Rabbi assaulted in Ukraine dies of wounds

A rabbi who was severely assaulted in Ukraine six months ago succumbed to his wounds.  

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Deitsch, who was severely assaulted in October in Ukraine, died of his wounds over the weekend and was buried in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Deitsch, 64, of the Chabad movement, was severely beaten, robbed of his cell phone and money, then abandoned at the central train station in Zhitomir, Ukraine.

He was not discovered until the next morning when he was rushed to the intensive-care unit at a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple head injuries and brain trauma. After undergoing emergency surgery, he was airlifted to a hospital in Israel where he remained in a coma for weeks, until finally succumbing to his wounds.

Two men and two women were arrested for the assault two weeks after it occurred.

He was survived by a wife, 11 children, and three brothers.

He was known for his efforts to strengthen Jewish life in France, Israel and the Former Soviet Union.

By: World Israel News Staff