Nope, I was wrong. Was not aware he was in the army in 56 for Sinai. There's no cite for it though but I think a personal friend probably wrote that obituary so I'd assume it's true.
I also found a quote hobsbawm delivered for his funeral from this obituary : "Since I am unable to come to his funeral, let me, as an old friend and constant admirer of Moshe Lewin, drop a metaphorical handful of earth on his grave from afar. Nobody has made fewer concessions to the intellectual fashions of the times. He recognized the absurdity of Russia even at its darkest moments, and nobody made better jokes about it. They were signs of an indestructible hope. Nobody has taught me more about understanding the USSR and post-Soviet Russia than he. I will miss the insight, the endless curiosity and the moral independence of this man. Farewell, Moshe"
Nope, I was wrong. Was not aware he was in the army in 56 for Sinai. There's no cite for it though but I think a personal friend probably wrote that obituary so I'd assume it's true.
I also found a quote hobsbawm delivered for his funeral from this obituary : "Since I am unable to come to his funeral, let me, as an old friend and constant admirer of Moshe Lewin, drop a metaphorical handful of earth on his grave from afar. Nobody has made fewer concessions to the intellectual fashions of the times. He recognized the absurdity of Russia even at its darkest moments, and nobody made better jokes about it. They were signs of an indestructible hope. Nobody has taught me more about understanding the USSR and post-Soviet Russia than he. I will miss the insight, the endless curiosity and the moral independence of this man. Farewell, Moshe"