Berl Repetur

Berl Repetur was born in 1902 in Ruzhyn

Berl Repetur was born in 1902 in Ruzhyn, in the Russian Empire, in what is today Ukraine. He studied in a heder and later at the Hebrew gymnasium in Ruzhyn. He was active in the Dror and HeHalutz youth movements and helped organize Jewish self-defense during the pogroms.

In 1920 he arrived in Haifa, joined Ahdut HaAvoda and the Haganah, and worked at the port as a quarry worker and a porter. He was a member of the first Haganah command in Haifa. In 1922 he joined the secretariat of the Haifa Workers Council.

In 1927 he became secretary of the Histadrut labor exchange, and he also headed the Solel Boneh construction company. He was a delegate to the Zionist Congress in 1935 and 1939 and went on missions to Germany and Poland.

In 1944 he was part of Faction B, which split from Mapai and later helped form Mapam. He was later arrested by the British during Operation Agatha and held in Rafah.

In 1948 he joined Moetzet HaAm and signed the Declaration of Independence. He served in the first Knesset for Mapam from 1949 and lost his seat in 1951. He died in 1989.