Baruch Oren

Baruch Oren was born in 1915 in Novy Pahost

Baruch Oren was born Baruch Sosnovik in 1915 in Novy Pahost, near Vilnius, to Yaakov and Golda. He studied at a yeshiva in Vilnius and later trained as a teacher in Vilnius and Warsaw. In those years he became active in the Zionist Youth movement.

When World War II began, he fled to Lithuania with his older brother Menachem. In 1941 the two reached the Land of Israel by way of the Far East. He first taught at Kibbutz Tel Yosef and in 1944 settled in Petah Tikva, where he worked in education.

During the War of Independence he served as a culture officer. In 1948 the Jewish Agency and the Joint sent him to Germany for 2 years to run education in the displaced persons camps. There he also reported for Davar and handled public relations for the Jewish community of Munich.

In 1953 he became head of the Yad LaBanim house in Petah Tikva, the first commemoration project of its kind in the country. He also wrote for newspapers, published children's books and research on Petah Tikva's history, and edited the 3 books of the Haganah veterans' organization. He was active in many public bodies, including Magen David Adom and the bereaved parents' organization.

He received the Israel Prize in 1980 and was named an honored citizen of Petah Tikva in 1982. He died in 2004 and was buried in the Segula cemetery. In 2024 a square in Petah Tikva was named after him.