Avraham Stern
| Avraham Stern | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Native name | אברהם שטרן |
| Nickname(s) | Yair |
| Born | December 23, 1907 Suwałki, Russian Empire (present-day Poland) |
| Died | February 12, 1942 Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine |
| Buried at | Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery, Givatayim, Israel (32.072°N 34.804°E) |
| Allegiance | Haganah, Irgun, Lehi |
| Years of service | 1929-1942 |
| Relations | David Stern |
Avraham Stern (Hebrew: אברהם שטרן, Avraham Shtern), alias Yair (Hebrew: יאיר; December 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942) was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, called the "Stern Gang" by the British authorities and by the mainstream in the Yishuv Jewish establishment.
Stern was born in Suwałki, present-day Poland (then part of the Russian Empire). During the First World War his mother fled the Germans with him and his brother David. They found refuge with her sister in Russia. When he was separated from his mother the 13-year-old Avraham earned his keep by carrying river water in Siberia. Eventually he stayed with an uncle in St. Petersburg before walking home to Poland. At the age of 18, Stern emigrated on his own to Palestine.
Stern studied at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. He specialized in Classical languages and literature (Greek and Latin). His first political involvement was to found a student organization called “Hulda,” whose regulations stated it was dedicated “solely to the revival of the Hebrew nation in a new state.” During the 1929 riots in Palestine, Jewish communities came under attack by local Arabs, and Stern served with the Haganah, doing guard duty on a synagogue rooftop in Jerusalem’s Old City.
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