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THE SURVIVORS AND THE RETURN TO LIFE 395
which everything was hazy and unclear. Imagine
meeting un der such conditions an old friend
from home. Indeed, it was a great moment!
Yoay was smiling at me, his old happy self.
He was telling jokes or pulling someone's leg, to
the entertainment of the others. He soon told me
that the tank in which he was riding had been
hit twice and that the second time he was forced
Son of Moyshe and
Hadasa, grandson of
the Hebrew teacher
I Yakov Blumen.
to repair the tread of the tank while under heavy
artillery fire and air attacks:
"Twice fortune smiled on me," he said, as
he paused for a moment. "Who knows whether
the third time my luck will hold too . . . I have a
foreboding, which is not a good one, about what
is awaiting me."
After it became clear to me that it was impossible
to repair my tank, I offered to change
places with him.
"Forget it," he said to me with a smile.
"These are the men of my company, and I cannot
abandon them this way, without any supervision.
Besides, I have two officers now in command
of the men and someone has to look after
them, too.
At the end of the day, Yoav left with a column
of tanks from the base. I waved goodbye to
him and he returned my wave.
I did not know then that it was the last time
that he waved goodbye.
Later, after the battles, when I asked one of
the officers about Yoav, he answered me, "You
should know that for no one would I have been
ready to be a gunner, but for Yoav. I trusted him
absolutely. I must say of him that Yoav was a
real professional, an expert in everything that had
to do with tanks!"
'From the eulogy in his memory at Kibbutz
Reshafim.
Son of Chane (Tanchum
Veynshteyn's daughter) and
Yehoshua Zoar.
Azriel (Uzi) Zohar (z"1)
Azriel was born on May 27, 1943 (Iyar 23). He
attended the officer's school of the navy, studying
marine mechanics and later served in the
Israel Defense Forces as a naval mechanic.
When he was released, he enrolled in the
mechanical engineering school at the Technion.
At his graduation in 1968, he earned great praise
as a student of distinction. He received his M.Sc.
degree in 1973 from the University of Tel Aviv,
where he also won distinction.
Everybody predicted for him a brilliant future
in the field of science. During his work in military
industrial production, he made a most important
contribution to the country's security. He also
took part in fighting in the Yom Kippur War,
serving on the southern front.
Azriel was taken from us before his time. On
April 3, 1974, he died before he reached his 31st
birthday! He left a wife and two daughters.
May his soul be bound in the bond of
eternal life!