Son of Vera and Nicolai. Born on 30.4.1965 in Ukraine, former Soviet Union, and immigrated to Israel in 1994. Alexander attended elementary school No. 11 in the Ukraine. In those years he was a mischievous student whose studies were not his primary concern, but when he moved to high school, he became a diligent and outstanding student, one of the most prominent in his school. Even then he aspired to be an electrical engineer, and his tendencies and talents seemed to fit him. He helped his mother with household chores and raising his younger brother, Sergei, ten years his junior. In addition to all these activities, he managed to spend time with his friends. Alexander was active in the communist youth movement Pioneers and was an outstanding student. At the same time, he participated in Krav Maga and excelled at him and even reached the rank of black belt. Thanks to his efforts in studies and success, he was accepted to the Technion without admission tests, but only with the help of the teachers’ recommendations. During his studies at the Technion he lived in the dormitories, and after completing the Technion he worked as a criminal investigator on a voluntary basis. After three years of study Alexander went to work in northern Ukraine. During his stay there he was stung by a poisonous mosquito (mosquitoes of this kind were very common in the same place), and as a result of the sting he suffered a severe infection in his throat. He was hospitalized for two months and recovered miraculously. These were the ones his wife met through his friends, and two years later they married. The wedding took place on January 9, 1988, and on the day of graduating from the Technion in Ukraine, on 19 June 1988, his eldest daughter, Ina, was born. Alexander loved to take care of her and play with her. As a Technion graduate he worked in a factory in Kremenchug and continued his volunteer work as a criminal investigator. In 1994 he immigrated to Israel with his wife and daughter and the family settled in Netanya. In Israel, Alexander began to work as a driver and thus became familiar with Israel almost every street and alley. Six years after their immigration to Israel on September 1, 2000, Lala and Alexander, their second daughter, Emily, were born. The first time Alexander was called up for reserve duty, he served in the Gaza Strip. In February 2002, when he was called up for his last reserve duty, his little daughter was hospitalized and was not well, but in a conversation with his wife, Alexander said, “If you can manage without me, I prefer to stay in the army in these difficult times.” March 2002 was called “Black March,” because this month Israel suffered the highest number of casualties among all the months of the al-Aqsa intifada. Attacks were daily. A total of 105 Israeli civilians were killed and 26 Israeli soldiers were killed in one month. On the last day of his life he managed to speak to his daughter Emily, who for the first time agreed to tell him by telephone the few words she could say. She had never spoken to him on the phone before, because she was angry at him for not being at home with her. A week before her death, when her father came home for the weekend, she spent all the time with him and did not leave him for a moment. Ella called him three hours before his death, when he was in front of the patrol. “I do not want to disturb you,” she told him, “so good night.” Alexander Nastarenko fell in operational activity near Gush Katif on 6 March 2002. On his last tour, Alexander traveled in an IDF patrol vehicle near the border fence, south of the Kissufim crossing, where a group of terrorists opened fire on the patrol vehicle and critically wounded the soldiers. In spite of the many efforts of Alexander’s friends and commanders, they were unable to save him, and he died of his severe injury at the age of thirty-seven, leaving behind a wife, two daughters, parents and brother. Alexander was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Netanya on 7 March 2002. After his death And rose to the rankCorporal. After his death Ella said his wife: “I was left without arms and legs.” His sister-in-law said: “It was like a tree that gave shade to everyone, and suddenly the tree fell, and the sun hit them all. Alexander was a very sociable person, he contributed to others, and he had innumerable friends. Many people loved and respected him for his attitude toward them, his good character and his loyalty. His commanders and friends testified that he had volunteered for any mission and never refused. The commander of his regiment said at his funeral, inspired by the “little prince”: “There are men whose stars are guides, to my businessman the stars were gold, and you shall have stars that no one but you.” Instead of his fall, his commanders and friends set up a monument in his memory, so that anyone who passed through the place knew that a hero had fallen, whose name would be remembered forever.
