Vogra, Marco (Mordechai)

Marco, son of Bruno and Giorgio, was born on May 28, 1942, in Padua, Italy. He attended an elementary school in his hometown and continued to study at a high school in Venice. In 1962 he immigrated to Israel and worked at Kibbutz Hasolelim near Nazareth. Afterward he studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received a degree in history and history. Since his high school years, Marco had been interested in Jewish youth activities and often participated in activities at the Hebrew Youth Center in Venice and in the Federation of Jewish Youth in Italy. When he was nineteen years old and already enrolled at the University of Venice, he learned of a year of service in Israel. He decided that this was a good opportunity to get to know Israel and its problems while working in it. In preparation for this, he worked for a month in a factory in England with a group of youth, and from there went straight to Israel. Marco could afford to live an ordinary student life in Italy, a country he knew well, but because he grew up in a family with a Zionist tradition, he felt connected to the land of the forefathers. Therefore, after he had experienced kibbutz life and had given him an opportunity to get to know Israeli society from different perspectives – social, political, religious, etc. – he decided to remain in Israel, he was ready and ready to devote his energies to building the State of Israel. But he wanted to continue his high studies and brought him to Jerusalem, to the Hebrew University, where he studied economics and then went on to general history, specialized in medieval history and Roman literature and was a diligent student. With good grades, he met Mary in Jerusalem , His wife-to-be, and after an engagement period, they married in March 1966. Together with Miriam, Marco actively participated in Israeli political life, and during his election campaign, he worked for two years at the National Library of the Hebrew University, In his work as a librarian, he decided to change his field of activity and look for new matters elsewhere, and finally decided to continue his family tradition, found work in the insurance industry and was employed by the Mizra company and began to study the problems of the industry seriously, meticulously and with dedication. His diligence and efficiency were recognized immediately and Marco was invited by the International Insurance Company “Escoriali Generali” to participate in insurance and investment courses. For two years he specialized in the company’s offices in Trieste and Milan, Spain and England, and became an international expert in various branches of insurance. In December 1972 he returned to Israel and began to work as a member of the management of the Migdal Building insurance company in Tel Aviv. Because of his new job he left his beloved Jerusalem and moved to Ramat Hasharon. At the end of October 1968, Marko was called to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, who was considered a temporary resident and a student until his death, and was assigned to a reserve unit for three months. He was later transferred to the Jerusalem Brigade, one of the battalions stationed before the war in the Hazion stronghold on the banks of the Suez Canal. During the Yom Kippur War, Marco took part in the fierce battles that took place between his unit and the Egyptian forces in an attempt to repel them. The battle around the stronghold “Vision” lasted three days. Twenty-four soldiers faced the attacks of the Egyptian enemy, who attacked with great force of hundreds of soldiers and plenty of weapons. Thirteen of the defenders fell in battle, and the rest were captured. On October 8, 1973, Marco was killed. For eight months he was considered missing and only after much effort was his body found. He was broughtTo rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. Left behind a wife and parents. After his fall, he was promoted to corporal. Two memorial plaques were erected in his memory in the synagogues in Padua and Venice.