ליכטנפלד Sde'Or Lichtenfeld שדאור, Imrich Imre 'Imi' ben Shmuel (Samuel)

Birth Name ליכטנפלד Sde'Or Lichtenfeld שדאור, Imrich Imre 'Imi' ben Shmuel (Samuel) [1] [2]
Birth Name ליכטנפלד, אימריך בן סמואל
Also Known As שדאור, אימריך
Birth Name 'אימי'
Call Name 'Imi'
Call Name אימריך
Call Name אימריך
Call Name 'אימי'
Gender male
Age at Death 87 years, 7 months, 14 days

Events

Event Date Place Description Notes Sources
Birth May 26, 1910 Budapest, Közép-Magyarország, Magyarország  

Event Note

As a child, Imre Lichtenfeld trained with his father in gymnastics, and participated in the self-defence classes given to the group of detectives that Samuel Lichtenfeld taught regularly.
He excelled in swimming, gymnastics, wrestling, and boxing.

Event Note

In 1928, Imre Lichtenfeld won the Slovakian Youth Wrestling Championship.

Event Note

in 1929, Imre Lichtenfeld won the adult championship, welterweight division, the national boxing championship and an international gymnastics championship.

Event Note

Up until 1939, Imre Lichtenfeld competed in numerous international meets, winning dozens of medals and prizes.
He was considered to be at the forefront of European wrestlers.
He taught gymnastics to the cast of one of Czechoslovakia’s best-known theatrical companies, and acted in several of the troupe’s productions.

Event Note

Between 1936 and 1940, as Fascist and anti-Semitic groups appeared in Bratislava Presburg, Imre Lichtenfeld took part in violent clashes and street fights with the anti-Semitic thugs.

 
Emigration April, 1940   Imrich 'Imi' Lichtenfeld, age 30 years, left Bratislava

 
Boat May 18, 1940 פנצ'ו Stefano Pencho Pentcho Pencho פנצ'ו sailed from Bratislava down the Danube

Event Note

On May 18, 1940, Pencho פנצ'ו sailed from Bratislava down the Danube River, carrying 514 passengers, mostly Betar members, including a group of 101 passengers who boarded in Yugoslavia, who had been released from Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald concentration camps on the condition that they never return.
JPost.com cites: "They had to have visas, and the only ones available were highly improbable: they were for another land-locked country on the other side of the world. And so five hundred passengers boarded the ship armed with visas for Paraguay, with the intention, obviously, of not going to South America but aiming for the aliyah bet, or illegal immigration into Palestine."
Anna Pizzuti cites: On May 16, 1940, Pencho פנצ'ו sailed, carrying 520 passengers. The stated destination was Paraguay, and her passengers had Paraguayan visas, The Russian skipper, overdosed on morphine, was dragged off the vessel. The Romanians kept her from entering the country,wandered for 4 months along the Danube River, mostly through Hungary and Yugoslavia, and then, with no fuel, she drifted downstream, with Bulgarians and Romanians shooting at her to keep her from mooring.

Event Note

Yehuda Bauer cites: "In July, 1940, another Revisionist ship, the Pencho, was moving along the Danube. with no money and less chance to cross the Mediterranean. The passengers had paid £13,000 ($42,000) to organizers, who then abandoned them to their fate. Among the refugees were some of the the leaders of Zionist organizations in Germany and Czechoslovakia."
Anna Pizzuti cites: In August, 1940, the Yugoslav government dispatched a tug boat, to accompany Pencho פנצ'ו through the "Iron Gate" to Bulgarian territory. Finally, she reached the Danube delta,

Event Note

On September 21, 1940, Pencho פנצ'ו, after making some repairs to the paddle wheel, sailed from Sulina, without a radio, without a transmitter and without welding equipment, was allowed to sail to the Black Sea.

Event Note

John Birman cites: At the start of the journey, sailing along the Danube River and through the Aegean Sea, Imrich 'Imi' Lichtenfeld jumped into the water several times to save passengers who had fallen overboard or to retrieve bags of food, which was in short supply.
As a result, he suffered a severe ear infection that nearly cost him his life.
The doctors aboard Pencho פנצ'ו were able to help him regain his health.

[3]
Boat October 9, 1940 פנצ'ו Stefano Pencho Pentcho Pencho פנצ'ו shipwrecked a few meters from the shore of Mytilene, or Samos (reports differ)in the Italian Dodecanese Islands

Place Note

On October 9, 1940, the eve of Yom Kippur, Pencho פנצ'ו's boiler blew up, and she shipwrecked a few meters from the shore of Mytilene, or Samos, reports differ, in the Italian Dodecanese Islands.
Albert Alcalay and Imre Lichtenfeld cite: "Pencho stranded on the uninhabited Aegean island of Kamilanisi, 50 km north of Crete and 80 km west of the Italian Dodecanese Islands. They made a bridge out of planks, and , all the passengers left the ship in exemplary order and with no sign of panic, with the help of young men who stood on either side in the water. The women with children left first, then the rest of the women, the old people and, finally, the young men. At the end of Yom Kippur, Pencho sank, and her passengers remained on the island for ten days."
On October 11, 1940, Pencho פנצ'ו sank in the Aegean Sea.
Albert Alcalay and Imre Lichtenfeld cite:: "On October 20 , 1940, the Italians rescued all aboard, and transferred them to Rodos, where the paasengers, who had lost almost all their luggage, had to live in the Rhodes athletic stadium for several months."
S. Farkash cites: The passengers spending 500 days on Rodos. The local Rodos Jews, known as Rhodeslis, brought them food, blankets, and supplies.
Yehuda Bauer cites: "Its 512 passengers were rescued by the Italians and interned at Rhodes. From there they were transported to the Italian detention camp at Ferramonti in the south of Italy; they survived the war, and most of them immigrated to Palestine after their liberation."

Event Note

John Birman cites: When a boiler exploded on board Pencho פנצ'ו, which then ran aground near Kamilanisi, Imre Lichtenfeld and four friends took a rowboat and set out for Crete to get help.
Ignoring his ear infection and the pleas of his friends, Imre Lichtenfeld refused to stop rowing. eventhough strong winds caused the rowboat to drift away, never reaching the island.
On the morning of the fifth day, a British warship picked up the five, and transported them to Alexandria, where 'Imi' was sent to the Jewish hospital,where he underwent a series of operations.

Event Note

Rabbi Marc D. Angel, in "The Jews of Rhodes", cites: The Maapilim of Pencho פנצ'ו were interned, many were later deported to death camps in Poland, or were interned at Ferramonti di Tarsia Internment Camp, and the Jews of Rodos were sent to Auschwitz, where they were when Allied forces liberated the area in September 1943.
The Rodos community arranged for 300 of the refugees to be transported to Tangiers.

 
Military Service   Československé legie Czechoslovak Legions  

Event Note

Imrich Lichtenfeld joined the Czech Legion Československé legie that was subordinate to the British military in the region.
He served for a year, in Egypt, Libya, and Syria.
When he was discharged, he received permission to enter Mandate Palestine.

 
Military Service   הגנה Haganah  

Event Note

Imri Lichtenfeld supervised the training of the special units of the Haganah הגנה, Palmach, Palyam, and the police forces, in Kapap קפא"פ, קרב פנים אל פנים: face-to-face combat.

 
Military Service 1948 צה"ל צבא הגנה לישראל TzaHaL IDF Israel Defense Forces  

Event Note

Imre Lichtenfeld served in the IDF for 15 years, building on the foundation of fighting principles that were comprised of his boxing, wrestling, gymnastic, and military training.
He served as head instructor of Krav Maga at the IDF School of Combat Fitness, and personally qualified the best fighters of the most elite units of the IDF.

 
Name Change      

Event Note

Imre Lichetenfeld adopted the Hebrew version of his name, becoming Imi Sde'Or שדאור, the direct translation of Lichtenfeld, which means Field of Light.

 
Occupation 1963   Imre Sde Or שדאור opened schools in Tel Aviv and Netanyah

Event Note

In 1963, Imre Lichtenfeld retired from military service, and opened two Krav Maga centers, one in Tel Aviv and one in Netanyah.

Event Note

In 1972, the first civilian course for Krav Maga instructors was held at the School for Trainers and Instructors at the Wingate Institute of Sport and Physical Education מכון וינגייט, המרכז הלאומי לחינוך גופני ולספורט.

 
Death January 9, 1998 נתניה Netanyah, השרון, המרכז, ישראל Imre Lichtenfeld died at age 88 years

 

Parents

Father Lichtenfeld, Samuel

Gallery

Narrative

Narrative

Imi Lichtenfeld Krav Maga

Source References

  1. Krav Maga: How to Defend Yourself Against Physical Attack
  2. The Odyssey
  3. Odyssey: The Last Great Escape from Nazi Dominated Europe

Pedigree

  1. Lichtenfeld, Samuel
    1. ליכטנפלד Sde'Or Lichtenfeld שדאור, Imrich Imre 'Imi' ben Shmuel (Samuel)

Ancestors