Brave, Royal Uncle

By Daniel Haber, Charlton public school

ome people say the lion is the most powerful and strong animal in the animal kingdom. Arie, which means lion in English, for me is also the most powerful person I know. Arie Mambush, (1922-2012) my great-uncle, is the bravest, strongest, funniest, and most creative person I know. He was born in 1922 in Satanov, USSR (Ukraine today). He was the third oldest out of five siblings. Satanov was a tiny undeveloped town, with neither electricity, nor transportation. In 1926, when he was 4 years old, Arie and his family immigrated to Israel to accomplish their vision to build a Jewish state. It was hard to be in a completely new environment, different climate, different way of life, and to learn a new language. The whole family lived on a farm. Zehava, Aries mother, would wake up every morning at 4 oclock to milk the cows, and one of the 6 children would wake with her to help. Very often, the Arabic people would try to steal their cows, chickens, and other livestock. One time, when the family woke up to milk the cows, like every regular morning, they found out everything was stolen. Stories say that was the first and last time my great-grandmother cried. As a teenager, he worked as a civil guard for the British when they took over Israel. World War II began. Arie saw that the Nazis were attacking the countries of Europe and North Africa, and started to become worried about the Jewish people and Israel. He decided to enlist with the British army. He became an officer, and fought the Nazi army in North Africa. The Nazi army was led by General Rommel in the area of El Alamein. In the end, the Nazis were defeated. When the war ended, Arie and his friends stole five huge tanks from the British army, for the Israeli army. They also stole guns, grenades, and army vehicles because Israel had to be ready for any attacks from the Arabs, soon enough. In the end of the battle he was awarded a royal medal of honour by the British army. His sister, Carmela, said; Arie was always loved by everybody. Since he was a child, he was a leader, and I was very proud of him when he made the toughest decision of his life: to enlist with the British army, and got the royal medal of honour. After the war, he bought me an Italian accordion. It was a huge thing for me. He loved me the most. After the war, he worked at the Israeli state apartment, wrote novels, and then worked as a movie maker with his wife in France. He directed and wrote documentary films. He made fifty of them. I really admire Arie for what he did. I admire him for his courage, knowing he might die but still go to defend his nation. Also for his creative mind that created lots of good novels and movies.

This is a picture of Arie and his family, before the immigration to Israel. Arie is the little boy standing in the middle, between Zehava, his mom and Pesia, his grandmother. He was then 4-years old, and my grandma and her other sister (Carmela) who were not born yet, arent in the picture.