Dr. Yitzhak Grunstein was born in Poland in 1997, the eldest son of a traditional Zionist family.  The family’s ties with Israel were deep:  his mother’s parents immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem where they died and were buried on the Mount of Olives.  Their parents before them immigrated and settled in Safed.

 

With the outbreak of World War I, the Grunstein family left Tarnow in Poland and settled in Vienna.  At the University of Vienna, Yitzhak graduated with a doctorate in law.  His period of study at the University marked the beginning of his Zionist activities that guided him for the rest of his life.  He was one of the “Young Zionists” activists in Vienna and the Zionist Students Organization.  He was later was drafted into active duty in the Austrian army.  

 

At the end of World War I, the Grunstein family returned to Tarnow.  Dr. Grunstein, the young jurist, settled in Krakow where he began his work as a lawyer.  His Zionist involvement continued, with extensive activities in the organization of the General Zionists in the western Galicia region, together with Dr. Schwarzbard, Dr. Ton and Dr. Hilpstein.  

 

In the 1930s, he settled in Bielsko-Biala where he opened his own law firm.  A warm Jew and a man who pursued justice, Yitzhak recoiled from decrees and accusations leveled against the Jews in anti-Semitic Poland.  He successfully represented their cases before discriminatory courts.  The atmosphere of discrimination further deepened his Zionist involvement and he was elected chairman of the Zionist Organization in Bielsko as well as deputy head of the community in that city.

 

In 1936, he was sent as a delegate of a Polish-Western Zionist organization to the Zionist Congress in Prague.  In the summer of 1939, he participated in a conference of the leaders of the Zionist movements in Israel.  He was still in Israel at the outbreak of World War II.  His wife and young daughter had remained in Poland, where most of his immediate family members were captured and later transported to Siberia with the Russian Army until the end of the war.  Despite the difficulties and immigration restrictions of the British mandatory authorities, Dr. Grunstein found a way to bring his wife and daughter to Israel.  They arrived in Israel on the last ship to sail from Constanza, Romania.  Later, during the war, he even tried to rescue his father from Poland and bring him to Israel but his efforts were in vain because his wife was sick and he would not leave her.  The German dogs killed him.

 

Familiar with Polish and Austrian law, Dr. Grunstein found himself in a country subject to British and Ottoman laws.  In 1939 – 1940, deeply concerned and anxious about the fate of his family members who were trapped in Poland, in particular, and the fate of European Jewry.  Dr. Grunstein decided to suspend his pursuit to obtain a license to practice law in mandatory Israel.  In 1941, he established a large-scale diamond polishing business and employed up to 120 workers over time. 

 

Dr. Grunstein’s talent and experience in organizational and public activities led him to extensive activities in the Diamond Manufacturers Association.  Due to his many contributions to the diamond industry, he was elected Vice-President of the association.  

 

Despite his success, his thoughts and heart were still directed to the fate of Diaspora Jewry.

 

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, Dr. Grunstein was asked by the Foreign Minister of the first Israeli government, Moshe Sharett, to take on the role of Commercial Attache to the first Israeli Embassy in Warsaw.  Dr. Grunstein accepted this position and as a government official he was obligated to change his last name, Grunstein (which was German) to a Hebrew last name, Shamir.  He became known as Dr. Yitzhak Shamir.  Returning to Israel at the end of his term in 1951, Dr. Grunstein-Shamir returned to his commercial business in the diamond industry.

 

The destruction of the Polish Jewry, whose culture and values were rooted in his being, affected him greatly and this feeling remained until the end of his life.  In 1954, Dr. Grunstein-Shamir became ill and did not recover.  He died on April 7, 1957.