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Keftel, Zelig

Keftel, Zelig


Zelig, son of Raya and Naftali, was born on 11.7.1947 in Hofgismer, Germany, about a year before the establishment of the State of Israel. Two years later, in 1949, the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Rishon Letzion. Here Zelig passed through his childhood and youth. He completed his studies at the “Remez” school, and after completing his studies began to work at Solel Boneh as an electrician until his enlistment in the IDF. He was seldom seen sad or angry, and loved and loved by all the people he came into contact with, his friends were devoted and he had many friends, he was willing to do many things for them, a social man, and because of his temper, simplicity and humility, He was committed to friendship, and above all, devotion to his parents, Selig was firm, stubborn and persistent, yet at the same time he was a man of compromise, He did not like to accept obedience with blind obedience, and in his spare time was involved in a variety of hobbies: shooting mostly, collecting stamps and coins, photography and traveling, he had a great love for animals, and he loved to take care of animals There was always a dog or a cat in the house, and Selig loved driving, he saw it as nothing more than a form of life that did not bind him to one place but gave him freedom of movement. Driving gave him an outlet to produce independence and curiosity. He saw himself as free to be in the expanses, to see and to meet new people. When the time came for him to enlist in the IDF in May 1965, he wanted to go to the Armored Corps and become a tank driver, and in that army Selig was a superb, beloved and accepted tank driver. Zelig enjoyed his army service because he was in the social and professional framework he loved, he loved his comrades in the unit, his driving and his tank, and as a result of his regular service and reserve service, hundreds of photographs remained, His unit was in the difficult battles of Um-Katef and Abu-Agila For the first time he saw the horrors of the war, the skeletons of man in the desert, charred corpses beside silent iron skeletons, and from what he saw, everything must be done not to go to war. In the war, one time, when his unit was in the parking lot, one of the tankers saw a figure approaching the parking lot, and the tanker did not hesitate, climbed the tank and pointed the machine gun at the figure, who thought of an enemy soldier. Israeli conflict, and his life was miraculously saved at the last moment. The soldier, the father of a number of children, sent a letter of thanks and family photograph after the war with a dedication: “To your dear Zelig, because of you I live in a family circle.” After his discharge from the army, Selig began to work as a driver and soon acquired a truck and worked as an independent, and he loved this work and worked hard and never traveled alone, but joined friends on his travels because he did not like solitude. A few months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, an old dream of traveling around the world, seeing new landscapes, new people, traveling to the United States and traveling for three months, And N.emotion. He intended to return to the United States and Europe, but the war interrupted his plans. On the eve of the war he was at a friend’s wedding and did not know what he would bring with him the next day. When the war broke out Zelig joined his unit, which did not rise as a single body, but split into parts. Among the first reservists who reached the level was Zelig. Already on Sunday morning, 7.10.1973, Zelig and his comrades were found in four tanks in a fierce and cruel battle. During the bitter and stubborn fighting, the four tanks destroyed dozens of enemy tanks. At two in the afternoon, Zelig’s tank was hit directly and he died on the spot. He found his last resting place where he had spent all his life. In the first there he lived, where he was buried, and after that he left a father, mother and brother, whose wound he would never heal in their hearts. “Zelig was a good and loyal soldier, he carried out everything that was imposed on him and was loved by all his subordinates and commanders.”

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