Yosef Alon

Yosef Alon was born in 1929 in Ein Harod

Alon was born Josef Plaček on kibbutz Ein Harod to immigrants from Czechoslovakia. His family returned to Czechoslovakia when he was a small child. In 1939 he and his brother David were sent to Britain on the Kindertransport, and a Christian couple adopted him there, while his parents were murdered at Auschwitz.

After World War II he returned to Czechoslovakia and studied jewelry making. He then trained as a pilot in a course run by the Haganah. He moved to Israel and joined the Israeli Air Force as a pilot.

In the air force he flew Meteor, Ouragan and Mystère aircraft and twice commanded 101 Squadron, the second time as the first Mirage squadron. He set up the Flying Safety branch and was among the founders of Hatzerim Airbase, which he commanded. In 1970 he became an air attaché at the Israeli embassy in Washington, where he worked with the Jewish community and lectured to students.

On July 1, 1973, he was shot outside his home in Maryland and died in hospital. The killer was never identified, and an FBI investigation was closed without finding the perpetrators. The FBI reopened the case in January 2017.