Title: My land of tears and laughter
First published: 1994
Description: The story of Col. Ze'ev Shaham, better known to his countrymen as "Zonik," is among the most fascinating sagas that Israel has brought forth. More than just the life story of a single man, My Land of Tears and Laughter recreates the history of twentieth-century Israel through three generations of warriors, men whose courage is interwoven into the fabric of the nation.

Zonik's father, Alexander Steinberg, was a renowned officer of the Hagana, and among the most fearless of its "Rechesh" weapons procurers - the men whose ingenuity and devotion armed the fledgling army bullet by bullet. Zonik's son, Eyal, was a tank commander who fell at the onset of the Yom Kippur War; his bravery in defending his men against the Syrian surprise attack saved them from annihilation

.

Zonik Shaham himself belongs to the '48 generation, the generation who fought the War of Independence. This book recalls the days leading up to the war, in Palestine under British mandate, and relates his own life story and the four wars that he fought. As he recounts his days with the Palmach and Hagana, and the British Army (with which he served in the North African Theater in World War II), the reader encounters a broad gallery of fellow soldiers and friends that Zonik meets on his wide travels.

His war stories, though occasionally grim and full of sorrow, are told with the wit and unfailing humor by which his friends have always known him.

Between his experiences in wartime, Zonik found his skills needed in an exotic variety of locations. He served - overtly and covertly - as an advisor to the armies of Ethiopia and Uganda, coming into contact with such diverse figures as General China, a former Mau Mau, Emperor Haile Selassie (who survived a coup during Zonik's stay), and then-underling Idi Amin, who attempted to sell Zonik and the Israeli government a truck full of hijacked gold ingots.

After his retirement from the IDF, Zonik found a second career as a liaison between the State of Israel and the Diaspora, especially the Jewish communities in such cities as Miami and Philadelphia, where he inspired many with the tales of his exploits, and continually encouraged aliya, or emigration to Israel.

As Zonik's childhood friend Haim Guri writes in his introduction, "this book is fascinating testimony. In a land being hammered out on the anvil of history - whose todays can scarcely recognize its yesterdays as it is swept incessantly by waves of immigration - it is often difficult to isolate the "hard core" of individuals who render prolonged and perilous service. Zonik is of the professional army, one of the men who viewed their career as a vocation rather than a pursuit of rank. . . .

Having known him as child and boy in those distant days, I discover here in this book a Zonik I never knew; the plenitude of a lifetime of this highly decorated man." Zonik passed away before publication of this volume.
Subjects: Officers, Biography, Armed Forces
Places: Israel
People: Zeʾev Shaham (1923-)
LC classification: U55.S3827 E7713 1994