Magen, Kalman

Kalman, son of Hinda and David, was born on November 6, 1929 in Vienna, Austria, where he immigrated to Israel and settled in Haifa, where he was orphaned from his mother as a child and attended the vocational school of the Technion in Haifa. And joined the Irgun. He took a course in Irgun commanders, took part in the organization’s operations and sat in the Latrun detention camp. Kalman was drafted into the IDF in June 1948 and fought in the ranks of “Givati.” At the end of the war, he underwent a communications officers course and officers’ course. Join various actions across the border. From the paratroopers he moved to Golani. He was discovered as an energetic commander, but loved by his subordinates for his personal example, his concern for his soldiers, and his help in solving their family and personal problems. During this period he married a wife and had a son and a daughter. In 1955, he was awarded a commendation by Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan for his part in the Battle of Nitzana against an Egyptian battalion that infiltrated Israeli territory: “In the Battle of the Sikha and Nahal Sirm, Captain Magen served as an example of his subordinates and his colleagues, “He continued to command his unit for about three hours after being injured in his thigh, and was evacuated only after the evacuation of his last subordinates.” As a result of his injury he was able to fulfill his desire to continue his matriculation exams. After Operation Kadesh, he chose a new path and joined the Armored Corps He was a company commander, later appointed the corps’s training officer, later serving as deputy battalion commander and battalion commander in Battalion 82, the first armored battalion in the IDF. In these positions he excelled as a man of execution, who knows how to excite others and stick to tasks tirelessly. After completing his studies at the Command and Headquarters School in 1961, he was appointed commander of the Armored Corps Officers Course, and was later appointed as the Operations Branch Officer. Armored Corps. In this role, his name appeared before him in the General Staff as an officer who “succeeds in solving problems.” In the Six Day War, Kalman served as the commander of the corps and the steel division. In 1968 he was appointed commander of the Armored Corps, one of whose tasks was to maintain the canal line. The Sinai Peninsula was his second home. He became famous as a bulldozer of Sinai, as an excellent organizer, who does not rest and does not allow his men to let go of the work. Throughout the War of Attrition he was with his soldiers on the front line. In May 1969 he was injured again by an anti-tank missile in the battle for the breakthrough to the Tempo positions, and he was assisted in his recovery, and before he was healed and healed his wounds, he returned to his brigade, which stood in the line of fire. The cease-fire in Sinai ended in retraining, and in July 1971 he set out for academic studies, and a year later the chief of staff appointed him commander of the Interdepartmental Command and Staff College. On the eve of Yom Kippur 1973 Kalman was appointed commander of the armored forces in Sinai. The Yom Kippur War broke the appointment. At first he commanded the northern sector. After General Mandler was killed, Count Kalman was killed on October 13 and promoted to the rank of major general during the war. With its division, broke into the Canal on October 18 and helped to encircle the Third Army. He arrived with his forces to the port of Adiya and the 101 kilometer. After the war he was offered to serve as commander of the Armored Corps, but Kalman refused to part with his division. Was appointed commander in charge of the entire Egyptian sector and the organization of the new line. But he did not finish his work. On the 16th of Adar 5734 (10.3.1974) his Lev suddenly fell silentCharacter in the Sinai. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. The Minister of Defense eulogized at his grave: “We are bringing to rest one of the greatest among our commanders.”