Israeli Flag in a Triangular Shape Made of Fabric, C. 1950s. From the Estate of Etzel Member Yiftach Stein – (The Man Who Swam Under Fire to Save the Israeli Flag Raised on the Altalena). On one side, the owner’s inscription: “Shulamit and Yiftach Stein, ” along with the owners’ seal in ink (partially smudged).
Stein became famous for an act also related to the Israeli flag. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1940 aboard the illegal immigrant ship Skria. The ship was captured by the British, and its 2,400 passengers were imprisoned at the Atlit internment camp. Six months later, he was released and joined the Betar platoon in Rishon Lezion. He volunteered for the British army and fought with the Jewish Brigade in Italy. Upon his return to Israel, he joined the Etzel and was responsible for the Etzel’s radio station in Netanya, his hometown. When the Altalena ship docked, Yiftach Stein was called up to board as a liaison officer. He was among those sailing on it to the shores of Tel Aviv. When a fire broke out in its warehouses and the order to abandon ship was given, Yiftach Stein jumped into the water and swam toward the shore. At one point, he looked back and noticed the Israeli flag waving atop the ship’s mast. Despite the heavy gunfire around him, Stein decided to return to the deck. Undeterred by the life-threatening danger and the exposure to gunfire, he climbed the ship’s mast, untied the flag, tied it around his body, and swam with it to the shore. Upon reaching the shore, he was taken by his comrades to “Freud” Hospital, which served as the Etzel’s base, where he parted from the flag, not knowing what happened to it. In time, Yiftach Stein integrated into the electronics industry in Israel and founded the Orbit company. However, the memory of the flag he had taken down from the ship’s mast never left him throughout the years. His attempts to locate the flag were unsuccessful, and its whereabouts remained unknown. After Stein’s untimely death, his wife continued the search for the flag. In 1994, she discovered the flag at the Jabotinsky Institute and requested to display it publicly. After much effort and many challenges, she succeeded, and then decided to write a book in memory of her husband, sharing the story of the Altalena flag. (The full documentation is available at the Jabotinsky Institute).
Clarification: The flag before us is not related to the Altalena flag story mentioned above, except for the fact that it belonged to Yiftach Stein.
21×16 cm. Light tears and stains. Good condition.
