Ze'ev Dov Biegun

ZEV-DOV was born in Brest, the son of David Eliezer Begin. In his youth he studied in yeshivas and distinguished himself with his sharp intellect. Although fully immersed in Torah studies, but even as a yeshiva student, he secretly studied medicine - but due to the circumstances of those days, he was unable to complete these studies. He was an expert in languages and one of the first public speakers of Hebrew in Brest. An expert in Jewish studies, he was also a skilled community official. He was an orator without equal, and in him was embodied fearlessness, and willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of all.

Already in his youth he entirely devoted himself to community affairs. Through his initiative, the first barracks were built to provide temporary housing for victims of the Grest Fire in Brest. He also worked for the newspapers “Heint' and “Moment” that were published in Warsaw. In 1905, when the Jews of Brest were fearful of the pogroms, Zev –Dov was one of the organizers of the Jewish self-defense. He was forced to hide from the Tsarists police who discovered a cache of arms belonging to the self-defence force. Amongst them were several revolvers belonging to he and his friend Sheinerman. Begin was the living embodiment of the Zionist youth in all it's shades and untiringly preached and was drawn to its ideals.

In 1939 when the Germans entered Brest, Begin, as usual, stood guard and saved the lives of about 300 Polish and Jewish residents of the city from the Nazi murderers…

On the bitter day in July 1941 he was drowned in the river together with 5,000 other Jews, heroic until the end. They say that when the Germans came to take him to his death, he showed exceptional strength, but his weak physical state could not hold out against them, as the Nazis took him on a truck to the river. In his last moments he shouted to his murderers “the day of vengeance will come to you”.

His son Menachem Begin was the commander of the Irgun Tzava Leumi, was leader of the Likud party and a member of the Knesset. He also served as Israel's 6th Prime Minister.