My Grandfather Yohanan “Pinocchio” Meinrath

My grandfather was born in Hanoover, Germany at
March 17,1930.

He was the only son of Menahem and Frida.

They lived in Essen, very close to the border with the Netherlands, until my grandfather was 7 years old.

In 1937 after a number of unpleasant events, his parents realized that they needed to leave Germany immediately and immigrate to Israel.

Menachem, my grandfather’s father, was part of an organization called “Thelet Lavan” and organized the aliyah.

My grandfather acclimatized in Israel relatively easily.

He studied at the Ben Yehuda Gymnasium and thanks to his teacher was able to bridge the language gaps and learn Hebrew.

On September 9, 1940, when my grandfather was 10, his father was killed in the Italian bombing of Tel Aviv.

He remains an only child with his mother who has difficulty with the language and they have no money to live on.

In 1942, when he was 12 and in sixth grade, due to the situation at home, he moved to Ben Shemen youth village.

In Ben Shemen he studied the agricultural way of life, was educated according to it and received many abilities for life.

At that time, Ben Shemen was surrounded by Arab cities and villages from all directions.

They lived with them in peace and even visited the Arab villages and schools in the area.

But from the moment of the UN declaration on November 29, 1947, they realized that they had to take care of themselves and prepare for battles in the region.

From the age of 17, my grandfather and his friends began guarding the Ben Shemen area and carrying out defensive operations against the Arabs in the area.

After the war, they reunited with the “Erez” group, where he met his wife Ruth and now my grandmother, they immediately fell in love and got married.

In September 1949, they established Kibbutz Erez together with the group, right next to the Gaza Strip.

After several years in kibbutz Errez, they decided that they preferred the way of life in the moshav and joined the establishment of a new moshav in the area called Nir Banim.

They live in Nir Banim to this day.

In Nir Banim in a small and modest house, they raised four children, one of them is my father Raviv.

All these years they were engaged in agriculture, set up a large barn and worked in it.

My grandfather, who loves the stage, singing and performing, was part of the band “Magfaim”.

The members of the band were lived of the kibbutz and the moshav and its songs were based on the life in these places.

Today my 91-year-old grandfather lives with my grandmother in Nir Banim.

They have 4 children, 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

My grandfather loves nature very much, continues to ride a bike every day and maintains his health.

We are very good friends and make sure to talk a lot and meet.