Vaknin, Shimon

Shimon, son of Zohar and Amram, was born on 27.6.1950 in Tiberias. He studied at the Tachkemoni elementary school in his hometown and high school in Kfar Haroeh and completed his studies at the Beit Deborah High School in Tiberias, where Shimon was an outstanding student and the excellent cleanliness and order that always prevailed in his possessions became a name in his school. Shimon was drafted into the IDF in early August 1968 and assigned to the Armored Corps. After basic training and after completing a basic armor course and a combat unit course, he was sent to an armored unit as a tank commander and was awarded the rank of corporal. He was a dedicated and disciplined soldier and became the living spirit of the unit. He was admired by the whole company for having always kept an orderly and proud appearance even at the end of exhausting training. His commanders offered him the position of a company sergeant, but he categorically refused to demand that he continue to serve as a crew member in a tank. He was promoted to sergeant. Shimon always tried to keep in touch with his family and to come home became a celebration for all members of the family. After being discharged from compulsory service he began studying at the Technion in Haifa in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. He graduated with honors with two years of study and was awarded a scholarship for an additional year of study. He received great recognition for his excellence, even though he encountered difficulties at the beginning of his studies, because he was a graduate of the humane high school level, but due to his will he caught up with the lag. He was elected to the Student Committee, who represented the students in discussions with the academic staff and was the driving force behind the graduation ceremony of the preparatory course. During his studies, he never ceased to observe the tradition and prayed at all times and even worked for a living, in order to finance his studies and to help his family. On the Day of Atonement, when the war broke out, Shimon stopped fasting and went immediately to join his unit in Sinai, even though he did not receive a summons to reserve duty. On October 13, 1973, he fought in his tank on Hamutal Hill after destroying five enemy tanks. After his tank was hit again and began to burn, Shimon treated the wounded soldiers by the tank, exposed to the enemy, and when the enemy soldiers stormed, Shimon attacked his comrades and attacked the enemy by himself. He was hit and fell and was taken to the military cemetery in Tiberias and left behind his parents, brothers and sisters. His parents donated a Torah scroll to a synagogue in Tiberias.