Jews in Palestine and the British During World War 2 Part VI

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

World War II started on September 1, 1939, initiated by Adolf Hitler.  In only 10 months, he conquered all of Europe.  

Then He went to North Africa.  His goal was to cut off the supply lines of Great Britain by capturing the Suez Canal.  From Suez, it would be a short leap to Palestine, where he could exterminate the Jews, just as he was murdering them in Europe.  

From Palestine, he also could easily swallow up the oil fields of the Middle East.  

The Arabs were eager for a Nazi victory.  some of the Arab leaders gave only quiet support to the German cause.  Others worked actively for Hitler.  One spent the war in Berlin, broadcasting to the Arab people the order to "RISE UP AGAINST BRITAIN AND HER ALLIES."

                                               

     Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat December 25, 1918-October 6, 1981 

The British arrested those who were pro-Nazi when they could.  One of those sent to prison was Anwar Sadat, a man destined to become a key figure in the history of the Middle East. 

The Striking arm of the Haganah, set up in May 1941, The Palmach Unit, here some of 300 pictures as yet unidentified.  They worked until May 1948 underground, and became part of IDF upon statehood.  

Nazis were also setting up bases in Syria.  the British wanted these bases destroyed, but could not spare soldiers for the task.  They turned to the Yishuv for a solution.  A special Jewish strike force was created by the Haganah.  The new group was called  THE PALMACH.  It was a very efficient commando unit, and soon the enemy bases in Syria were in ruins.                                    

Still, the Germans in North Africa marched east, closer and closer to the vital Suez Canal.  The British took their stand at El Alamein, just 70 miles west of Alexandria, Egypt, and only 200 miles from the Suez Canal.  The British army, joined by many Jews of the Yishuv, held its ground.  the Nazi advance was at last turned back.  The tide of war began to turn in favor of the Allies.  The Suez Canal---and the Yishuv, were safe.

Now that Britain no longer needed the help of the Jews of Palestine, it promptly extended a hand of friendship to the Arabs.  The pro-Nazi Arabs were treated as allies.  The Jews who had helped defend the Suez Canal were treated as enemies.  Though the British needed solders, they said they would accept volunteers from Palestine only if Jews and Arabs enlisted in equal numbers.  Very few Arabs were interested in fighting the Nazis, while thousands of Palestinian Jews were eager to help destroy Hitler.  By insisting on being "even-handed," the British kept many Jews from fighting to save their fellow Jews in Europe.

It was September 1944 before an official Jewish army unit was permitted.  the Jewish Brigade fought valiantly, was one of the 1st units to make contact with survivors of the Nazi death camps, and played an important role in rescuing and caring for Jewish survivors.

                                             

Moshe Dayan, (May 20, 1915-October 16, 1981) a founder of the Palmach, later one of Israel's great leaders. 

Britain's constantly shifting attitudes had a deep effect on a man who one day became one of Israel's great military leaders.  The man was Moshe Dayan.  He was the 1st child born in Palestine's 1st communal kibbutzim, Degania Alef.  From his early years, he took part in the Yishuv's defense, and joined the Haganah. When WWII erupted, the British were afraid that the Haganah would fight the Arabs while the British were fighting Germany.  Dayan and 42 other Haganah officers were arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Then the British realized they needed a Jewish task force to attack Syria, so they released the Haganah men.                          

Dayan was brave.  In one battle, he alone captured 12 enemy soldiers.  In another shootout, he lost his eye, and always wore a black patch over it afterwards.  Britain took back the weapons loaned to the Jews when they no longer needed their help.  Needing them against the Arab attacks, the Palmach broke into the British arsenal and stole them back.  The British retaliated by outlawing the Palmach and the Haganah.  Dayan and the Jewish Defense Force continued their operations, but now trained and organized in secret.   The British had ignored the very reason they were in Palestine in the 1st place:  to assist the JEWS in creating their Jewish Homeland.   In direct defiance of the British authorities, the Haganah continued to smuggle refugees into Palestine.  A 1939 poster showed the names and faces of 43 Jewish fighters who had been captured and sent to British jails.  

                                                   

The Haganah brought Jews from Europe to Palestine. The British White Paper of 1939 had announced that Jewish immigration to Palestine would be cut to 15,000 a year.  They kept to this number even knowng that the Nazis were exterminating more than 15,000 Jews every few days.  The Haganah smuggled Jews in.  By May 14, 1948, more than 100,000 Jews had been saved "illegally" from death. 

The whole world was closed to the Jews in their greatest time of need.  They couldn't survive in Europe.  A few entered Palestine--legally and illegally.  A handful was admitted to USA.  Some found refuge in isolated places like Hong Kong and Shanghai, China. For 6 million, there was no escape.  Only the Jews in the USA were safe-as long as the country was untouched.             

   In Hamburg, Jews boarded the SS St. Louis, headed for Palestine.

                                            

Tragedy came to 2 ships with Jewish refugees escaping death.  The SS St. Louis crossed the Atlantic just before the war, and was refused by the USA, Canada and all of Latin America.  It had to return to Hamburg, Germany and its passengers were murdered by the Nazis.  On 13 May 1939, more than 900 Jews fled Germany aboard a luxury cruise liner, the SS St Louis. They hoped to reach Cuba and then travel to the US - but were turned away in Havana and forced to return to Europe, where more than 250 were killed by the Nazis. By early 1939, the Nazis had closed most of Germany's borders and many countries had imposed quotas limiting the number of Jewish refugees they would allow in.

Cuba was seen as a temporary transit point to get to America and officials at the Cuban embassy in Berlin were offering visas for about $200 or $300 each - $3,000 to $5,000 (£1,800 to £3,000) at today's prices.

                                                  

The 2nd refugee ship, the Struma, old and rickety, escaped from Rumania in 1941.  The British would not permit it to land in Palestine.  It was kept in a Turkish harbor for 2 months, people hungry and panicky.  It was towed out to sea  where it sank.  More than 700 men, women, and children drowned because no one would give these Jews a corner of land on which to live.            

Born in Budapest on July 17, 1921, to a wealthy, distinguished, and assimilated Hungarian Jewish family, Hannah Szenes escaped the anti-Semitism she experienced in Hungary and joined a kibbutz at Caesarea in Palestine.

                                         

The war dragged on.  Hannah Senesch left her family in Hungary at the age of 18 and settled in Palestine.  WWII broke out a few months later.  She wanted to return to Europe and rescue her mother and others.  She joined a group of 32 young Jews who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe.  Several stole some Hungarian uniforms.  They took charge of arrested Jews in Hungary after landing.  Hanna was betrayed and arrested by the Nazis. Szenes was arrested at the Hungarian border by Hungarian gendarmes. She was imprisoned and tortured, but refused to reveal details of her mission. She died by a firing squad at age 23.  Her poem tells it all;  Blessed Is the Match, which became known and loved throughout Israel.  

“Blessed is the match, consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the heart's secret places.
Blessed is the heart that knows, for honors sake, to stop its beating.
Blessed is the match, consumed in kindling flame.”

                                                                         

― Hannah Senesh

Resource:

A Young Person's History of Israel, 2nd edition, by David Bamberger

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmach

https://www.amazon.com/Blessed-Match-Death-Hannah-Senesh/dp/B003LB2AFI

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/blessed-is-the-match/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Szenes

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hannah-senesh