Mendel Math was born on August 22, 1926 in Brooklyn, NY and was given a strongly religious upbringing at home and in school. His elementary education was at a day school, continuing at Herzliah Hebrew High School in NY. His attendance at Brooklyn College was interrupted by WWII. He served in the U.S. Army, participating in the liberation of the survivors of the death camps of Dachau and Buchenwald. He was court martialed - and vindicated - for his religious convictions: As a Kohen, strict Jewish Law forbids any unnecessary contact with the dead. Mendel understood this to apply to the ashes and the other remains in the death camps, and therefore refused to participate directly in their burial, since this could be done by others - and there was other work he could do. At his court martial his position was understood and he was released. He returned to Brooklyn College, but the memory of the European survivors was very much with him. He was particularly agitated by the lack of positive action on the part of the American Government to open the gates of Palestine. Organized a general group to help the Haganah; tried to organize a group of young volunteers within his own organization to serve in the growing war in Israel. He left for Israel March 29, 1948, and promptly enlisted in the Haganah. He was killed in the battle for Latrun of May 13, 1948, together with Jerome Kaplan- the day before the State was declared. His body was never recovered.
