Koch, Jacob

Yaakov (Yankele, Kochi), son of Dora and Joseph, a Holocaust survivor, was born on October 21, 1947 in the illegal immigrant camp in Nicosia, Cyprus, and immigrated to Israel with his family on the day of the declaration of the State of Israel, He was an outstanding student, especially in mathematics, and his grades were very high, and he read books in various fields – science books, adventure books and books on criminology. Yaakov was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in mid-February 1966, and after many interruptions he was stationed in the Armored Corps. After basic training, he completed a tank course for “Centurion” and a tank commander course with an outstanding cadet. After completing his position with great success in an armored unit, his officers sent him to an officer’s course and to an advanced training course in Armored Corps officers, in which he was also an outstanding trainee. When the Six-Day War broke out, he was sent to the Sinai front as a member of the officers’ training course and was a driver in the tank of Col. Shmuel Gonen, who was accompanied by heavy fighting on the banks of the Suez Canal. “Jacob is a responsible officer, with initiative and resourcefulness, with leadership and courage in battle. He has a tactical approach and a great deal of professional knowledge and a strong desire to succeed. You can rely on him in difficult situations; He received excellent training and a well-developed sense of justice. “He was awarded the” Six-Day War Medal “in 1967. After completing his regular service, he returned to the Hebrew University of Haifa in the Faculty of Aeronautical Engineering, Two months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, he began to work as an engineer at IAI, and Yaakov’s home was a warm Zionist home and justified the Zionist enterprise and for him the Jews were “taken for granted.” He traveled a lot in Israel and toured the country Jacob was very sociable and easy to make friends with, loved to spend time with a hand He was a loyal son of his parents, a devoted brother to his younger brother David and a slow loving husband whom he married at the beginning of 1973. On the third day of the fighting, when he was driving his unit, he was drafted and sent with his unit to the front in the Golan Heights. In the battle that took place the next day, on October 10, 1973, near Tel-Fazra, his tank was hit by a direct hit and Yaakov was killed instead of. He was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. He left behind a wife, parents and brother. After his fall, he was promoted to captain. In his obituary, his commander said, “Yaakov was one of the commanders we used to call ‘professionals.'” He was an experienced and experienced armored officer, who stood in every possible situation and was able to withstand challenges, and his orders were quiet and security. There is much talk about a personal example and leadership in the battle, and Ya’akov realized it in practice. ” His brigade published a pamphlet in memory of its fallen soldiers in the war, and Jacob among them; A pamphlet in memory of Benigno, published by the local council of Ramat Hasharon, was published in his memory.