Dan Shani

Dan Shani was born in 1936 in Givat Brenner

Dan Shani, born Friedberg, was born in 1936 at Kibbutz Givat Brenner to Yosef and Hava Friedberg, immigrants from Germany. His family later moved to Rishon LeZion. He attended the Haviv elementary school and the Amal vocational school in Ramla, played handball for Maccabi Rishon LeZion and was active in Maccabi Hatzair and Gadna.

He enlisted in May 1954 and served in an Armored Corps reconnaissance company. He fought in the Sinai War and then became an officer. In 1958 he married Ofra and lived at Kibbutz Mesilot, working in farming and youth guidance.

He later worked as a maintenance manager at a factory in Ashdod and then settled in Aseret. He rejoined the career army and trained in the United States on the Magach tank.

In the Six-Day War he commanded a Magach tank company near Rafah that held out against an Egyptian ambush, and he received the Medal of Distinguished Service. He later commanded Tank Battalion 79 in Brigade 401. He was killed by Egyptian artillery fire near the Suez Canal on 23 May 1970 and was buried in Rishon LeZion.