Peretz Kidron (; 29 July 1933 – 6 November 2011) was an Israeli writer, journalist and translator.

Biography

He was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the son of Sara and Herman Kirchenbaum aywho were devoted Zionists and supporters of the Jewish state. His family escaped to Great Britain in 1938 following the

annexation of Austria The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany") arose after the 1871 unifica ...

into

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. After completing his secondary education in Britain he emigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he lived on and off in Kibbutz

Zikim Zikim () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In , it had a population of . Etymology Michael Harsgor, later an Israeli historian, came up w ...

for about 15 years. Both of his children were born in the kibbutz. During this period he was sent by the kibbutz to the UK as a youth leader for the Zionist leftist youth movement

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

, to prepare and bring Jewish youth to migrate to Israel. In the early 1970s, he graduated from Tel-Aviv University in English and translation. From the late 1960s, he became active in the Israeli peace movement. In 1975, he was a founding member of the

Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...

and served on the steering committee of the human rights group B'Tselem. Kidron was a long time Israel correspondent for

Middle East International ''Middle East International'' was a bimonthly magazine published in London from 1971 until 2005, reaching a total of 761 issues. It was established by Christopher Mayhew and a group of senior British politicians and diplomats. The original publish ...

. From The 1980s, Kidron handled international contacts for the peace group

Yesh Gvul Yesh Gvul (, can be translated as "There is a limit", as "There is a border", or as "Enough is enough") is an Israeli movement founded in 1982 at the outbreak of the Lebanon War, by combat veterans who refused to serve in Lebanon. Yesh Gvul's ca ...

. He compiled and edited a collection of writings of those who refuse to serve in the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

, ''Refusenik! Israel's Soldiers of Conscience''. In 1976, he co-authored the memoirs of the Palestinian activist Raymonda Tawil, '' My Home, My Prison''. His translations from Hebrew to English include the memoirs of

Yitzak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. Rabin was ...

and

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (, ; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was an Israeli major general and politician who served as the president of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air ...

, and a biography of

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

. His translation of Rabin's autobiography was censored by Israel's military censor. The passages removed were Rabin's account of the 1948 departure of 50,000 civilians from

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

and

Lydda Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

, particularly Ben-Gurion's gesture, which Rabin understood to mean "Drive them out!" The missing passages were printed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' on 23 October 1979.

Death

Peretz Kidron died in Jerusalem, Israel, on 6 November 2011, and was buried at Kibbutz

Kiryat Anavim Kiryat Anavim () is a kibbutz in the Judean Hills of Israel. It was the first kibbutz established in the Judean Hills. It is located west of Jerusalem, and falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidron, Peretz 1933 births 2011 deaths Israeli translators Israeli journalists Austrian emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli translators B'Tselem people Writers from Vienna Hebrew–English translators Kibbutzniks Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom