Born in 1920 in Kishinev to a Zionist family which observed Jewish tradition, he joined “Ha-Shomer Ha-Tsair” at an early age. After the Soviet occupation, he led the illegal Kishinev Zionist organization but was arrested in 1941 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He served his sentence in the labour camps of Siberia, the Urals and the Far East. Released in 1956, he had to wait till 1973 to get to Israel.