Mortkovich, Yelena
Daughter of Faina and Abraham. Was born on 28.3.1979 in Novosibirsk, Russia. Yelena began her elementary education at the elementary school in her hometown. In the winter of 1991, she immigrated to Israel and began to study at the Bat-Yam elementary school in Bat Yam. Later, she moved with her family to Ashdod and finished eighth grade at the sixth comprehensive school in the city. She completed her high school studies at Amal High School in Ashdod and is remembered as a social and entrepreneurial type and as a person who organized many social events and activities. At that time she also joined the Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed movement. Yelena was kind, radiant warmth toward her surroundings and made sure to treat everyone with respect. Above all, however, she was a devoted and supportive daughter, the mainstay of the family, who was harnessed to help her mother cope with the difficulties of absorption in Israel. Yelena studied in the days and evenings and worked as a waitress and helped finance the family expenses. Thanks to her, the mother managed to learn a new profession and adapt to the country. Yelena was also a loyal nurse and a good aunt and gave herself without limit and without consideration and without expecting to receive a reward. For her grandparents was a source of consolation and satisfaction and filled their lives with joy. In her few spare hours she read books a lot. At the age of seventeen, she first tasted the taste of the army when she spent two weeks at the Sde Boker base in the framework of the Gadna, and since then she began to dream about serving in the army, and when she graduated from high school she began studying bookkeeping at the Amal Netzer Sireni School, And successfully completed ‘Type 3’, but the graduation certificate arrived only after her fall.In August 1998, she enlisted in the IDF and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. She successfully completed a manpower training course and served in this position in the Emergency Warehouses Unit of the Central Command. Yelena planned to marry her lover and began preparing for the wedding. But her dreams and ambitions were abruptly cut off. On the 8th of Cheshvan 5759 (8.11.1998) Yelena was killed in a road accident near the settlement of Ram, near the settlement of Yesodot. 19 In her letter of condolence to the bereaved family, the then chief of staff, Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, wrote: “Yelena was described by her commanders as a diligent soldier who performed her tasks in the best possible way, with high work ethic and initiative Yelena was motivated to continue her military service and was popular with her commanders and friends alike. ” The commander of the unit wrote: “Yelena was an exemplary soldier, resourceful, highly motivated and very professional in her role and grateful to her unitmates.” Her mother wrote in her memory: “Someone excels in one, the other excels in the other, she excels in playing the guitar, she excels in sports … but Yelena was more than good in a field where not many good people … She was the best daughter in the world …”
