When Betzalel was nine years old, his family moved to Budapest. He graduated from a business high school in 1942. He first joined the “Maccabi Hatzair” movement and later “Hashomer Hatzair”. In May 1944 Betzalel was enlisted in a forced labour unit. He distributed forged documents, received from comrades in the movement, in and outside the camp. The conscripts did dangerous work in sites that were bombarded. Betzalel ran away from the unit and hid thanks to Aryan documents. He went into the ghetto as a Christian, arrived in the “Glass House”, distributed forged documents and helped Jews escape.
Betzalel made aliya illegally in 1946. The ship he was sailing on was caught by the British and its passengers were imprisoned in Atlit. After a stay of several months in Atlit, Betzalel was released and arrived in Kibbutz Ma’anit. He was one of the founders of Kibbutz Yassur. Betzalel left the kibbutz and in 1970 he opened an accountancy firm which was active until 1995. Betzalel is retired and resides in Modiin.
