Shaike Dan (November 15, 1909 – March 2, 1994) was one of the Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine sent to Eastern European countries occupied by the Nazis. Dan was one of the founders of Nativ.

Biography

Shaike Dan was born as Yeshayahu (Isaiah) Trachtenberg in the town of Lipcani in

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

), to Chaim and Rebecca Trachtenberg. He was the third child out of 4 brothers and sisters: Shifra, Nissan, Isaiah, and Dov. He was a soccer fan and played in Lipcani's Jewish soccer team. As a teenager, he got interested in

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, and joined the Maccabi movement. Over time he became an activist and organizer in the movement. In 1935 he

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

. He wanted to start a kibbutz with his friends from Maccabi, but for a time he returned to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and later went to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, and took part in the Maccabi Youth organization. After a short time, he returned to Israel, and settled in

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Nir Haim. In 1944, Shaike Dan was parachuted together with Yitzhak Ben-Efraim into enemy territory in

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

member Romania. Their role was to assist in the rescue of several British and American pilots who had to crash in Romania, and to rescue Jews from there and organize their immigration to Israel. In the 1950s, Dan was one of the founders of the Liaison Office for the Jews of the Soviet Union ("Nativ"), that replaced earlier underground organization Hamossad L'Aliya Bet. From his base in Vienna, he was involved in fleeing Jews from Eastern European countries to Israel. Dan was the representative of the Israeli government in the negotiations with the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

authorities regarding the emigration of the Jews from there and he carried shipments of cash with him for that purpose. Dan was involved in the operation until late 1970s; more than 100,000 Jews moved from Romania to Israel through "the channel of Dan and Nativ", out of nearly 300,000 Jews who emigrated from Romania from 1946 to 1989. In Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv streets were named after him. He was awarded the Yigal Alon Award in 2017 in recognition of his activities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Shaike 1909 births 1994 deaths Aliyah Bessarabian Jews Moldovan Jews Moldovan Zionists Jewish parachutists of Mandate Palestine People from Briceni District People from Khotinsky Uyezd