Mees, Jacob
Son of Eliyahu and Roza. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1926, he immigrated to Israel with his family in 1943. After four years of study, he was forced to stop studying because of his Jewish background. He was an eighth son of a poor family who lived in a small town near the city of Istanbul, and from the early age he enlisted to help the family and helped his mother and his older sisters with household chores. And his son, Eli, was born a year later, and his daughter Malka was born in 1957. Yaakov continued to work In the factory for the manufacture of medicine, and after a while the family was able to move to a more spacious apartment in Tel Aviv, except for one year in which Yaakov tried to work as an independent, he worked throughout his life as a medical agent. He was drafted into the IDF in February 1948 and attached to the Givati Brigade. His first job was a motorcycle runner and he used a motorcycle that he had from his work days. He was later appointed a squad commander and promoted to the rank of corporal. After his discharge from the IDF, he was called every year for periods of reserve duty. In 1963, Yaakov was transferred to reserve duty in the Haganah. On the 13 th of Nissan 5736 (April 13, 1976) Jacob fell in the line of duty. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. He left behind a wife, a son and a daughter. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved family, the unit commander wrote: “I would like to commend Jacob’s dedication and loyalty in fulfilling his last position and during his years of service as a soldier in the unit.
