| Reuven Dafni | |
| Birth Name: | Ruben Kandt |
| Birth Date: | 1913 11, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Death Place: | Israel |
| Nationality: | Croat, Israeli |
Reuven Dafni (Hebrew: ראובן דפני; born Ruben Kandt; 11 November 1913 – 13 June 2005) was a wartime British officer and special forces soldier and a soldier and diplomat for Israel. He was also one of the founders of kibbutz Ein Gev and a longtime assistant director of the Yad Vashem memorial center.[1]
Dafni was born on November 11, 1913, in Zagreb, in what was then the largely-autonomous region of Croatia-Slavonia in Austria-Hungary. He came from an educated family that was Croatian and Jewish; he had two siblings. At the end of the World War I, the region was united with the Serbia, to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In the early 1930s, Dafni was studying in Vienna, where his father was a diplomat: he was a keen athlete, a member of the student union and an activist in the Zionist youth movement.
In 1936, Dafni emigrated to Mandatory Palestine, then under British administration, and became one of the founders of kibbutz Ein Gev.
In 1940, he took up arms against the Nazis and joined the British Army. He served in the Greek Campaign and in the Battle of Crete, as well as in the North African Campaign.
In 1942, a new Palestine Regiment, was created and Dafni was one of its soldiers. He also volunteered for training for special operations.
In mid-March 1944, along with several other agents, Dafni was parachuted behind enemy lines into occupied Yugoslavia. He met up with the Partisans and kept them in contact with the Western Allies; he spent six months in Croatia.
For his war-service, Warrant Officer (Company Sergeant-Major) Dafni was recognised with a Mention in Despatches (MiD). He was also commissioned as an officer.
Dafni was married to Rina (née Grossman) with whom he had two children, a son, Yoram, and a daughter, Avital. The couple later divorced and Dafni remarried twice.[3] [4] [5]