Eliezer Zeltzer (1928-1948)
Eliezer was born in Hungary on 4 January 1928 (11 Tevet 5688). He and his father, Yosef Zvi Zeltzer, were among the very few remnants of a very large family, most of whom were killed in Auschwitz in the Second World War. After the war he enlisted in medical school in Debrecen.
However, the struggle in Israel in those days made Eliezer restless, and when the war broke out he abandoned his studies, immigrated to Israel in June 1948 and joined the armed forces.
Eliezer’s enormous courage and valor are recorded in the logs of the battalion in which he served: “He embodies that which he expressed in a poem he dedicated to the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto – ‘A Jew will never ever accept oppression – never!’”
Eliezer Zeltzer fell on 10 November 1948 (8 Cheshvan 5709) in the battle for Faluja in Israel’s War of Independence and is buried in the Kfar Varburg cemetery.
Eliaz Winery, today known as Binyamina Winery, was established after the War of Independence by Eliezer’s father in a building in Binyamina that used to house a perfume factory. Yosef Zeltzer – winemaker, exporter and an expert on Hungarian wines - named the winery after his son Eliezer. The enterprise brought prosperity to the (then) village of Binyamina, provided employment for new immigrants and consistently contributed to Israel’s reputation as a wine-making country.