Kaplan, Shamai

Son of Shmuel and Devorah. He was born in Tel Aviv on 20 February 1939. He studied at the “Yahalom” Elementary School and continued at the Ohel Shem High School in Ramat Gan after graduating from the 10th grade where he moved to the home – “Kadouri” agricultural book, he belonged to the Scouts movement, he loved sports and he did a lot of basketball, he liked music, he played the accordion and he wrote songs. Since May 1957, when he was conscripted into the IDF, he remained in the army until the day he fell in battle, passed a tank commander course after finishing his basic training with honors. He was a deputy company commander, a battalion operations officer, and later a brigade operations officer, and from that position he was appointed commander of a tank company. In the course of the days Shamai commanded a tank company in battle for the Rafah regiment and led his company to attack the Chen Yunis complexes, sitting in a tank and half his body outside the turret. When he accepted the order, he raised his hand to be accepted – and a bullet hit his hand, but he refused to be transferred to medical treatment and carried out the task as if nothing had happened – and so he continued fighting with tremendous pain in his injured hand. On the fourth day of the battles, on May 8, 1967, Shammai was wounded in an enemy-armored battle and destroyed them, and, using his success in battle, continued to advance with his company and pursued the retreating enemy. Finally Shamai’s company encountered the ambush of an Egyptian tank division west of Bir Gafgafa. This ambush, which was found in the hillsides along the side of the road, could not be discovered, and Shamai’s tank was hit by a shell and killed him. Laid a pregnant wife and a young son; His daughter was born about a week after her father died. He was buried in the emergency military cemetery in Bari and was later transferred to the eternal rest of the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. His participation in the battles was exemplary and even praised by the chief of staff for his “courage and devotion to the goal.” In September 1968 and September 1969, a basketball tournament in Ramat Gan was held between the Maccabi and Hapoel teams of Ramat- Gan, and between the Ramat-Gan Scouts and the Ohel Shem-Tov Gymnasium, and the next day the adult games were held with the participation of the Maccabi and Hapoel teams of Ramat Gan, the Armored Corps and the Scout troopers in Ramat Gan. And the survivors of Bergen-Belsen, the description of his last sacrifice was presented in the book “Yad La-Nofalim” published by the Municipality of Ashkelon, several pages were devoted to his history, his image and some of his poems.