Salomon Iliaguev, 28: Car lover and devoted husband, father of two

Salomon Iliaguev, 28, from Sderot, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the city on October 7.

Salomon had just finished an overnight shift as a security guard when the rocket fire began, and with a group of others he sought safety in a gas station in Sderot as terrorists roamed around right outside, smashing the glass door of the gas station shop. Fearing that his wife and children were in danger, Salomon decided to leave the gas station and head home.

“I saw him and I said that something was going on. I told him, ‘Don’t go outside,'” recounted a survivor from inside the gas station to Channel 13 news. “And he said to me, ‘My wife and kids are waiting for me at home.'”

His wife said they spoke and “he told me he was on his way home. But he never arrived.” Salomon left the gas station and tried to get home, but was shot dead by Hamas terrorists in the street.

He was buried in Sderot and is survived by his wife, Yulia, their two children, Adele and Shalev, and his two siblings.

Born in Ashkelon and raised in Sderot in a family which traced its roots to the Caucusus region, Salomon also spent a period living in Canada as a child before returning to Israel. He ran his own car wash business and also worked nights as a security guard. Cars were his major passion, and he wanted to expand his work in the auto field.

His childhood friend, Julia Abramov, wrote on Facebook about how they “grew up together from age 0 in Israel and then I moved to Canada, and six months later you and your family moved to Canada — what were the chances?”

They moved in next door, with adjoining balconies, “the same school, the same class, and all of our childhood and adolescence we went through together until you went back to Israel,” she wrote. “When I’m asked about my childhood there isn’t a single situation or story you weren’t in. We were the best of friends, you always watched over me like a little sister, you were always my secret keeper.”

Recalling his love of cars from a young age, Julia recounted getting caught taking a joyride in her father’s new Mercedes when they were 13 years old — and him jumping in to take the blame for her: “We were such troublemakers!… you were such a huge part of my life, my heart can’t stop bleeding and crying.”

“I want to tell you that I’m proud of you, of who you were and what you achieved. You were a loyal husband and the best father there was,” she added. “Everything is different here without you.”

Salomon’s wife, Yulia wrote on Facebook on what would have been his 29th birthday.

“My love, I can’t believe and accept the reality we are in,” she wrote. “We were supposed to celebrate your 29th birthday and now we are here without you celebrating you. I brought you the cheesecake you loved so much, which you would ask me to buy you every week and I would laugh at you and say you had the cravings of a pregnant woman.”

“It’s hard for me to live without you,” Yulia added. “It’s hard for the kids without you. How will we survive a whole life now? We miss you so much. I hope that things are good for you up above and at least you can celebrate with your parents after so many years without them. You’ll remain 28 forever, a flower picked before your time.”

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