Gideon Dvortezky

Gideon Dvortezky was born in 1952 in Jerusalem

Gideon Dvortezky was born in Jerusalem in 1952. His mother, Sara Dvortezky, was a translator. His father, Aryeh Dvortezky, was a professor of mathematics and president of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

He studied in the science track at the Rehavia Gymnasium in Jerusalem. He joined the IDF in February 1970.

He was turned down for pilot training because of partial color blindness and was sent to an armored infantry unit of the Armored Corps. He completed a squad commanders course and, in 1971, an officers course, and became a platoon commander. His mother fell ill during his service and died shortly before he finished it.

He left regular service at the end of 1972 and began studying mathematics and physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. When the Yom Kippur War began, he was sent to Sinai as a platoon commander in Ehud Barak's Battalion 100. He took command of his company after its commander was hit.

On October 17, 1973, near the Chinese Farm, he volunteered to rescue a group of paratroopers and tank crewmen, many of them wounded, who were trapped under Egyptian fire. He did so in his armored personnel carrier with a small volunteer crew. He was killed a few days later by an Egyptian missile west of the Suez Canal, on October 21, 1973.