Schliepstein, Roman

Son of Helen and David. He was born on February 2, 1981, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Brother to Irena. Roman grew up as a regular child and loved sports very much. From an early age he played tennis and soccer, and participated in bicycle races. Until the age of fifteen he attended a local school in Tbilisi, and in 1996 immigrated to Israel with his family. The family set up their home in the settlement of Ma’aleh Ephraim, which is located between the Jordan Valley and Samaria. Roman was admitted to the “Hadassah Neurim” youth village in Hefer, where he studied in the automotive mechanics course and participated in the Sayf department. He graduated successfully and received a certified mechanic’s diploma. In the middle of July 1999, Roman was drafted into the IDF, and since he had a driver’s license and a mechanic’s license, he was offered a driver’s license, but he refused to serve in a combat unit, and became a combat soldier in Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade. And during the service he received the “Plugat Maasa’a” model, and his friends called him “long.” During the al-Aqsa intifada, Roman fought on the Lebanese border, in Jenin and Tulkarem, and often rescued soldiers under fire. He also had the chance to evacuate his good friend, who was seriously injured in the activity at Har Dov, and refrained from telling his parents where he was serving and what actions he was taking so as not to be seen, “Roman loved the country and did not regret it for a moment when he decided to enlist in the IDF and serve in a combat unit. He always said: “If I do not defend our country, how can I look in the eyes of bereaved mothers if I hide and not fight?” On 29 March 2002, Roman fell in combat in Ramallah. The operation began around 4 AM, as a first step in Operation Defensive Shield – a broad operation throughout Judea and Samaria that the government decided upon following the increase in terror. Major forces from the Golani and Nahal Brigade, together with the 202nd Paratroopers Brigade, Armored Corps, Engineering and Special Forces, entered the city of Ramallah from six different directions and took control of most of the neighborhoods, A few hours later they penetrated into the compound, while engineering forces destroyed the fence surrounding the area, and the soldiers called on all the Palestinians in the compound to surrender, and began searching from room to room for suspects, weapons, and intelligence materials. Lieutenant-Colonel Boaz Pomerantz was killed, two officers were moderately wounded and five were wounded Lightly. Novel was twenty-one when he fell. He was buried in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Survived by parents and sister. After his fall he was promoted to Sergeant. His tomb was enacted family the words “You will always be in our hearts, your name forever.”