Demol, Yosef

Yosef, son of Shoshana and Yehia, Yosef was born in June 1930 in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. In the year 1931 he immigrated to Israel with his parents and brother. In the winter of 1948 he served in Etzel positions on the Jaffa border, participating in the battles of Yehudia, Wilhelm and Ramle, and was wounded in an Etzel attack on Jaffa. After recovering, he fought with his friends in the Haganah, in the commando battalion in the 8th Brigade. He showed great strength, ability and courage in the difficult and dangerous situations his battalion encountered. Yosef participated in the occupation of Beit Joubrin, Duaima, Iraq-Suwaidan, as well as in the battles of Operation Asaf in Sheik-Nuran, Khirbet Ma’in and other villages near Israeli borders. Yosef fell on the 5th of Tevet 5709 (January 6, 1949) during the “Horev” Operation, which attempted to vanquish the Egyptian Army, in the Rafiach Battle, when a shell hit the tank he was driving in. The shell wounded him and a few seconds later another shell hit the tank, with Yosef inside, and the tank burst into flames. He was buried in Halutza and on the 23rd of Tammuz, 5709 (July 20, 1949), he was put to final rest in the Nachlat Yitzchak Military Cemetery.