Reuven Dafni | |
|---|---|
ראובן דפני | |
 Reuven Dafni around 1945 | |
| Born | Ruben Kandt (1913-11-11)11 November 1913 Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 15 June 2005(2005-06-15) (aged 91) |
Reuven Dafni (Hebrew:ראובן דפני; bornRuben Kandt; 11 November 1913 – 13 June 2005) was a wartime British officer, special forces soldier and diplomat forIsrael. He was also one of the founders ofkibbutzEin Gev and a longtime assistant director of theYad Vashem memorial center.[1]
Dafni was born on 11 November 1913, inZagreb, in what was then the largely-autonomous region ofCroatia-Slavonia inAustria-Hungary. He came from an educated family that was Croatian andJewish; he had two siblings. At the end of theWorld War I, the region was united with the Serbia, to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In the early 1930s, Dafni was studying inVienna, where his father was a diplomat: he was a keen athlete, a member of the student union and an activist in theZionist youth movement.
In 1936, Dafni emigrated toMandatory Palestine, then under British administration, and became one of the founders of kibbutzEin Gev.
In 1940, he took up arms against theNazis and joined theBritish Army. He served in theGreek Campaign and in theBattle of Crete, as well as in theNorth African Campaign.
In 1942, a newPalestine Regiment, was created and Dafni was one of its soldiers. He also volunteered for training for special operations.
In mid-March 1944, along with several other agents, Dafni was parachuted behind enemy lines intooccupied Yugoslavia. He met up with the Partisans and kept them in contact with theWestern Allies; he spent six months inCroatia. He subsequently went toCairo and joined theJewish Brigade. While stationed inBari,Italy, he met one of his brothers who was serving in theUnited States Army and learned from him that his father and older brother had survived the Holocaust: they subsequently came to Mandatory Palestine after spending time in a refugee camp in Italy. His mother was killed in 1941.[2]
For his war-service, Warrant Officer (Company Sergeant-Major) Dafni was recognised with aMention in Despatches (MiD).[3] He was also commissioned as an officer.
After the war he returned to his kibbutz, but in 1946, as a member of theHaganah, Dafni went to theUnited States to raise funds and purchase weapons for the defence of theYishuv; one of his contributors wasBugsy Siegel. Dafni returned to the United States in 1948, now helping to raise funds for the newly establishedState of Israel.
In 1948, he was also appointed as the first Israeliconsul inLos Angeles. From 1953 to 1956, he served as consul general of Israel inNew York City. Later, he also served as consul general inBombay,India, and also served asambassador toKenya (1969 to 1973)[4] andThailand.
For 13 years, from 1983 to 1996, Dafni served as assistant director, inJerusalem, ofYad Vashem: Israel's official memorial to the victims of theHolocaust.
Dafni was married to Rina (née Grossman) with whom he had two children, a son, Yoram, and a daughter, Avital. The couple later divorced and Dafni remarried twice.[5][6]
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