Raul Teitelbaum, one of Israel’s veteran journalists, died in Jerusalem at 94. Teitelbaum, who for years signed his articles under the pen name Israel Tomer, was born in Prizren to the only Jewish family in the town, in the Kosovo region near the Albanian border.
His father, Yosef, a chess enthusiast, named his only son Raul after world chess champion José Raúl Capablanca. In 1945, after the Teitelbaum family was imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen, they were transferred on the last train toward central Germany shortly before the camp was liberated by the British. The German guards fled the train on April 23, and Russian cavalrymen rescued the family.
After the Holocaust, Teitelbaum studied in Belgrade and was active in the Communist youth movement. Under pressure from his mother, who had relatives in Israel, the family immigrated in 1949.
Teitelbaum enlisted in the Artillery Corps and served in the reserves as a deputy battalion commander. “I was the highest-ranking communist in the IDF,” he used to say.
For 12 years, he wrote for the Maki party newspaper Kol HaAm as an economic reporter and Knesset commentator, and was also a Maki candidate for Knesset. He also reported for newspapers in Belgrade.
After Kol HaAm shut down, Teitelbaum moved to Yedioth Ahronoth, where he spent 30 years as an economic reporter and Knesset correspondent.
Under the pseudonym Israel Tomer, he published hundreds of articles, investigations and essays on economic, social and political issues, and also appeared as a commentator on radio programs. His final position was as Yedioth Ahronoth’s correspondent in Germany.
Teitelbaum also served for years as chairman of the Journalists Association’s ethics committee and published several books on the Holocaust. In 2018, he lit a torch at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem.
Teitelbaum was married to Aliza for 60 years and is survived by two daughters, Anat and Iris. His funeral will be held Thursday at noon at Kibbutz Yad Hanna.