Arkady Vieselman

May 20, 2002 - Arkady Vieselman, 39, of Netanya was one of three Israelis killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded section of Netanya's open-air market.

Arkady Vieselman was returning from his job as a hotel chef when he decided to stop at the market. Seconds after Arkady entered, the suicide bomber struck, mortally injuring Vieselman. Doctors fought for hours to save his life, but his injuries were too severe.

Arkady immigrated to Israel from Odessa in 1990 and worked at the Park Hotel, Netanya for nearly a decade.

He had been working as the Park Hotel's head chef on March 27, 2002, when 29 people were killed and 150 were injured in the suicide bombing of the hotel during the Passover seder. Vieselman survived that attack because he had gone to a downstairs pantry moments before the bomb went off. He immediately ran to the dining room and helped evacuate the wounded. After the bombing, Vieselman called his family to say, "A miracle saved me."

In a meeting of hotel employees after the Passover bombing, Vieselman express his concerns about what would happen to his daughters if they had to grow up without a father.

Friends described Arkady Vieselman as a hard-working man, who was dedicated to his family. He was the head of the hotel's workers' committee and had been glad to return to work after the hotel was refurbished.

Arkady Vieselman was buried in Netanya. He is survived by his wife, Victoria, two daughters, Shlomit (14) and Rina (7), parents Vladimir and Yevgenia, and a brother, Gregory.