Blood donated from Germany saves wounded Israeli soldiers

Lt. Dr. Y, a 28-year-old physician from Tel Aviv serving in the Israeli military’s 77th Battalion, told surprised Jewish Agency officials that German-donated blood saved the lives of wounded Israeli soldiers.

“I told them that the plasma used by the army is purchased and imported by the IDF from Germany. In other words, the blood from which the plasma is produced is blood donated by German citizens. Many soldiers wounded in the field were saved thanks to German blood,” Lt. Dr. Y revealed during a visit to Germany. 

“They were very surprised. They were in shock,” the IDF physician added.

Y revealed that the Israeli military’s ability to treat seriously wounded soldiers has improved since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

“Until October 7, plasma was the main treatment we gave soldiers in shock. Today, we can already administer blood units in the field. We are the only army in the world that does this,” he explained. 

However, Y revealed that not all rescue efforts have been successful in harsh battlefield conditions. 

“A month before the ceasefire, a commander was fighting in the first tank that opened the offensive on Gaza City. He took a direct hit from an anti-tank missile while standing in the tank’s hatch, was critically wounded and lost a great deal of blood. We gave him the airdropped blood directly into his bones to increase his chances of survival. After he was evacuated, we continued the attack. There was still a threat, terrorists in the area, and we had to keep fighting. That evening, we found out he had been killed,” Y recalled. 

“He received the best possible chances during evacuation from the field, in the helicopter and all the way to the hospital in Israel, thanks to the blood we gave him,” he continued. 

Y revealed that he recently met an IDF widow and orphan during a visit to Berlin. 

“I met Anat, an IDF widow and orphan who has lived in Berlin for 50 years and still comes to meetings and ceremonies,” the IDF physician said. 

“Her husband was a tank commander in my battalion, and now my platoon is fighting not far from the place where he fell. She told me what happened there, who evacuated him and who was with him in his final moments. There is an unbelievable similarity between the events then and what we are experiencing today,” Y explained.

He revealed that many Diaspora Jews are curious to learn how Israeli society, with many IDF reservists, remains resilient amid continued war. 

“Everyone asked about it because it is hard to understand how a society lives through three consecutive years of war. I explained to them that as fighters, there is a drive that you cannot stop operating. I explained that the difficulty is not only on the front but also on the home front. Their experiences as Jews in the Diaspora are also complex. No one walks around outside with a kippah. They hide their Star of David as if during the Holocaust. There is constant violence and alerts about attacks against them. To my mind, it is no less complex than living in Israel,” Y concluded.

Israel’s complex wartime experiences have driven innovation in various fields. Reservist Oz Lotati decided to develop a portable blood-bank “refrigerator” to save the lives of wounded soldiers on the battlefield. 

“It’s a moral duty. I saw with my own eyes what it means to be in the field without available blood, and if this product saves even one soldier, then I’ve fulfilled my mission," he explained.