Born in Belgorod in Kursk Province, Eliazar Lazar Margolin was educated in a local high school, immersed in Russian culture. In 1892, affected by the Zionist movement, he moved to Rehovot in Palestine, and in 1902 to Western Australia.
Enlisting in the AIF, he became the highest-ranking Russian Anzac, as lieutenant-colonel and commander of the 16th Battalion.
Wounded three time at Gallipoli, he was loved by his soldiers who called him ‘Old Margy”. In 1918 he became the Commander of 39 Battalion of Royal Fusiliers fighting in Palestine and for a short time was the Governor of Jerusalem.
Although he died in Western Australia, his ashes were buried in Rehovot in 1949 after the establishment of the state of Israel.
Russian Anzacs