Dr Igor Rotshtein

Son of Larisa and Vladimir, brother of Yelena, Igor was born on the 20th of Elul 5731 (10.9.1971) in the city of Tomsk in Siberia, Russia, to a family of scientists: his mother was a physician and his father a professor of physics. Igor received his schooling at School No. 34 in his city and completed his studies in 1987.

Igor was a restless, frenetic child, sociable and very curious. He read endlessly: in childhood he loved books about animals as well as adventure books, and in time he was drawn to fantasy and science fiction.

Over the years his curiosity turned into a fierce desire to be a doctor, and Igor did everything to realize this aspiration. Thus, toward the end of his high school studies, he was accepted to the Medico-Biological School in Tomsk, where he prepared for the entrance examinations to the university's medical school, and at the same time began working as a nurse in the intensive care hospital. It seems that Igor inherited his heart's desire to be a doctor from his mother; there were many medical books at home, and as an adolescent Igor read them often. When his mother was on call and was summoned to work in the night hours, Igor would accompany her, and was very proud of this.

Igor was highly intelligent, an interesting conversationalist, cheerful and possessed of a sense of humor, and his personal charm drew people to him. He was always surrounded by friends, who attest that he was a loyal, kind-hearted friend, always ready to help. Besides medicine and literature, Igor was also interested in music, and put together for himself a good and serious record collection. Igor was also in good physical shape – he swam, studied martial arts, and knew how to defend himself. In his youth he loved to travel very much, and every summer he set out on trips across the continent, from which he would return excited, bringing gifts, and would tell for hours about the things he had seen and experienced. With the years, he came to accompany tourist trips as a physician.

In 1988 Igor was accepted to the State Medical Research Institute in the city of Tomsk, and began his medical studies. He loved his studies very much, achieved good grades, took part in scientific projects, and even had the privilege of serving as chairman of the oncology circle. He spent most of his remaining free time in hospitals, with the patients.

In 1995 Igor completed his university studies and his internship in surgery and realized his great dream, to be a surgeon. Igor was regarded as a professional, serious physician with wonderful people skills. The special bond he developed with his patients is attested to by the fact that many insisted that he be their doctor. Until his immigration to Israel, Igor worked in the trauma department of the intensive care hospital in the city of Tomsk.

In 1997 Igor immigrated to Israel with his wife Yulia (Alona) and with Lev, their nine-month-old baby son. The decision to leave Tomsk was not easy, but Igor felt responsible toward his family. Absorption in Israel was no less difficult; at first the family lived in Kibbutz Gesher, and afterward they moved to the absorption center in Kiryat Yam. Igor studied at a medical ulpan and prepared for the examinations for an Israeli medical license. Once he passed them successfully, he was accepted for further study in a medical course at Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The references he received were flattering, but Igor had difficulty finding a permanent position, and therefore volunteered to work in various hospitals. When he completed the medical course, Igor was accepted, under an "absorption fund" slot, to the orthopedic department of Rambam Hospital, and worked there until 2000.

In that year he was drafted into the IDF, successfully completed the medical officers' course, and received the rank of Captain. Igor asked to serve in "the most combat-oriented battalion there is," and he did his regular service as a battalion physician in the Lahav Battalion – a combat engineering battalion of the Engineering Corps.

Eilon Fedinovsky, who served with him, relates: "Although Igor barely knew Hebrew, he took command of things quite quickly. After a very short time, the whole battalion already knew Igor, and Igor knew everyone – especially the kitchen staff, and thanks to him, we got fresh milk from them every day for coffee and chocolate milk... We were then on the line in Hebron. From the start I noticed Igor's special fondness for weapons, for knives and for everything connected to action. Largely thanks to him, the battalion aid station [the battalion collection point] became another fighting force in the field – suddenly it became fun and interesting to serve."

At the end of his regular service Igor signed on for career service, and served another three years as a battalion physician in Southern Command. He divided his time among the battalions of the Nahal, Givati, Paratroopers and Golani brigades, and took part in many operations and combat missions in the heart of the Gaza Strip. Soldiers and commanders who served with him attest to the good atmosphere he spread in the field and to the sense of security he instilled in everyone.

Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Binyamin Ze'ev Sander, who served as acting divisional medical officer in the Gaza sector, relates: "Igor insisted on continuing in a combat unit and in the combat zone, although he could have served in a more rear-echelon unit. He used to volunteer to go out on difficult and dangerous operations, out of a desire to provide immediate, high-quality help to every casualty, as close as possible to the moment and place of injury. ... I was deeply impressed by Igor's personality, by his drive to make contact under any conditions, including under fire, and by his devotion to the wounded."

Upon his discharge from the IDF, in early 2005, Igor began working as a resident in the orthopedics department of Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot, and at the end of that year he moved to a residency in orthopedic surgery at Poriya Hospital in Tiberias. At first he worked as an external on-call physician, and at the same time volunteered in the orthopedic department. "His loyalty and his love for the profession could not be missed. We immediately recognized that this was a serious physician who wanted to work and advance," related Dr. Majd Ganaim, Igor's friend and the director of the orthopedic department. Igor quickly connected with the staff, formed excellent relationships with his colleagues, and proved himself a professional and knowledgeable surgeon. In March 2006 he was accepted to a full-time residency, and rented an apartment in Moshav Neve Oved, near the hospital.

Igor was "a doctor in his soul," his colleagues say, some of whom, out of respect, called him "Doc" – an expert, professional, interested in new technologies. He was caring, gentle and attentive to his patients. More than once he presented academic papers he had written at conferences and training seminars, and he left behind many articles in orthopedics, which he had intended to use in his future work. Without a doubt, everyone says, Igor had the abilities to be an academic. Dr.

Yehoshua Tzarfin, director of the pediatrics department at Poriya, describes Igor: "An excellent resident in orthopedic surgery, diligent and devoted, in the emergency room, in the hospital's departments and in the operating rooms. Loaded with tasks. We never saw him collapse under the burden. He does his part without complaints, smiling even in hard moments, instilling a sense of security in the teams around him."

Igor was a model father, and more than once asked for days off in order to spend time with his son. "It was fun with him," says Lev, "he always took me places, traveled with me a lot, he was very funny, he had a lot of jokes..." Igor also treated his parents, who remained in Russia, with a touching softness and gentleness. "He was very loyal to us," they say, "he phoned often, asked after our well-being and our health, and would send medications. So as not to worry us, he told little about his military service."

When the Second Lebanon War broke out, Igor asked to volunteer for reserve service as a combat physician, and to enter the fire zones and the operations together with the fighters in the field. On 13.7.2006 he still managed to see his mother, who was visiting Israel, and to spend one day with her and with his sister in Be'er Sheva. On this occasion he also saw his niece for the first and only time. Igor had last seen his father in the summer of 2005, and since then had been in touch with him only by telephone.

On 24.7.2006 Igor was called up for the war with an "Order 8" emergency call-up, and was attached to Battalion 13 of the Golani Brigade as physician number 2. His grandfather Boris, a disabled veteran of World War II, writes: "A short time before he left for the war, Igor said to me in a telephone conversation almost exactly these words: '... Living in this country, I cannot stand aside; when there is a war, I must defend my country.' A few days later he volunteered for active service, even though he could have filled his role successfully also through his work at the hospital, helping the wounded to rehabilitate." Captain Dr.

Igor Rotshtein fell in battle in southern Lebanon on the 10th of Av 5766 (4.8.2006), as he leapt forward to help fighters who had been hit. For his act he received, after his death, from the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, the Medal of Distinguished Service – the third in importance among the IDF's decorations.

This is what was written in the citation: "On 4 August 2006, the support company of Battalion 13 raided terrorists' houses in the village of Markaba. At the conclusion of the raid and during the withdrawal, the force encountered terrorists, a close-range battle developed, and the company's point squad was severely hit. Captain Dr. Igor Rotshtein, of blessed memory, who was with the medical team, in his planned place at the rear of the force, understood that there were casualties at the head of the force, that their condition was serious and required immediate treatment, and therefore ran forward under fire in order to treat them. Upon reaching the front of the force and beginning to evacuate one of the wounded to the rear together with another soldier, a side charge was detonated toward him, and as a result he was hit in the head and killed on the spot. Captain Dr. Igor Rotshtein, of blessed memory, showed in his actions initiative and courage under fire."

Fallen with Igor were Staff Sergeant Daniel Shiran, whose life Igor tried to save, and Staff Sergeant Omri Almakayes. Yonatan, the platoon commander, was wounded. Igor was thirty-four when he fell.

He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Be'er Sheva, where his sister Yelena, also a surgeon, lives. Multitudes accompanied his coffin and paid him their last respects.

His son Lev, aged ten, eulogized him: "You were a wonderful dad, I'm sorry that you died in the army. I think that somewhere your soul is here and in the north."

The divisional medical officer added at his grave: "Igor, you left too early, we already feel your absence. You will be remembered as a brave and modest soldier and as a professional doctor..."

Igor left behind his son, Lev, his parents and a sister – Yelena. On his gravestone is written in Russian: "Dear Igor'la, you are always with us, we remember and love you."

Many visited the family home during the days of mourning and expressed their sympathy with the sorrow over Igor's passing. Among the many comforters was also a professor from the university in Tomsk, who had taught Igor mathematics and physics twenty years earlier, and remembered him from among the hundreds of students who passed under his rod "thanks to his brilliant and unforgettable personality." The family members received many letters from Igor's patients, who wished to thank him for his devoted care of them.

At a memorial ceremony held for Igor by Poriya Hospital, the hospital director, Dr. Y. Farbstein, spoke: "Dr. Igor was a diligent, dedicated, energetic, very serious physician, and well liked by both the medical staff and the patients. ... In his work he stood out from the very beginning as an outstanding and devoted physician, and caught the eye of the department director, who built on him as one of the cornerstones and future leaders of the department. ... He had an untiring passion for learning and for doing."

Dr. Majd Ganaim, director of the orthopedic department, eulogized Igor: "... You were first of all a human being, a successful and principled doctor, pleasant in manner, you loved people and people returned that love to you. You were simply the pepper of the department. Your life was cut off at its peak, here we are parting from you, we love you."

On 10.9.2006 words written by Igor's friend, Roman Ratner, were published in the newspaper "Cursor Info": "... When the Second Lebanon War began, Igor called and asked: 'Commander, when are we going off to fight?' It was an honest impulse, without pretense. ... 'Doc' was the real soldier and died like a real soldier. May his memory be blessed!"

Eilon Fedinovsky, a battalion medic in Engineering Battalion 603 and Igor's friend, set up a website in his memory in Hebrew, English and Russian. On the site are Igor's life story, words in his memory, photographs, press articles, links to television programs in which Igor's son and his friend the medic tell about Igor, and more. The website address: http://sites.google.com/site/igormem/.

Eilon wrote: "Igor was killed in battle as a hero, and he is a hero not because he was killed. He was a good friend, a good commander and a decent human being, and as far as I am concerned he remains so – he only changed his address: an old cemetery in Be'er Sheva, the military section..."

Ilai Ovadia wrote: "... I learned a great deal from Igor. ... If I had not fought at his side, I would not have come through the war as strengthened as I did thanks to him. Something in the period with Igor changed me, and something in his death overturned whole orders of the world within me. I reached very important conclusions and insights about my future thanks to him, and with his help..."

Igor has been commemorated in many projects. The Israel Medical Association established a scholarship fund in his name for young doctors, and in his memory a scholarship of the "Ima" fund is awarded on behalf of the University of Haifa. In the Neve Ze'ev neighborhood of Be'er Sheva, a "Mofet Square" was established in his name and in the name of Captain Shay (Sheike) Bernstein, who also fell in the war. Words in his memory were published in newspapers in Israel and in Russia, among them in "Tomsk Evening." Poriya Hospital erected a monument in Igor's memory and issued a special memorial booklet. Captain Dr.

Beni Gizer wrote: "Just as he came in a storm, so he left – in a storm. He was very dominant, funny and beloved. A wild man in the most positive sense of the expression..." Vivi Talmor, a social worker at the hospital, took leave of Igor: "Your ability to give unconditionally, the devotion, the care, the support, your treating people as equals, the love within you are worthy of praise." The nurses of the orthopedic department staff wrote: "We miss the human being in you, the cheerfulness, your professional curiosity, the army slang, the hugs and the great love you showered on all of us. You were for us a guide, a teacher and a doctor who could be relied upon. Your death left us, above all, lacking..."

"A hero takes upon himself the danger and the responsibility to save lives," said Yelena, Igor's sister. His son related: "Dad always told me that he was proud to be a reserve doctor in the IDF. I too want to continue his path and be a doctor, already today I am studying in a medicine project and I want to save human lives."