Schwartz, Shimon

Shimon (Shmaleh), son of Hadassah and Baruch, was born on July 26, 1951 in Tel Tzur. Shimon was drafted into the IDF at the beginning of May 1969. Upon completing his training course, he was assigned to serve in the Eilat area. Later on, he was sent to a course for officers and explosive devices, and when he was a noncom, he toured the area and fell in love with the spectacular scenery. The many pictures he took during this period will attest to this (and of course also the impressions he told about the house). When he was offered an officer’s course, he conditioned the agreement on a promise to serve in that environment, and when he did not obtain that promise, he gave up the course. In May 1972, he was discharged and assigned to an armored unit. Shimon returned to his parents’ home and for a period of time worked in the construction of greenhouses and transportation. In the summer of 1973, he began working at the “Magder” factory in his hometown of Kiryat Gat, where he was taken in charge of a department after successfully passing a psychotechnical test of the Ministry of Labor. In August 1973, he was called for a month of reserve duty as commander of a post (in the Jordan Valley). Typical of Shimon is the following: One of his subordinates lost a blanket and Shimon made the long journey home to bring a blanket where it had been lost. For Sukkot, Shimon planned a family trip to the Eilat area (especially to the magical “Valley of the Moon”). The Yom Kippur War, of course, thwarted the plan. Shimon was recruited among the first and was forced to recruit his comrades in the city. Shimon and his friends went to Sinai and took part in the bloody battles. From a friend he learned that during the war he had also helped to help his friends. The same friend says: “Shimon toured the Belusa area and visited our bunker. He fixed the film machine and brought us mattresses.” As a non-commissioned officer, he was the commander of the half-track and went to the various fronts. On the 17th of Tishrei 5740 (15.10.1973), the half-track was encountered in the movement at the “Budapest” post in the northern sector of the Suez Canal, in an Egyptian ambush that opened fire on it. Survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters, he was brought to eternal rest in the military section of the cemetery in Kiryat Gat and was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant.