Tribute to an FZY veteran who broke Nazi codes

Well over 70 years after joining FZY, a 96-year-old has had his third barmitzvah marked by the Zionist youth movement.

When Londoner Morris Hoffman first became involved in FZY, fellow members included a future Israeli President, Chaim Herzog.

Mr Hoffman served as the movement’s education officer during a period when he also worked as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park, helping the British war effort. As a language student, he was recruited by the elite intelligence unit to translate German messages, pinpointing the location of Nazi troops.

To mark his third barmitzvah, a tree was planted in his name in the FZY Forest in Israel.

FZY national director Harry Jardine met Mr Hoffman recently. “When planting trees, one invests not just for a few years but over a lifetime,” Mr Jardine said. “We can see from figures like Mr Hoffman that the impact that youth movements have is not just in people’s youth.”