Jacob Wagner

Son of Zeev and Tzipora. He was born on 5 February 1945 in Rehovot to one of the oldest families in Holon. In this city he attended Bialik Elementary School and continued for two years at the Kugel High School. When he was in 10th grade, he moved to the ORT vocational high school in Yad Eliyahu and completed his studies successfully. He was an active member of the Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed movement and together with his friends in the movement and the school, he traveled extensively throughout the country. On these walks he learned to love the country and love it. He was a good-hearted boy and had strong friendships with all his acquaintances: he had musical talent, flute flute, played harmonica and piano detail, but most of all he liked to play the accordion. In later years, both in the army and as a student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in the last years of his studies a Nahal nucleus was formed, which was to join Kibbutz Eilot in the south. Yaakov joined this group and was one of its activists. Yaakov joined the IDF in January 1963 and joined the Nahal unit. After basic training he moved with the nucleus to the kibbutz. In the kibbutz he worked in the quarry and was Simcha in his work even though it was very difficult. In the evenings he would gather the guys around him and with his eyes closed, he was playing the accordion and singing. During the period of employment in the parachuted Nahal Brigade, he underwent a course for commanders and a paratroopers course. Jacob was of great physical fitness and excellent endurance. On arduous trips, he would encourage any straggler and Nablus staff to help. He participated in reprisals and was very attached to his unit. Even after being hit in the knee by one of the parachutes and suffering for a long time, he refused to go to a medical committee for fear that his medical profile would be taken down and transferred to a rear unit. After he was discharged from the regular army, he enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science. He found his livelihood as an electrician (a profession he acquired at ORT) and played the accordion. During the Six-Day War he was drafted into reserve duty and his unit participated in the battles of Um-Katef and the conquest of the Golan Heights. In 1968, when he served in the Sharm el-Sheikh area, a reconnaissance unit of six soldiers did not return to the base. Searches were conducted in vain and a helicopter could not find them either. Jacob decided to find the lost, even though he himself had been ill for two days. One officer, who was among the “lost”, said that all the members of the cell were sick and fainting and one soldier was also bitten by a snake. They were almost on the verge of despair and suddenly heard a voice calling to them: “Guys, where are you?” Then they knew they had survived. On the way home, Jacob showed signs of weakness and disease. “Why did you go out looking for us?” He answered: “They said you should be rescued – and I went.” He completed his university studies in 1969. In the beginning of that year, he married a daughter of his hometown of Holon, bought him an apartment there and furnished it simply and with good taste, with the accessories he had installed himself. A few days before the completion of the reserve service, on the 24th of Elul 5729 (August 24, 1969), he fell while carrying out his duties. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. He left behind a wife. His commanding officers said: “He was one of the best sergeants in the company, and he carried out all the tasks that were entrusted to him with responsibility and devotion. After his fall, a book was published in his memory, including details of his life, his activities in the school and the army, and some of his letters. The story of his life is recorded in “Nizkor”, the Sefer HaMikkRon edited by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and its student union, edited by Yehuda the civilian; His name was also engraved on a plaque in the Great Synagogue in Holon, and at the Hanoar HaNoar branch in Holon.