of an aircraft which bombed the Mitleh Pass during the Sinai Campaign). They lived next door to me, as did Dr. Nima and Shmuel Geffen. Prof. Zederbaum rode on the backseat of my motor scooter.

My sister-in-law, Pnina, worked as secretary at the Chemical Engineering Faculty and, through her, I met additional teachers from other faculties. These connections often helped me to resolve difficult situations via their relevant advice.

The Electrical Engineering Faculty

I had a theory that I strongly upheld, that I am from the generation of the War of Liberation, whose job it was to fill the gap during the intermediate period until young engineers would be ready to lead the technical development and progress in the IDF. I made it clear to the professors that I had not come to study to take the place of an engineer, but in order to understand what technology has to offer. In turn, I, as military person with operational experience, could bridge between the operational needs and the search for technological solutions, which would be invented or developed by engineers and specialists.

I had difficult discussions on the subject with Prof. Itzhak Kidron who had served as a technician in one of the battalions that I had commanded. He and his colleagues believed only in the academic approach, that every person who studies must know how to fully solve the integral and differentials and be able to implement bi-linear transformations in complex fields according to Moebius, etc.

The IDF was an army that had only just begun to enter into the field of technology. Only a few of the commanders had academic education and even less within the sphere of technology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, etc. The commanders were not aware of the many possibilities that technology held or the solutions it could provide for difficult and complex military problems. It was necessary to urgently create an intermediate generation. A generation that could define the operational needs on such a level, so that the engineers could later on instigate technical solutions with defined specifications.

My efforts bore fruit, but only partly. My theory was not strong enough for most teachers. They suspected that this was just an exercise to gain assistance in exams or facilitating them for me. My future career proved how accurate my description of the situation was and upheld this theory.

The Course at the Faculty of Aeronautical Engineering.

Some of my friends and myself set an important precedent at the Technion during the third course. We organized the students of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and asked to take a course at the Faculty of Aeronautics, in navigation and missile guidance.

The teacher was Dr. Bar-Lev who had won the Israel Defense Award for developing an air-to-air missile at Rafael. This precedent, which we achieved following great efforts on our part, instigated wider cooperation between the faculties and, today, students are entitled to choose certain courses from other faculties. This course was very important for me in order to emphasize my theory and, of course, to extend my knowledge in different fields. When I completed the studies at the Technion I could, without lying, but without telling the whole truth, define myself as a student of three faculties – civil, electrical and aeronautics.

During my studies, students from the Artillery Corps and the Chief Artillery Officer, Israel Ben-Amitai, visited us. Ben-Amitai brought us up-to-date on what was happening in the army and in the corps, and promised that, at the end of the studies, we would be given a command post and then a few years in a professional post, at least in the development of warfare means field. It seemed to me that I had achieved what I had requested. When the fourth year of studies drew to a close, the signs of where I was going to be posted were less clear.

Of course, it was I who organized the graduation party. At our home, which we had moved to two years earlier, we prepared all the sandwiches and put them on trays. The party was held at the Theater Club in Haifa. The famous Theater Club Quartet was supposed to appear in the show. The party was a great success and everyone complimented me for all the efforts I had put into the organization. Of course, I had showed another side to my personality that they had never seen during my student years - my organizational skills and ability to obtain resources from places that none of them would have thought of.

We purchased an apartment in Kiron

As the studies drew to a close, in July 1965, Rivka and I visited our apartment in Tel Aviv. Rivka practically fainted when she saw the damage that had been done, the filth that our tenants had left behind. She swore that she would not move back there. My brother worked at the Ministry of Defense and told me that a new army neighborhood was being built in Kiron and that perhaps there was a chance of getting an apartment there. He took me to see the area and I like it. We bought an apartment on 75 "Zahal" Street, sold the apartment in Tel Aviv and moved to Kiron.

Receiving the Diploma of BSc in Electronics Engineering

The Course in France

The Artillery Corps did not find a suitable position for me, in spite of the fact that they had had four years to prepare and, maybe, because of this. In order to earn a little more time, they found a classic solution: They sent me on a course in France.

They knew that there was no such thing as an Israeli who would oppose traveling abroad and being that I spoke French, as written in my certificates, I was the perfect candidate. The idea did not please me, because I had grown weary from all the hard studies at the Technion (in Hebrew), now I would have to make efforts in French.

I saw there was no choice and left for France in August. I traveled two days early in order to meet my sister and brother-in-law who had, in the meantime, moved to Paris from Romania.

I had not written to my sister in Romania while I was in Israel. When I was in England, I wrote to her and, even then, did not tell her that I was in the army. Zohar Cohen, a basketball player in Maccabee Tel Aviv and ex soldier in my battalion, visited Romania with the basketball team. I gave him my sister's telephone number and he met her at a museum and, among other things, told her that I was a soldier. In 1961, after much effort, we found a way, we thought, of getting Jews out of Romania for a fee.

This connection was partly legal. It was legal in Israel but not in Romania. This arrangement entailed transferring a payment in dollars to a specific bank account in Switzerland. The go-between, a Jew from England who had been born in Romania, purchased the release from a senior officer in the Romanian Government.

We received an allocation for foreign currency from the Ministry of Finance, sent the money and waited for my sister Dora and my brother-in-law, Jusiu Auslander to reach Israel. Here something untoward happened or perhaps somebody had planned this for them.

Instead of flying to Vienna and, from there, to Israel as customary in these cases, they were flown to Paris. Two people they did not know and had never met before met them at the airport in Paris.

These people gave them money, sent to them to a hotel and set a date to meet them again after a few days. My sister and brother-in-law, who had been brought up according to the French culture in Romania, thought they had reached heaven. They had always known that everything in the West was better than under the communist regime of Romania, but never in their wildest dreams had they foreseen a Garden of Eden such as this and they decided that they did not want to continue to Israel. My brother in law wanted to build his new career unassisted by the family. He appreciated very much the assistance of the family to save him from the Communist "Heaven" in Romania and was grateful for our efforts. He decided that he would return every penny (which he did) that had been spent on getting them out of Romania. Their decision to stay in France caused my mother, who was impatient to see her only daughter, much pain. Her heart was broken and her suffering surpassed her disappointment and shame. I was already studying at the Technion when they arrived in France. I began to prepare a plan so that at least my Sister would visit Israel. This effort paid off, and my sister arrived in Israel on a boat to Haifa. My mother was happy and wept full buckets of tears. My sister met all the family and her many friends living in Israel.

(Now back to my visit in Paris)

After visiting my sister for two days, I left by train, again in uniform, to the city of Nimes in the South of France. This is where the antiaircraft artillery school was located. I had already been a Major for over five years but it was recommended that I travel with the rank of captain, because in France there were no majors in my age group and the course was intended for captains. As a major, I would have had to fulfill duties that would make my stay difficult. Nimes is an old city, with lots of Roman sites, including a stadium, similar to a coliseum, which had been well preserved and was located in the center of the city. All the cadets shared rooms, but I, as a foreign student, was given a room to myself. My French was very limited - only what I had learned from my teacher Mrs. Lupu at the high school in Bucharest.

I had become "used" to speaking French in Cyprus with the Moroccan Jews that were with us there. It soon became clear, as it had ten years earlier in England, that what I thought was French was not so acceptable to the other participants of the course. However, I did not stop talking and I left it up to them to work out what I was saying. This stay in Nimes was elementary for me. All that we were being taught here I could have taught myself, even if to prove how far behind they were in this sphere.

The confidence I had attained during my studies at the Technion and, not least, my character, caused me to express my criticism about the course syllabus which seemed to me, to be lagging behind in material concerning operations.

The instructors quickly noticed me and not just because I was wearing a different uniform and that I spoke the French language in a way "they were not accustomed to". I was called to attend a meeting with the Commander of the Course and then, with the Commander of the School. At the end of the conversation, they suggested that I become assistant-instructor and give a lecture on the subject of the comparisons between the two systems of operations and assess both of them. I received authorization from the attaché to give the lecture. I was actually hoping that they would not authorize this, because I was unsure of how I could express myself in such a forum with my faltering French. Following receipt of the authorization, a date was set and I gave the lecture.

In addition to the cadets, the entire cadre attended the lecture, perhaps even from the adjacent units. I prepared my speech on paper, but was unable to use it so I spoke freely. The professional side was clear and easy, there were no special problems involved in lecturing on the subject of planning and operating AAA defense systems and the use of antiaircraft force. I improvised expressions in order to simplify the explanations, to make them vivid and as interesting as possible. While making these efforts, I used an expression that made all present burst out laughing. I, who did not understand the reason for the laughter, laughed with them. Only about a half an hour later, I understood the reason for their laughter, when I asked one of the officers to translate the word I had used, "Rondelle", which in Hebrew means circle, but I was informed that in French it means "slices of sausage"…

During my stay in Nimes, I traveled around the city and absorbed the atmosphere of this very beautiful city, in which the Romans had left impressive buildings that had been very well preserved. August was the month where everyone in France goes on vacation and thousands of tourists travel to the south. The tourists filled the streets and added to the wonderful ambience.

Every Saturday morning, a market was held in the boulevards and squares and added color to the already colorful and lively city. Beautiful people sat in the coffee houses; lovers openly demonstrated their love for one another. Adamo's songs were played on the radio and he appeared on the television screens. I loved wandering around the streets and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere.

I bought dolls to send to my two daughters, Anat and Ofra at home. I longed very much for them. I continued to neglect them as I did during my Technion years. To compensate them and show my love and concern, I sent them a whole collection of dolls, including clothes. Rivka, in contrast to when I had been in England, sent me letters. I waited eagerly for these letters because I was really homesick and curious to know what was happening in Israel. I do not understand why I never once phoned home. It was not inexpensive, but within my means.

Within the framework of the course, we took trips to see the beautiful Provence, but I did not have the sense, in spite of the lesson I had learned in England, to use the weekends to tour the colorful towns of the South of France. Again, I saved every penny to send presents home.

At the end of the antiaircraft course in Nimes, I returned to Paris for a holiday for a few weeks, before the longest and, perhaps, the most interesting part of the course began. I still did not know how to use the time while I was there. My command of the French language had in fact improved immensely during the 40 days I had been in France, but not enough to enjoy Paris. I was still a tourist in the city, but a tourist without any cash. I had saved the money in case Rivka wanted to come and visit. In October, I reported at the Field Artillery School at Chalon sur Marne.

The autumn weather and the area, the arena of the 1^st World War, as described in the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque, imparted a depressive undertone. The rain fell and made me feel even worse.

The instructors here were less friendly and it was only the fact that I had become friendly with some of the cadets, especially the only other foreigner at the course, a young officer from Tunisia, that helped me overcome my depression.

I set myself a rule: Once a week I had to travel to Paris for the weekend, whatever may be. The people at the Embassy Military Attache were very nice, especially Yaacov Yaavetz, who was Management Officer. He explained to me that I had to fill in a report in order to receive travel expenses that I was entitled to.

It was not difficult for me to fill in a report once every two weeks and this is what I did. The course in Chalon was really hard for me, albeit more interesting. I learnt about classic field artillery. Indeed, I had already studied the most sophisticated field artillery in Israel, more practical and efficient, but here I had fun learning about the classic artillery.

One really interesting subject was with regard to the inter arm, for which we traveled a lot in areas that were famous from films and books describing the 1 ^st World War.

More than once I saw myself in muddy, wet ditches/bunkers hiding from the German shells. I walked in the area upon which the drama that is described in Ramaque's book took place.

I lay down in the calciferous and sticky mud, just as the author described. I had to direct the battery fire from the air and, for this purpose, flew in helicopters, which I had never done before. The pilots had apparently received a briefing about me, because practically all of them took me to see different parts of the area as a "treat" and especially the length of the "Route de Champagne". Chalon is located a short distance from the famous French champagne wineries, and especially Epernay.

The French officers treated me very well, One of the, Capitaine Lucien Bonnace, who admitted that he did not like Jews, became a good friend. We had many lengthy conversations about Israel and Judaism. He, a staunch Catholic, knew more about Judaism than I did, but I was a Jew and I spoke about Judaism with such authority as if I had received it directly from the "Almighty" via his messenger Moshe.

Another officer called Bigotte, with his wife, stood by me when I felt particularly lonely and homesick and even invited me to their home, a very unusual gesture. The French did not invite people to their homes unless they were very good friends.

It seemed that I had broken with convention. I organized an Israeli evening during the course. I ordered grapefruit and oranges from the Embassy, which I distributed and invited myself to one of the officer's homes to hold an Israeli evening. I allowed myself to invite a few other couples and from then on, I was invited to one of their homes once a week.

Towards the end of the course we became such good friends that, at the end of the six-day war, nearly two years later, I received a telephone call in my office from one of the officers who asked, on behalf of the whole group, how I was. He was calling me directly from his office at the General Staff of the French Army.

Rivka participated in one of the antiaircraft parties in Israel, which was also attended by Ezer Weitzman, Air Force Commander. She told him I was on a course in France and that she had remained in the country. Ezer immediately suggested that she fly to France on the French Dakota plane that was returning to France after repair work at the Air Industry. The plane flew via Athens and Italy before it reached Paris. This was Rivka's first flight and her first trip abroad. She arrived a few days before Christmas.

I met up with Rivka on the weekends and she joined me at the New Years Eve Party. I did not organize this party, which was unusual for me. I rented a "Deux Cheveau" Citroen car and we toured Reims and Luxemburg, we passed through the English Channel to England and back to Paris. Something really interested happened to us in London. We went to eat something at a restaurant in a side street, Rikva sat with her back to the door when, to my surprise, my friend and study partner from the Technion, Haim Niv, walked into the restaurant. I posed the question "Guess who just walked into the restaurant" to Rikva. She, of course, could not believe it even when she saw him with her own eyes. Haim was also touring London during the end of year holidays. He had been representing the Air Force with regard to "Electronic Warfare" equipment, which we had purchased from the French factory in the city Brest.

It was freezing cold when we returned to Paris. Rivka slipped and fell, not on the snow in the street, but on the parquet flooring in Dora's apartment. We took her to a doctor, paid a fortune because, of course, we had no insurance. Rivka did not have the patience to wait for the next plane to return to Israel for repair work and we had to purchase a one-way air ticket at full price from El Al.

All my savings that I had worked so hard to save were spent on doctor's fees and the most expensive ticket that El Al could sell. I completed the course and returned to Israel in February 1966.

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