Yohanan Ratner

Yohanan Ratner was an architect, a head of the Haganah and an IDF general who taught architecture at the Technion.

1891 to 1965First head of Haganah national commandDesigning the National Institutions BuildingTeaching architecture at the TechnionThe Ratner Committee

Died: 28 January 1965, Haifa
Occupation: architect, military officer
Rank: general
Wars: World War I, 1948 Palestine war

Yohanan Ratner was born in 1891 in Odesa

Ratner was born in Odesa in 1891. His mother died when he was born. In 1905, after pogroms in Russia, his father sent him to Germany, where he finished high school in Mannheim.

In 1910 he returned to Russia and finished an officer course in the Tsar's army, but as a Jew he was not given an officer post. He studied architecture in Karlsruhe. In World War I he served in the Russian army and later commanded a brigade.

He moved to the Land of Israel in 1923 and worked as a builder. From 1925 he taught at the Technion, became a professor in 1939 and served as dean of the architecture faculty. He designed the National Institutions Building in Jerusalem, Beit Berl and the Ben-Gurion Midrasha at Sde Boker.

In 1955 he headed the Ratner Committee, which decided that military rule over Israel's Arabs should continue. He married Ora Ratner and had 2 sons. His older son, the pilot David Ratner, was killed in 1954. He died on January 28, 1965.

Milestones in Yohanan Ratner's life

1891
Born in Odesa.
1923
Moved to the Land of Israel.
1925
Joined the Haganah and began teaching at the Technion.
1928
Won the design competition for the National Institutions Building.
1938
Became the first head of the Haganah national command.
1939
Became a professor at the Technion.
1948
Became head of IDF planning and then military attaché in Moscow.
1955
Headed the Ratner Committee on military rule.
1965
Died.

Yohanan Ratner served in the military

Ratner joined the Haganah in 1925 and in July 1938 became the first head of its national command, serving until September 1939. He was an IDF general who headed the planning branch in June 1948 and then served as military attaché in Moscow until June 1949.