Lahav (Sikorl), Yosef (“Joe”)

Son of Albert and Leah. He was born on Friday, 17 October 1942, in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was a twin to his sister, and he studied in a French-Jewish school in his hometown, where the schools were closed. 1957. The children were absorbed by Youth Aliyah, and he was placed in the agricultural institution “Eshel Hanasi” because they lived in the Negev, where he was a man of work and a central figure in society. He continued to live in the army, but when his family moved to Haifa and their economic situation improved, his parents told him to take him to school But he refused because he did not want to leave his friends and the environment in which he was absorbed, and he naturally considered every decision and did not think so to “disrespect” to take the advice of a father. His friends, graduates of the agricultural school, soon changed his mind, and in August 1961, when he was drafted into the IDF, he preferred to serve in the navy – for two reasons: First, he wanted to be near the house in Haifa, He wanted to do something that was risky. So he joined the navy, his commando squadron. A short while later he arrived at the submarine squadron. Throughout his service in the submarine squadron, he did not talk much about his actions. But he seemed to have found his right place even though he had difficulties he often encountered, but his love of doing things in their entirety would have gone on late to complete the work with full responsibility for his role as a diver. During his service in the “Tanin” submarine, he met his future wife, who accompanied him, and for two and a half years he was a turning point for Yosef and encouraged him in all his agonies and dilemmas. Joseph was a simple man with a very serious ambition. On the outside, he did not seem to know any worries, but he did not miss his worries, such as: longing for his parents and friends when he was abroad. He began his career in the submarine as a machine-gunner, and on his way to the officer’s course, which, after finishing in February 1967, became an officer. His rank was then Lieutenant. At the end of a long service he was offered to go to England where he joined the members of the Dakar submarine. One day, when the submarine was found on the sea route to the port of the house, between Gibraltar and Israel – it was on the 24th of Tevet 5728 (25.1.1968) – the connection with her was severed and again was not renewed. The Chief Military Rabbinate determined that the date of Joseph’s death, in the course of his duties together with the rest, was 30 January 1968. Since Joseph was one of the missing crew members, a memorial monument was placed inside him in a memorial to the Dakar people in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. In Eran Shorer’s book “Six Days in Decker,” Joseph was given several pages – and his picture in them. On the 28th of June 1999, after years of searching, the INS Dakar submarine was found on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, at a depth of 2,900 meters on its planned sailing route and 250 miles from the port of Haifa. A space whose burial place is unknown.