In our own hands
"In our own hands" is a documentary film that tells the story of the Jewish Brigade (JB) of the British Army in WWII and the consequences of its existence and actions. We saw it at a joint meeting of the AACI Netanya and the Israel British Commonwealth Association (IBCA) at which the Canadian Ambassador, Jon Allen, who is Jewish, spoke. It turns out that the first Commander of the JB was Canadian.
Before and during WWII there was pressure on the British Government to form a purely Jewish or Palestinian unit to fight alongside the many other national units (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that were part of the British Army. This was because Palestine was under British control and there were many young Jewish men willing and able to join the fight against Nazi Germany. Notwithstanding the double cross of the Jews by the British Government that issued its policy document or White Paper in 1938 opposing Jewish immigration to Palestine and essentially supporting the Arab position, Ben Gurion made the famous statement, "we will fight the War as if there is no White Paper and we will fight the White Paper as if there is no War." So, many Palestinian Jews (a total of ca. 30,000) volunteered for the British Army, and most were sent to fight in the 8th Army that was stationed in Egypt in order to defend it from Gen. Rommel and his Afrika Corps. It is estimated that ca. 20% of the manpower of the 8th Army was Jewish, but they were not fighting as a separate Jewish unit.
As the war progressed and the accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust came out, PM Churchill was persuaded to accept a Jewish unit, against Defense Department wishes. This was organized in 1944, and was supposed to include Palestinian Arabs, but very few of them volunteered (they were mostly pro-German). Eventually there were ca. 5,500 Jews in three brigades, one of American Jews (after the Balfour Declaration), one mostly Russian Jews conscripted in England, and one Palestinian Jews, fighting under the flag of the Star of David that eventually became the Israeli flag. They took as their official insignia a yellow Star of David in response to the Nazi requirement that Jews wear a yellow star. They were sent to Egypt for training, and in fact that was one of the main reasons why Ben Gurion and the Jewish Yishuv (settlement) in Palestine wanted them to join, because they expected that there would be a war in Palestine after WWII, both with the British and the Arabs, and they wanted to be prepared.
The British were leery of using the Jewish Brigade in combat, both to prevent them gaining experience and because they doubted their fighting abilities. After the defeat of Rommel and after some time doing guard duty and menial tasks in Egypt, the JB was sent to join the 8th Army as it invaded Italy. They were sent to an area near Ravenna, where they first held the line against the German forces, and then they attacked across the Senio River and captured the German positions. Imagine the shock of the German troops to be defeated by a Jewish unit flying the Star of David. The JB was then sent to guard the easternmost part of the Italian border with Austria, although there was resistance to allowing them to enter "German" territory because of fear of their retribution. However, this proved to be a fortuitous position, because they were able to enter Austria in groups and not only to murder several prominent Nazis but also to establish contact with survivors and help bring them back to Italy where they were sent south on their way to Palestine. Of course, this was entirely against British interests, but apparently the British never realised the extent of the subterfuge. However, after this became a well organized arrangement, the British decided to transfer the JB to Holland.
In Holland after the War, the JB became even more successful in organizing the movement of Jewish survivors. They discovered that the British were transferring 32 trucks to the new Dutch Army, so they stole these trucks and put their own insignia on them, so that there were two groups of 32 trucks with the same id numbers. Then they used the duplicate set of trucks to drive into Germany and with forged papers save survivors and transfer them to Holland en route to France and Palestine. They also bought and stole huge quantities of military equipment that was left around Europe and had it shipped to Palestine for the future fight. But, British intelligence realized what was going on and so the JB was disbanded in Holland and in Egypt without their weapons.
The JB was a minor event in a huge War, but the fact that they were trained in British military methods and experienced combat and fought under their own Jewish standard was a major episode in the development of the nascent Jewish State and its own army, the IDF.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS. Today we visted a museum dedicated to the Jews who fought in the British Army in WWI and WWII. It is called Beit Hagdudim, in Avihayil, a village north of Netanya. It is one of the 12 villages founded by former British soldiers after WWI. The story of the Jews in WWI is parallel to that during WWII as described above, first there were volunteers to the regular Army, then there was the Zion Mule Corps that fought in Galipolli, then there was a separate Jewish Legion that was part of the Royal Fusiliers, and finally there was a Judean Corps that fought under a Jewish emblem, the menorah. They fought under Gen. Allenby around Jerusalem and in the battle of Megiddo and helped to liberate their homeland from the Turks.
Before and during WWII there was pressure on the British Government to form a purely Jewish or Palestinian unit to fight alongside the many other national units (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that were part of the British Army. This was because Palestine was under British control and there were many young Jewish men willing and able to join the fight against Nazi Germany. Notwithstanding the double cross of the Jews by the British Government that issued its policy document or White Paper in 1938 opposing Jewish immigration to Palestine and essentially supporting the Arab position, Ben Gurion made the famous statement, "we will fight the War as if there is no White Paper and we will fight the White Paper as if there is no War." So, many Palestinian Jews (a total of ca. 30,000) volunteered for the British Army, and most were sent to fight in the 8th Army that was stationed in Egypt in order to defend it from Gen. Rommel and his Afrika Corps. It is estimated that ca. 20% of the manpower of the 8th Army was Jewish, but they were not fighting as a separate Jewish unit.
As the war progressed and the accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust came out, PM Churchill was persuaded to accept a Jewish unit, against Defense Department wishes. This was organized in 1944, and was supposed to include Palestinian Arabs, but very few of them volunteered (they were mostly pro-German). Eventually there were ca. 5,500 Jews in three brigades, one of American Jews (after the Balfour Declaration), one mostly Russian Jews conscripted in England, and one Palestinian Jews, fighting under the flag of the Star of David that eventually became the Israeli flag. They took as their official insignia a yellow Star of David in response to the Nazi requirement that Jews wear a yellow star. They were sent to Egypt for training, and in fact that was one of the main reasons why Ben Gurion and the Jewish Yishuv (settlement) in Palestine wanted them to join, because they expected that there would be a war in Palestine after WWII, both with the British and the Arabs, and they wanted to be prepared.
The British were leery of using the Jewish Brigade in combat, both to prevent them gaining experience and because they doubted their fighting abilities. After the defeat of Rommel and after some time doing guard duty and menial tasks in Egypt, the JB was sent to join the 8th Army as it invaded Italy. They were sent to an area near Ravenna, where they first held the line against the German forces, and then they attacked across the Senio River and captured the German positions. Imagine the shock of the German troops to be defeated by a Jewish unit flying the Star of David. The JB was then sent to guard the easternmost part of the Italian border with Austria, although there was resistance to allowing them to enter "German" territory because of fear of their retribution. However, this proved to be a fortuitous position, because they were able to enter Austria in groups and not only to murder several prominent Nazis but also to establish contact with survivors and help bring them back to Italy where they were sent south on their way to Palestine. Of course, this was entirely against British interests, but apparently the British never realised the extent of the subterfuge. However, after this became a well organized arrangement, the British decided to transfer the JB to Holland.
In Holland after the War, the JB became even more successful in organizing the movement of Jewish survivors. They discovered that the British were transferring 32 trucks to the new Dutch Army, so they stole these trucks and put their own insignia on them, so that there were two groups of 32 trucks with the same id numbers. Then they used the duplicate set of trucks to drive into Germany and with forged papers save survivors and transfer them to Holland en route to France and Palestine. They also bought and stole huge quantities of military equipment that was left around Europe and had it shipped to Palestine for the future fight. But, British intelligence realized what was going on and so the JB was disbanded in Holland and in Egypt without their weapons.
The JB was a minor event in a huge War, but the fact that they were trained in British military methods and experienced combat and fought under their own Jewish standard was a major episode in the development of the nascent Jewish State and its own army, the IDF.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS. Today we visted a museum dedicated to the Jews who fought in the British Army in WWI and WWII. It is called Beit Hagdudim, in Avihayil, a village north of Netanya. It is one of the 12 villages founded by former British soldiers after WWI. The story of the Jews in WWI is parallel to that during WWII as described above, first there were volunteers to the regular Army, then there was the Zion Mule Corps that fought in Galipolli, then there was a separate Jewish Legion that was part of the Royal Fusiliers, and finally there was a Judean Corps that fought under a Jewish emblem, the menorah. They fought under Gen. Allenby around Jerusalem and in the battle of Megiddo and helped to liberate their homeland from the Turks.
posted by Jack Cohen at 4:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home