War invalids conquer the Himalayas and go skiingAt a meeting in Novo-Ogarevo on November 25 with the mothers of servicemen participating in a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin promised to "pay attention to the children, including those injured."
In particular, they will be offered jobs in military enlistment offices, the corresponding command is given by the Ministry of Defense. This, of course, is not enough, so the head of state spoke in favor of a separate program "for children who need additional support related to future employment."
The issue of developing a system of rehabilitation of wounded soldiers and support for their families, including information support, to whom and how they should contact, was also discussed.
Putin spoke in favor of a system that would not be limited to "just rehabilitation." According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as of the end of November 2022, military hospitals are only 38 percent full. Nevertheless, the head of state spoke in favor of involving the civilian system in working with wounded soldiers, including rehabilitation, for which it is necessary to establish interdepartmental cooperation.
It may be useful for Russia to study the Israeli experience in the rehabilitation of military personnel who were injured and psychologically traumatized during the fighting.
A LEGLESS VETERAN IN A SKI CARRIAGEReuven Kozak only stayed on the snow for a few seconds after falling from a special wheelchair.
Undoubtedly, he was able to independently control this vehicle, because he trained and was ready for falls.
He got up so quickly that no one in the vicinity had time to take a step to come to the rescue. Having again saddled his transport with outriggers-poles and small skis at the ends, the legless veteran of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), Senior Sergeant Kozak, continued to participate in the program "Golshim le Haim" ("Ski track of Life"), developed by former army rabbi Mendel Mintz.
This program, paid for by sponsors and completely free for its participants, began more than ten years ago at the only Israeli ski resort Hermon in the mountain range in northern Israel. The ski season there lasts from 18 to 62 days, depending on weather conditions.
Before the reconstruction, not all tracks on Hermon met the requirements that are put forward for skiing for the disabled. Therefore, in the early 2000s, Israeli military invalids had the opportunity to use the Aspen ski resort in the US state of Colorado for rehabilitation purposes.
DISABLED ARMIES ON THE TOPS OF THE WORLDHundreds of Israeli military veterans injured in the fighting have undergone comprehensive rehabilitation at Hermon and Aspen resorts.
They not only ski, do other sports, eat together, but also participate in activities that help socio-cultural adaptation.
The cost of the program per participant is more than 5 thousand dollars. But Mendel Mintz, himself a passionate skier, a participant in international competitions (by the way, the World Cup stages are also held in Aspen), was able to captivate many philanthropists in Israel and abroad with the "Ski Life".
For the sake of accuracy, I note that skiing for the disabled began to develop in Austria after World War II. It was there, in the Alps, that the first courses were created to teach skiing techniques to war veterans who were classified as persons with disabilities.
Most of the disabled people who take part in the "Ski Track of Life" program use so-called Paralympic alpine skis, the design of which is specially adapted for such athletes. Although individual samples are also offered.
So, Inon Cohen, who served in the Golani brigade and lost both legs in a grenade explosion, uses a mono-ski chair: a device connected to a thick ski by means of a shock absorber. Israeli druz, a veteran of the IDF Lu Marai, who also lost both legs, uses a ski with supports when leaving the peaks.
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIESMany articles, books, television programs and films have been devoted to the Israeli Druze soldiers bravely fighting in the Israeli army and police against the enemies of the Jewish state.
Still, let me remind you that the Druze are the most Jewish–friendly people living in the Holy Land. They also live in large communities in Lebanon and Syria. Some representatives of the Druze moved to Europe and overseas. Ethnically, they are Arabs, but confessionally they profess Druism: a creed close to Ismailism, an offshoot in Shiite Islam.
Druze are considered excellent soldiers, they serve in various units of the army and Israeli special services. There are many high-ranking officers and generals among them. The first Druze to reach the rank of general, Yusef Mishleb, at one time headed the IDF rear command. He began his military service as an ordinary paratrooper. Colonel-Druz Hassan Alian commanded the most elite unit of the IDF – the Golani brigade.
Bedouins, Circassians, Arabs (especially Christian confessions) and citizens of the country representing other religions and nationalities also serve in the Israeli army.
A prominent Israeli politician, a member of the Knesset (Parliament of Israel) of several convocations, a former combat officer, Druze by origin Amar Nasser el-Din (now 94 years old) heads the memorial complex "Yad le-Banim" (roughly translated, "The living never forget about the fallen soldiers"), dedicated to the memory of those who gave their lives for Israel Druze, Circassian, Bedouin and Arab soldiers.
In 1969, his son Lutfi was killed – on the last day of his army service. In 2008, his grandson, also named Lutfi, died during the anti-terrorist operation "Mivtsa oferet etsuka" ("Cast Lead"), which aimed to stop the shelling of Israel by Hamas and other militants from Gaza.
As part of the project announced by Israeli Defense Minister Beni Ganz, any appeals of disabled people to the military department have been reduced to a week. The Department of Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Defense allocates considerable funds to programs for the rehabilitation of army veterans.
Dvir Bar-Hai, at the age of 32, suffered a severe back injury during Operation Cast Lead. After several operations, he began to walk, but often fell. Nevertheless, Dvir did not give up and with a group of Israeli veterans went almost to the end of the world – to the Himalayas. A trip to India and a "ski trip" through the Himalayas inspired Bar-Hai to write poetry.
The project of conquering the Himalayas by wounded army veterans, called the "Journey for Freedom" (in the sense of detachment from thoughts about illnesses), is sponsored by the "Association of Friends of the IDF Disabled" and one of the Israeli airlines.
All participants of mountain ascents, recognized as military invalids, undergo a special training course. They are accompanied by experienced athletes-doctors with sets of medicines and mandatory oxygen cylinders in case of breathing difficulties. Disabled people do not climb the highest mountain peaks. Although in 2019, after a multi-kilometer hiking trip in the north of India, 21 Israeli veterans climbed to the top of 5 thousand meters above sea level.
All the participants of this ascent had different degrees of disability. There were eight girls among them. Two of them, friends of Naam and Keren, served in combat units and were seriously injured. For a long time, the girls could not get rid of such a sign of post-traumatic shock as the fear of traveling. After returning home, in a conversation with the girl 's parents, they said: "It was only when we were on the "Roof of the World" that we got rid of thoughts about our disability and decided to study art, as we dreamed before the army."
LIMB INJURIES AND MENTAL DISORDERSSergey Usyk, in his dissertation "Features of stage-by-stage sanatorium rehabilitation of injured limbs in modern conditions", defended in 2003 in Moscow, at the State Institute of Advanced Medical Training, writes:
"Over the centuries-old history of modern civilization, rehabilitation measures for the wounded and sick both in Russia and abroad have been carried out in almost all wars and armed conflicts. Special attention was paid to servicemen with combat injuries of limbs, as their number has always been the largest, reaching 70% of all sanitary losses by the wounded."
Mental disorders caused by stressful conditions in which servicemen who participated in combat operations found themselves have always been and remain a serious problem.
Many Israeli Druze live in the north of the country, including the area of Mount Hermon. Many of them provide effective assistance to wounded Israeli soldiers undergoing rehabilitation at this resort.
Military and sports doctor Salah Mahmoud, a native of one of the Druze villages, in an interview with "HBO" drew attention to the main goals facing those who help the rehabilitation of veterans at the Hermon resort:
"Firstly, our wards must acquire maximum independence and believe in their physical abilities. Therefore, we carry out load corrections. Secondly, comprehensive psychological rehabilitation is carried out here, excluding depressive states."
POST-TRAUMATIC SYNDROME HAS BEEN TREATED FOR YEARSAfter each full-scale military clash between the IDF and terrorists, the number of soldiers who have become disabled increases dramatically.
So, after the operation "Tsuk Eitan" ("Unbreakable Rock"), which was carried out in Gaza from July 7 to August 26, 2014, 67 servicemen and two civilians were killed, and more than 800 soldiers and officers were injured. 516 of them had a disability of 20% or more. In 591 servicemen, the medical commission determined one or another degree of post–traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) - a severe mental disorder that often occurs in combat participants.
Coping with PTSD is a problem that sometimes takes years to solve. The famous German writer Erich Maria Remarque, who at the age of 18 found himself in the trenches of the First World War, in the novel "On the Western Front without Change" (1929), called the stressful mental disorders that many front-line soldiers suffered "the non-healing scars of war". Israeli doctors and five years after the "Indestructible Rock" continued to provide psychological assistance to PTSD sufferers.
Evacuation of fighters affected by enemy fire is carried out using Black Hawk family helicopters. Photo by Reuters Models of psychological and pedagogical adaptation of military personnel and employees of law enforcement agencies are the topics of research and Russian scientists.
Denis Gordienko, in his PhD thesis "Psychological adaptation of law enforcement officers – participants in combat operations", defended in 2005 in Stavropol, draws attention to the need for psychological support of personnel of law enforcement agencies who have visited hot spots. The same topic is explored by Andrey Slodenikin in his PhD thesis "Features of socio-psychological adaptation of employees of internal affairs bodies to extreme conditions of service and combat activity", defended in St. Petersburg in 2009. According to both dissertants, among the compensatory protective mechanisms, sports as a restorative event occupies an important place.
Alexandra Serpovskaya, in her PhD thesis "Socio-cultural activity as a means of rehabilitation of law enforcement officers who served in "hot spots", defended in Tambov in 2006, draws attention to the continuity, consistency and complexity of the rehabilitation process of disabled people. Pointing out at the same time the importance of "organizing leisure time for employees by meeting the needs of the individual in creativity, communication, self-realization, self-development, self-affirmation." A "pedagogical model of employee rehabilitation is proposed... after participating in a military conflict by means of socio-cultural activities during the period of adaptation to peaceful life." We are talking about "a set of components that can consistently and most effectively influence the restoration of the socio-psychological balance of a traumatized person."
FROM THE HISTORY OF REHABILITATION MEDICINERussian medical historians pay attention to the experience of charitable and charitable organizations in Russia.
So, during the First World War, "crippled, sick and unable to serve soldiers" were assisted by many public organizations, among which the All-Russian Zemsky Union, the All-Russian Union of Cities and provincial and county "medical and nutritional detachments" prevailed.
For example, in Siberia, medical personnel of military hospitals in winter offered skiing and ice skating for the rehabilitation of the wounded. Although "due to the lack of experience in creating stopping points for the returning wounded, the work on their arrangement, which began in December 1914, was slow."
Natalia Ivanova in her dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences "Mercy and charity during the First World War 1914-1917: on the materials of Petrograd", defended at St. Petersburg State University in 2002, notes:
"Private charity was an independent direction in the development of charity in Russia during the war years, although the boundaries between it and public charity were not clear. Private charity in the country had deep roots and traditions, it was expressed in a variety of forms – in the collection of donations, the establishment of institutions of guardianship and charity, the organization of charitable societies, unions..."
EASY ON THE RISETwo years ago, after repairs, the above-mentioned ski trails on Mount Hermon received a second life.
The capacity of the lift has increased three and a half times, from 700 to 2400 people per hour. Thanks to the new depots for lifts, the lifting time from the lower stations to the upper ones has been reduced from fifteen to five minutes. The current lifts are adapted to transport the heaviest disabled people. The improved cable car is characterized by increased stability. Moreover, from now on the doors of the Hermon resort are open in summer. Disabled people and other visitors can use asphalt tracks for summer bobsleigh and downhill on rubber circles and mini-karts.
IDF veterans are, in principle, "easy on the rise." Many people want to travel by private transport. And the state does not ignore such desires. A grant is allocated to disabled people for the purchase of an ordinary car or a special car adapted for this or that injury. For severely disabled people, passenger transport is simply donated on behalf of the state. Moreover, new cars are provided every four years.
The only condition for receiving a grant or a monetary subsidy replacing it is the recognition by the medical commission of the Israeli National Insurance Service (SNS) of the degree of disability at the level of 50% or higher. Thus, in fact, we are talking about financial benefits.
The state always pays for disabled people to travel on "special taxis" – cars adapted for taking wheelchairs and stretchers. The widow of a disabled IDF soldier, even if her husband died before the age of 60 from an illness unrelated to disability due to injury, is recognized as a "widow of a warrior." She is paid an allowance of at least 8000 shekels ($2,224) per month.
FATE IS BEING CHALLENGEDThe Expert Commission of the SNA, together with the relevant structures of the Ministry of Defense, constantly checks budget allocations for the needs of military disabled people.
In five years, they have increased by 1.5 billion shekels.
The sports organization "Beit a-Lokhem" ("House of the Disabled") unites former officers and soldiers, special services and police officers who were injured in combat operations. The "House of the Disabled" sees its most important task in the return of former soldiers and officers to a full life.
Public organizations that help seriously wounded servicemen and civilians are also active in Israel. They make permanent contributions to organizations such as Tikvot and Etgarim, whose names are translated from Hebrew as "Hope" and "Challenge", respectively. It means that the "Etgarimians" challenge their limitations daily through sports, hiking, cycling, swimming. And everything that allows them to feel like full-fledged people in every sense.
The production company "Gapaim" ("Limbs"), whose branches are located in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, produces about a thousand different prostheses and hundreds of wheelchairs of different models per year. It is noteworthy that this company was established in 1949 – that is, a year after the re-establishment of Israel and the end of the bloodiest War of Independence in its history. It is important to keep in mind that no disabled person with Israeli citizenship pays for either prosthetics or wheelchairs.
A few years ago, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance launched a joint reform to expand assistance to the disabled, which was called "Nefesh ehat" ("One soul"). Thanks to this reform, the opportunities for disabled people with PTSD to receive quick help have significantly expanded. A special clinic with offices in different cities has opened in Israel. These medical institutions have their own budget and transport.
Psychological assistance is also provided to family members in which a disabled person with a diagnosis of PTSD lives. The duties of the Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense also include assistance to able-bodied disabled people in finding work on the labor market. The same department pays for military disabled people to study if they receive education at universities, colleges or courses. The most popular among them are the law and pedagogical faculties and the Faculty of Business Management.
NO NEED TO HUNT FOR HEROESOn the recommendation of Defense Minister Beni Ganz, retired Major General Amir Eshel, who was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Defense in May 2020, created a commission to review the housing conditions of disabled people with PTSD.
The commission was headed by a well–known scientist Shlomo Mendelovich, director of the Shalvata Mental Health Center, the scientific and clinical base of the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine.
In 1992, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated annually on December 3. In Israel, in addition to the events that are held on this day and concern all disabled people, the Day of Appreciation to IDF soldiers who were injured in the war and in terrorist attacks is also celebrated annually. In fact, we are talking about the Day of a military invalid. The date is verified according to the Jewish calendar and usually falls on winter time.
In 2019, this day fell on December 15. In this regard, the Ministry of Defense published statistics according to which the Department of Rehabilitation of the military department that year provided assistance to 57,277 disabled people, 591 of whom had a disability of over 100%. The inspectors of the department found jobs for 329 new disabled people and paid for 546 disabled IDF students to study at universities.
Anna Kirsanova in her dissertation "Clinical and organizational aspects of improving medical rehabilitation of military personnel" for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences, defended in St. Petersburg, at the Kirov Military Medical Academy in 2020, directly indicates that the program for improving medical rehabilitation "requires the introduction of modern technologies that provide ample opportunities to meet the needs of military personnel in medical rehabilitation. However, many tasks for the organization of medical rehabilitation of military personnel have not yet been solved."
It is necessary to solve these problems not only in order to return the seriously wounded to service. It is important to keep in mind the creation of conditions for further full-fledged life. Another remark in the same novel "On the Western Front without change" wrote:
"There must be good doctors, we have seen many of them ourselves, but since every soldier has to undergo different examinations more than once, in the end he still becomes a victim of one of those numerous "hero hunters" who are only concerned about having as few unfit as possible on their lists and of limited use."
Reuven Kozak, a wheelchair user, with whose fall on the ski track I started this story, is now 47 years old. Our acquaintance is more than ten years old. I remember that at the first meeting Reuven told me about Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American woman who lost her sight and hearing in infancy as a result of scarlet fever. This woman, having overcome incredible difficulties, became a writer and gained worldwide fame. It is to her that such a phrase belongs: "You cannot agree to crawl when you feel the desire to fly."
I remember Reuven's compressed lips when pronouncing this moral rule. Then he smiled, looked up, and–of course, meaning not only himself–finished the thought like this: "That's why we are skiing at sky-high heights."
Jerusalem
Zakhar GelmanZakhar Gelman is an independent journalist.
