by Yair Rosenblum & Yoram
TeharLev
EVERY WAR HAS ITS SONGS. THE FOLLOWING IS ONE OF THE
SIX-DAY WAR’S MOST WELL KNOWN SONGS. IT TELLS THE STORY
OF THE BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT ON AMMUNITION HILL:
It was the second morning of the war in Jerusalem.
The darkness faded out in
the east. We were deep in
the battle over Givat Hatachmoshet. It was a
fierce
battle. The Jordanians were hard to crack.
It was a well-fortified bunker; in some stages of the
battle, I had only
four soldiers with me. We came up
there with two companies.
I never knew where the others were because the radio
was with Dudik, the
commander was cut off from the
beginning of the battle, at that moment I was
sure
that everyone was killed.
It was 2:30 at night
when we came through the
rocks
to the fields of fire and mines
of Givat
Hatachmoshet.
In front of fortified bunkers
machine guns and
cannons
100 and few guys in front
of Givat
Hatachmoshet.
The pillar of dawn didn’t rise yet
When all the
company was already covered with blood
But we were
there
on Givat Hatachmoshet.
Because of the fences and mines
we left the medics
behind
and we ran with no senses
to Givat
Hatachmoshet.
We came down to the tunnels
to the holes to the
cracks
and to the death in the trenches
of Givat
Hatachmoshet.
There were no questions
those who went first, just
fell
you really needed a lot of luck
on Givat
Hatachmoshet.
Those who fell were dragged to the back
so they
wouldn’t disturb the others passing
until the next
one fell
on Givat Hatachmoshet.
Maybe we were lions
but if you wanted to
live
you should not have been
on Givat
Hatachmoshet.
We decided to blow up their bunker with the bazooka
it made a few scratches on the concrete. We then decided
to blow it up with explosives. The guy at the back would
throw me the packs and I would put them at the entrance
to their bunker. They had a system, first they would
throw a grenade, then they shot a few shots and then
they would rest, so between the grenades and the shots I
ran and put explosives down. I had only four meters to
move because there were Jordanians all over the place. I
do not know why I got the medal of honor, all I wanted
was to go home quietly.
Smoke covered the hill
the sun was rising in the
east
we were only seven, going back to the
city
from Givat Hatachmoshet.
And this is the story
the story of trenches and
bunkers
the story of our brothers the men
who
remained twenty years old
on Givat
Hatachmoshet.