After terrorists invaded Kibbutz Be’eri on the morning of October 7, 2023, three family members from Otniel in Samara – Capt. (res.) Elhanan Kalmanson, his brother Menahem Kalmanson and their nephew Itiel – drove to the south to rescue the members of the kibbutz from the inferno. The found a military armored vehicle abandoned by the side of the road and with it, rescued dozens of men, women, children and elderly people under enemy fire. They moved moving them to a secured location, returning to the kibbutz multiple times to save more lives. After more than 14 hours of intense and relentless rescue efforts, Elhanan Kalmanson was shot by a terrorist hiding inside a house and later succumbed to his woundsWhere help is needed. 

Words in his memory:
Where dedication is needed. Where someone with command ability and methodical and analytical thinking is needed. Where supreme bravery is needed, where there are not enough people - Elhanan will be there. He won't talk much, and it's not at all clear if he'll smile and if you sway too much, he'll make an appointment with you for two and a half years at night, between two thirty and twenty five to three ...but on the other hand, he'll be the person who wants to be by your side.