Yaakov (Kobi) Schiff was nineteen when he was killed near שכונת התקווה HATIKVA and the approaches to Salameh on 23 Kislev 5708. His official memorial says his ההגנה HAʾHAGANA group encountered an English Empire police patrol, which opened fire; a police sergeant's bullet struck Schiff.1

דוד בן-גוריון DAVID BEN-GURION's diary preserves a witness account attributed to Yaakov Neuderfer. The testimony says Schiff had his hands raised when a sergeant shot him in the back. This is a contemporaneous report of witness testimony, not Ben-Gurion's eyewitness account; the sergeant is not named in the records inspected.2

The official memorial and the reported witness account agree that English Empire police fire killed Schiff. The British police version, any inquiry, and any finding about the circumstances remain unavailable in the sources reviewed.

How is this dated?

The Ministry of Defense memorial gives Schiff's death as 6 December 1947 and 23 Kislev 5708. The daytime conversion of that civil date is 23 Kislev. The Ben-Gurion diary is also dated 6 December and records testimony about the killing.3

Guided reflections

  • What weight should readers give to a witness account preserved in a leader's contemporaneous diary when no police file is available?
  • Which records might identify the sergeant or preserve the English Empire authorities' account of the shooting?

Footnotes

  1. https://www.izkor.gov.il/%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%91%20%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A3/en_650212c8489ded364aa741d516c6dc56 Hebrew memorial, life story and death date. ↩
  2. https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/en/node/10726 Diary entry dated 6 December 1947, archival record 219097, English archive translation. ↩
  3. https://www.izkor.gov.il/%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%91%20%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A3/en_650212c8489ded364aa741d516c6dc56; https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/en/node/10726; https://www.hebcal.com/converter?cfg=json&g2h=1&gd=6&gm=12&gy=1947 ↩