Rachmilevitz, Yakov-Yitzhak (Yasha)
Yakov-Yitzhak, son of Lena nee Segal and Dr. Elazar Rachmilevitz, was born in 1927, in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania. He was aescendant of rabbis and people of Torah and wisdom. He immigrated with his family in May 1935 following his father who immigrated a year earlier. Yakov-Yitzhak trained in all kinds of weapons, and from the beginning of the War of Independence he guarded and defended the borders of Tel Aviv. He also served as a medic. On the night of June 2-3, 1948, during the “Philistine” operation, the Givati forces attacked the Egyptian alignment near the Ashdod Bridge (the “Ad Halom” bridge today). The assault was halted by heavy enemy fire and the forces were forced to retreat. The attack failed, but forced the Egyptians to prepare for the ground and halted their advance northwards. In this battle, Yakov-Yitzhak fell on 25 Iyar, May 3, 1948. He was wounded in the back and refused to leave the battlefield and continued to help the wounded as if nothing had happened to him. When the company returned from battle, he was absent and for a long time and was considered missing. A few months after the conquest of Ashdod, he and his friends were found in a mass grave 10 meters from the Egyptian enemy position. They were put to rest in the military cemetery of the Givati Brigade in the village of Varburg and were buried in a mass grave. The General Staff Committee for the Excellence Award decided at the time to grant the medic a medal of honor for the outstanding acts of heroism he carried out in the battles.
