Remembering the life of Irgun member and activist Shulamit Dissentshik

• Published date: 30 September 2021
• Author: IDO DISSENTSHIK
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

With help from Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Meir Grossman, upon returning to his family in Poland my grandfather succeeded in convincing my mother to join Betar, which later led her to become active in the Irgun, the Zionist paramilitary organization. In those days, one of her closest friends was Aliza Arnold, who would later marry Menachem Begin. They were so close that Aliza was the first person to hear the good news that my brother had been born. My mother loved giving speeches at political rallies. I recall how she would pace about in the living room at home as she rehearsed beforehand. I don't remember the subject matter being very exciting, but apparently the enthusiastic crowds listening to her at the rallies disagreed.

Many important figures in the political and cultural spheres of the Polish-Jewish community would pay visits to the home of her parents, Shifra and Yehoshua Dralitz, which was later turned into a museum that tells the 1,000-year-long history of the Jews of Poland. There would be many heated discussions about Zionism and aliyah, and Shulamit spoke about these topics with an intense level of seriousness. She abandoned her university studies in German literature and spent all of her time engaged in helping the Zionist cause.

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When Shulamit met and became enamored with Chaim Pashtiztki, she let him know that she would only agree to marry him if they would make aliyah and live in Israel. Their wedding was attended by both Jabotinsky and Grossman, who were heavily involved in the Zionist Revisionist Movement, but had taken opposing sides when the organization had undergone an internal division. My grandfather and mother tried to use the occasion of the wedding to bring about a reconciliation between the two, but to no avail.

The pair did agree to converse with each other, but both remained stalwart in their positions. Immediately following the wedding in 1933, my mother fulfilled her lifelong dream and made aliyah with her husband. They set up their home in Haifa, and my mother took a job as the personal assistant to Zelig Soskin, who was involved in the establishment of Nahariya.

My mother's younger sister, Haviva, with whom she was extremely close, made aliyah the year after, in 1934, with her husband, Avraham Tehomi, who is also known for his colorful story. To this day, Tehomi is believed to be responsible...