[1] Joseph Trumpeldor’s father, Vladimir Wolf (Ze'ev), was born in the city of Parczew in Congress Poland, the son of Rabbi Shmuel Asher.

At the age of 13, Trumpeldor's father was kidnapped as a Cantonist and forced into service in the Russian Imperial Army, where he served for many years as a combat medic.

Shortly before his discharge, he held a Inauguration of a Torah scroll ceremony at his place of service, which received attention even in Vilnius and was reported in the newspaper "Ha-Karmel.

[5] He took exams to enter a real gymnasium (high school), passed successfully, but was not accepted due to the Numerus Clausus, which limited the number of Jews allowed to enroll.

Later, when writing about his youth, Trumpeldor referred to the persecution and antisemitism he faced in Russia due to his Jewish identity: "Along with other Jews, I drank from the cup of suffering and humiliation since childhood because with contempt or hatred, they called me 'Zhid' or deprived me of rights given to other Russian citizens.

Following the Russian forces’ retreat to the fortress of Port Arthur, he was awarded the Saint George Cross, 4th degree, and the rank of Sergeant.

His unique personality was evident in a powerful letter he wrote to his family: "Again, I ask you not to feel sorrow for me; firstly, even if you do, it will not change anything, and secondly, many people have lost both their right and left hands, yet they still live.

[17] On January 2, 1905, following Russia's defeat at the Battle of Port Arthur, Trumpeldor was captured and taken to a Prisoner of War camp in Takayama, Japan.

[18] He established a Loan fund, workshops, schools, a library, a theater troupe, and even arranged for religious needs, requesting the Japanese to assist in baking matzah, acquiring a Torah scroll, and tallitot, and writing greeting cards for Rosh Hashanah.

In Alexandria, upon his return from Gallipoli, Trumpeldor took French lessons from Fira (Esther) Rozov, a member of a wealthy citrus-growing family and one of the pioneers of Petach Tikva, who were also exiled to Egypt due to their foreign nationality.

[28] In October 1916, after abandoning his efforts to rebuild the corps, Trumpeldor traveled to London to assist Ze'ev Jabotinsky in establishing a Jewish fighting unit.

Jabotinsky hoped that British Jewry would enlist en masse for a Jewish unit in the army and believed that Trumpeldor, whose reputation as a hero preceded him, could help him recruit volunteers.

These men ultimately formed the nucleus of the Jewish Legion, which Jabotinsky, with Trumpeldor's active assistance, succeeded in establishing with great effort and after numerous persuasion attempts in 1917.

His ambition this time was to recruit a Jewish force of one hundred thousand men to be sent to the front in the Caucasus or Persia and eventually reach the Land of Israel.

In light of the growing danger of a Bolshevik uprising and the expected pogroms against Jews that might follow, Trumpeldor turned his efforts to organizing Jewish self-defense, as a first and urgent task.

He worked intensively on drafting practical plans for establishing communes (essentially kibbutzim) in the Land of Israel, forming a pioneering military organization, a labor union, and facilitating immigration.

In Israel, his fiancée, Fira Rozov, awaited him, but upon his arrival, their relationship ended, likely due to a connection Trumpeldor formed in Crimea with another young woman, Emma (Nechama) Tsipkin.

He also contributed to the planning of the establishment of a Hebrew Navy in the Land of Israel and the purchase of a Halutz Ship for training the movement’s pioneers from the Caucasus in Seafaring and to engage in Labor Conquest at Sea.

"In the midst of his struggle for cooperation among the workers' parties, Israel Shochat, one of the leaders of the Hashomer organization, asked Trumpeldor to go to the Upper Galilee and check the situation there.

The local Arabs took advantage of the situation to rebel against French rule and even harassed the Christian villages in the area, which France had promised to protect.

On January 8, the defenders of the Galilee issued a proclamation that read, among other things:[37] "Proclamation to the youth of the land: We have stood our ground for some time and have decided to continue defending the Upper Galilee until the very last moment... We will resist the enemy surrounding us and will not leave until our final breath... We call upon you, the youth of the land, whose sense of responsibility and offense stirs you, to come to our aid..."Later that month, a large French force arrived in Metula; its Jewish residents left, and the force completely destroyed and looted the colony.

[38] On February 9, 1920, Trumpeldor wrote to the Haganah Committee from Ayelet HaShahar, stating that the Arab leaders had decided "to destroy and annihilate the Jewish settlement in the Upper Galilee.

"[39] Trumpeldor sent a request to the Yishuv leadership for reinforcements and urgently needed supplies: "We demand again: send assistance to Tel Hai and Kfar Giladi!

Their situation is dire..."[40]The Workers' Committee in Jaffa convened a meeting attended by David Ben-Gurion, A.Z.R., Avraham Herzfeld, and Shmuel HaPater, and it was decided to reinforce the northern defenders, but the number of people sent was small.

For example, in a letter written that same night, Avraham Herzfeld told his colleagues at the Agricultural Center that Trumpeldor said to him: "It's nothing; it's worth dying for the Land of Israel.

As Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on Tel Hai Day: "The roaring lion is silent – but his story has been spreading for decades from one end of the country to the other.

The defenders of Kfar Giladi and Metula continued to stand against their enemies, and on the morning of 13 Adar 5680 (March 3, 1920), they were forced to abandon these points as well after seeing a mass of riders and foot soldiers preparing to attack them.

In July 1920, the French expelled Faisal from Damascus, and in December 1920, France and Britain signed an agreement transferring the Galilee Panhandle to British control.

Every year on 11 Adar, school students and members of youth movements visit the grave to commemorate the battle and what it symbolizes in a state ceremony attended by a representative of the Government of Israel.

The life and heroism of Captain Joseph Trumpeldor are detailed on the Yizkor website – the memorial site for the fallen of Israel's wars, Ministry of Defense.