Anita Koifman 1948
Anita Altman was born in 1918 in Leicester, England and volunteered Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in World War II. She was sent to the Air Force Headquarters at Bentley Priory and served as a Duty Clerk with special duties attached to Royal Air Force Fighter Command. Her main responsibilities were as a plotter. She was discharged at the end of World War II.
In September 1948 she came to Israel as a volunteer and worked in the Operations Room of the Air Force in Jaffa.
The Israel Air Force’s operation room 1948
She set up a training course for plotters (Stella Maris) and taught radar. At that time radar was in its infancy but Anita had much experience from her World War II responsibilities.
LEON KOIFMAN
Leon Koifman was born in Russia and at the age of 6 his family moved to France where he was brought up in Paris. His education was completed with a degree in Oil Research.
He was called up in World War II into the Horse Artillery, taken prisoner-of-war in 1940 and escaped to Sweden in December 1940. He was the first prisoner to arrive in Sweden, opening the way for others. He joined the Free French in North Africa and fought in France. He received the Querre de Guerre medal plus the Guerre de Palme.
On 15th May 1948 he arrived in Israel with experience on a 65 lb gun which was much needed at that time, and he fought against the Syrians near Degania.
Leon Koifman (centre) with Ephraim Shorer at Degania on Independence Day 1948
Anita and Leon met in Israel and married in 1950. Leon was offered the Legion D’Honor by France but he rejected this award because of the 1967 French Embargo.
After the war Leon was employed with the Israeli Ministry of Development advising them on oil exploration. He passed away in 1987.