Minkin, Jacob

The youngest son of Sabbatai and Sonia, a survivor of the Holocaust. He was born on October 12, 1946 in Riga, USSR. He immigrated to Israel with his family in 1971. He attended elementary school No. 9 in Riga and later graduated from the 25th high school in Riga. After graduating from high school, he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Technion, in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. As early as his childhood, Jacob had a great ability in the academic field and excelled in his studies, especially in the fields of engraving and welding. Together with his high school studies, he worked in a factory to manufacture parts for communication devices and his income to his elderly parents, in order to help maintain the family. At the age of 21 he was awarded the degree of mechanical engineer and he continued to work as an engineer. In 1969 he returned to study at the Technion. Shipbuilding until his immigration to Israel was enough to complete three years of studies. Jacob helped his classmates and was loved by everyone. He was a sports fan and excelled at swimming. He devoted his spare time to fine literature, professional literature, and cinema. In 1967 he married a wife, and in 1970 his first son, Michael, was born. In the Soviet Union, Yaakov was an aliyah activist, full of Zionist consciousness from a young age and proud of his Jewish origins. His family immigrated to Israel in 1971 and settled in Haifa. Jacob was born in 1964 to Yaakov, a daughter of Idit, and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in December 1972. After completing basic training, – 37 mm flak, was assigned to reserve duty in the anti-aircraft guns unit. On the first day of the Yom Kippur War, Yaakov was called up for reserve duty in his unit. On the 3 rd of Kislev 5736 (December 3, 1975) Jacob fell in the line of duty. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa. He left behind a wife, a son and a daughter and parents. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved family, his commander wrote: “Yaakov was an exemplary soldier, and during his service in the battalion, he demonstrated excellence both in fulfilling his military duties and in his attitude toward his comrades in the dike and in the battalion.”