Hugo Marom

Hugo Marom was born in 1928 in Brno

Hugo Marom was born in 1928 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, under the name Hugo Meisl. In July 1939 he and his brother were sent to Liverpool, England, on the Kindertransport organized by Nicholas Winton. All of his family who stayed behind, except one cousin, were killed in the Holocaust.

From 1944 to 1945 he took part in the air cadet program of the Royal Air Force. After the war he returned to Czechoslovakia and studied mechanical engineering.

In early 1948 he volunteered for a pilot course in the Czech Air Force with his friend Joe Alon. He came to Israel in February 1949 and joined 100 Squadron in Beersheba, where he flew in operations in the Negev. He later helped found the Air Force flight school at Sirkin, served there as an instructor, and in 1953 set up 110 Squadron.

After leaving the IDF he became the Ministry of Defense test pilot, testing aircraft such as the Fouga Magister and Stratocruiser from 1959 to 1964. From 1964 he advised on airport planning in Israel and abroad through his own firm. He logged 22,000 flight hours and flew 156 types of aircraft.

His daughter is the sculptor Ivy Polig. He died on January 7, 2018.