Barak, Yosef

Joseph, son of Chana and Jorge, was born on 12.12.1951 in Montevideo, Uruguay, and later his family moved to Argentina. The difficult war of existence of the poor family left its mark on Yosef, who from an early age was forced to help support the family. Although he was quiet and shy by nature, the experience of life that he had accumulated since his early childhood had shaped his character and, as his mother attested, “made him a little man who knows his way safely.” In 1964, the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Kiryat Yam, where Yosef completed his elementary studies at the Neveh Hadassah school after five years of study in Argentina. Although he was new in the country, Joseph quickly established his position in the school and already in the first year he was awarded the prize for being an outstanding student. Joseph was also the first of the children. Ofer, his good friend, told him: “Yossi, or Jose, as we called him, was for a perfect friend in the full sense of the word, those who will not turn their backs if you are ever in trouble. He is at the top of his list of priorities. ” After completing his elementary studies, Yosef moved to a high school vocational school in Magdiel. His teachers and his friends from the boarding school testify that he was a brilliant student, who had gold hands, and especially they remember that he would help everyone. “Yossi had some wonderful, indescribable quality, a kind of unmediated kindness, a radiant warmth, and everyone loved Yossi.” Joseph was drafted into the IDF in early February 1970, and as a professional was assigned to the Ordnance Corps and was employed in tank mechanics, Yossi loved the profession, loved the tank engines for the complex and powerful complex, and enthusiastically told his friends, “What is it like to see a tank that has just been passed by you? “Yossi was an excellent man, and according to his commander he was a kind of sergeant in the unit: diligent, always smiling, loyal to friends and work, Is doing his job best. “At the beginning of February 1973, when he completed his compulsory service, he volunteered for another year of service In the Yom Kippur War, Yossi fought with his unit on the Golan Heights, and on the 9th of Tishrei 5734 (October 9, 1973), the unit arrived at the Sindiana grove, and Yossi, who went out to rescue a damaged tank, He was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa and left behind his parents, three sisters and a brother, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in a letter of condolence to the bereaved family: “Yossi was a conscientious soldier and loved by all his friends . Yossi served as a model for his friends and subordinates “