Kochan, Samuel

Shmuel, the only son of Esther and Bernard, was born on February 18, 1947 in Tel Aviv, where he grew up. He studied at the Bar-Kochva elementary school and was a good student and even won many awards for his academic achievements. He continued his studies at the “Kol Israel Haverim” high school and completed the real track. When he was in fifth grade he was awarded a prize for his good achievements and good behavior. He was also sent on a tour abroad with a group of outstanding students. “I taught him history in the last grades of high school, and I remember him in all respects: a diligent and talented student, kind and polite, with an excellent cultural and educational background.” His educator said: “A nice, intelligent and responsible redhead, serious and diligent, honest and kind, cheerful, kind to his friends, very active in class.” Despite his special qualities, he was a very modest boy. He did not believe he deserved anything unless he tried to get it. When he spoke of himself he seemed to be idle in front of the wise and educated. In all his actions he was very serious and thorough. He was kind, always willing to help others and sacrifice his own for his friends. He did not like entertainment and spent his free time reading books to buy Daat. At the same time, he was a sports fan and was the best soccer player of his time. He was a devoted and loyal son to his parents, who grew up with great love and warmth and gave him an excellent education. He admired and respected his father, who worked hard all his life and took care of everything he and his mother needed. He loved and admired his mother for giving herself almost entirely to care for the sick and to alleviate their suffering. Shmuel was drafted into the IDF in early August 1964 and assigned to the Supply Corps, after completing basic training and after completing his course in truck drivers. He was a good soldier and was given a certificate that he was an outstanding departmental soldier. In 1966, Shmuel was discharged from regular service and began to study physics at the Technion in Haifa, where he was also a good student and excelled in his studies, who was diligent and had infinite patience and wanted to understand the material up to the last detail , And his schoolmates saw him as the embodiment of the good friend, who combined his personality with diligence and diligence with great energy and healthy humor: “Shmuel is the best guy of all your classmates.” In 1969, before graduating, Ziva and together they established a warm and exemplary home in Haifa And at the same time served as an assistant, and his research on the field, “Method for the discovery of proton-rich nuclei”, successfully earned him the degree of Master of Science and was published in the international scientific press. He refused, arguing that saving time would be at the expense of knowledge and experience in other areas of nuclear physics, and in 1972 he began experimenting with super-heavy nuclei by x-ray experiments. The experiments were conducted both in Israel and in the Max Planck laboratory in Heidelberg. In 1972 his son Dror was born, and he was the happiest person. Every day he would tell his close friend with joy and love how his son had grown up. Shmuel saw a special challenge in his teaching work, both in the framework of the preparatory course for the Technion and in the framework of teaching at the Technion itself. He spent a great deal of time collecting and processing the teaching material. He wanted the material to have a high level, varied and interesting. During the Yom Kippur War he fought with his unit in battles in Sinai. He filled with devotion and fervorOn October 19, 1973, on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, he was hit by a Katyushas attack and was killed, brought to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul and left behind a wife , A son and parents, and after his death, he was raised to the rank of sergeant: “Shmuel served in our unit since our establishment and we practiced and fought. His family published a pamphlet in his memory of members’ comments about his character and his scientific path; His classmates donated a trophy to his memory; The Israel Physics Association established a scholarship fund for scientists who fell in the war, including Shmuel z “l, and Technion researchers in Israel established a scholarship fund for graduate students in the Technion and in the journal published by the Department of External Studies of the Technion Science.