Levi, Mauricio-Gabriel (Mao)

Mauricio (Mao), son of Leah and Anio, was born on 25.1.1946 in Milan, Italy shortly after she was liberated from the Nazi occupation. At the age of five, he began attending a Jewish elementary school in Milan, continued for two years in a government school, studied for five years in junior high and graduated from high school at the age of eighteen. Even as a child he was drawn to cars. He would mimic the sound of cars and turn an “invisible” steering wheel. When he was quite young, he decided to become a car racing driver. He knew it was to his parents’ dismay, so he saved him money to buy a car on his own. He even used a pseudonym, like Judah Maccabee, or the Shabai (the next year in built Jerusalem), so that he would not harm his parents, and after his Bar Mitzvah became more and more interested in his religion, he began to visit every Friday in the synagogue near the house. He was one of the few who knew the prayers in Hebrew, and Maurizio had a golden Lev, and he knew how to walk with the elderly and with children, and he loved them all and helped all who needed help. The sport for all its branches: snow skiing, water skiing and racing, he also loved classical music and especially admired Beethoven. He studied economics and political science at the same time, and began to work with his father in the family factory, where he worked willingly and everyone loved him, and when he broke out in the Six-Day War he rushed to Israel and volunteered to serve in the army. He was a loner in a new country, and despite that he had many friends and friends whom he loved and loved, and served for a month in Sinai and his commanders Indicate its diligence and effectiveness. When he returned to his home in Italy after the war, he announced that when he finished his studies he would immigrate to Israel. He asked his father to set up a factory in Israel, which he would run himself; And so the idea of ​​setting up the Nilit factory in Migdal Ha’emek was established. Maurizio had devoted all his last years to him. In the meantime, he completed his BA in political science in Milan. During his stay in Milan, since returning from Israel, he was looking for an Israeli girlfriend, and at home students from Israel even knew his future wife. He immigrated to Israel in 1972 and when he joined the army he used all his connections to reach the Armored Corps. Mauricio was drafted into the IDF again in early 1972. During the nine months he was trained and completed as a tank driver, he achieved excellent achievements and excelled in all his activities, while serving in the army he married a wife and spent the honeymoon in Italy with his family. On the same night he was already organized as a tank driver and went with his friends to Sinai, and since there were no “tank guides” all the tanks were on their caterpillar tracks, When they reached Beluzah, the company commander’s tank went out of use and he chose to pass To the tank of Maurizio, who later encountered an enemy force from the Second Army, which attacked tanks and anti-tank missiles, demanding rapid and courageous action in order to avoid the missiles. All the other tanks, Maurizio was assigned the role of the tank driver and his commander together.The gunner of the team, who told about their war in those days, said that Maurizio had nicknamed “panther.” This illustrates more than anything else the form of warfareBold and stubborn character. Being an excellent racing driver in the past, he helped him both in maneuvering the tank and in his ability to repair everything that required repair during the few rest hours he had. On the fourth day of the fighting his tank was hit by a direct hit, which put an end to the lives of Maurizio and the company commander. He was twenty-eight years old when he fell. He was laid to rest on 12 October 1973 at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery. He left behind a wife, Hanita, parents in Italy and a brother who immigrated to Israel. After his fall, he was promoted to corporal.