Stein, Shraga (Pablo) Omer

Shraga (Pablo) Omer, son of Fanny and Israel, was born in Santiago, Chile on August 23, 1946, and immigrated with his family to Israel in 1954. He completed his elementary studies at the kibbutz school He was the fourth child in his family, after two daughters and a son, and his father was a member of a Jewish family of agricultural settlers who immigrated to the villages established for them by a friend of Baron Hirsch, A. A few years before Shraga’s birth, the father took his family to Chile, with the intention of immigrating to Israel. After Shraga was born it turned out that in order to speed up the immigration they had to return to Argentina – and so they did. After immigrating to Israel, he and his family were absorbed in Kibbutz Beit Zera, and despite the difficulties of adaptation and language, Shraga became part of the group of children his age and was a sabra and kibbutznik in every respect. His warm and welcoming family was, over time, a center for the absorption of new immigrants from Latin America. Shraga was educated according to the values ​​of loving and caring for others, and was very fond of the farm people for his pleasant ways. Like other members of his age, he worked in various branches of the agriculture and did his work to the satisfaction of the industry centers. He participated in social activities, on trips and parties, joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and participated in the regular Gadna training of the school, where he enjoyed sports and excelled in the fields of light athletics and swimming. It was a quiet and serious hobby, but it did not stop Shraga from playing and laughing with his friends, and the many photographs that remained behind him attest to everything that was close to his Lev in his work in the cowshed, in the Jordan Valley landscape, in Israel and in society. Shraga was drafted into the IDF in mid-November 1964 and volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade. After basic training and after completing a parachuting course, in infantry and explosives courses, he was assigned the position of a machine gunner in a parachute infantry unit. Many friends bought in his army way, a difficult and full of experiences, which united all those who walk in a relationship that can not be explained to a person who did not live it. His friends loved him for his devotion to the unit and for his friendly attitude. After his regular service he was released and returned to civilian life. Sometimes he was called for periods of active reserve duty, the first of which was the period of fighting in the Six Day War. In the War of Attrition, Shraga also fought with his unit, and was instructed to connect his friends in Maoz and the force that brought supplies, and he took care of all their needs. He would lead the convoy of food and supplies for dozens of kilometers of danger of ambushes and shelling, dismantle the equipment and return with the convoy to fill the gaps for the next day. More than once, the convoy was shelled and Shraga advanced on foot to find the enemy’s place. In 1969 he decided to try another life outside the kibbutz. He went to Tel Aviv and from there moved to Eilat and worked in the Timna mines and in various jobs. Afterward he returned to Tel Aviv and worked as a photographer, in his hobby that became a profession. In 1971 he married his girlfriend Yona Cohen, and the two began building their family home. He began working as a salesman of antique maps for tourists, and succeeded in doing so. When the Yom Kippur War broke out he was called to his unit in the south. He participated in the fighting and fighting with the first force that crossed the Suez Canal. In the course of advancing the occupation of the Sarafum village railway station, Shraga was shot in the chest by an Egyptian sniper and died on 24 October 1973 at the hospital. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. He left behind a wife, a father, two brothers and two sisters. His son, who was born after his fall, was named after him – Shraga-Chaim. After his fall, he was promoted to sergeant.