Jewish Brigade
Encyclopedia
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group (more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade) was a military formation of the British Army
that served in Europe
during the Second World War
. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy. After the war, some of them assisted Holocaust survivors to emigrate illegally to Israel, as part of Aliyah Bet.
, the British Empire
and the French Empire
replaced the Ottoman Empire
as the pre-eminent powers in the Middle East
. This change brought closer the Zionist movement's goal of creating a Jewish state. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 signified the first official approval of this proposal, and led to a surge of Jewish emigration in 1918-1921, known as the "Third Aliyah
". The League of Nations
incorporated the Declaration in the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922. Jewish immigration continued through the 1920s and 1930s, and the Jewish population expanded by over 400,000 before the beginning of the Second World War.
However, in the White Paper of 1939
, the British government under Neville Chamberlain
abandoned the idea of establishing a Jewish Commonwealth. When World War II began in September 1939, David Ben-Gurion
, the head of the Jewish Agency
, famously declared: "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper."
Chaim Weizmann
, the President of the World Zionist Organization
, offered the British government full cooperation of the Jewish community in Palestine. Weizmann sought to establish an identifiably Jewish fighting formation (under a Jewish flag
) under the auspices of the British Army
. His request for a separate formation was rejected, but many Jews in Palestine wanted to fight the Nazis and joined the British Army. Some of these were formed into separate Jewish companies in their battalions. There was a Jewish battalion attached to the British Army’s East Kent Regiment stationed in Palestine.
In all, fifteen Palestinian Jewish battalions were formed in the British Army in September 1940, and fought in Greek campaign of 1941
.
But there was no designated all-Jewish formation. Jewish groups petitioned the British government to create such a force, but the British refused. At that time, the White Paper was in effect, limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases.
Some British officials opposed creating a Jewish fighting force, fearing that it could become the basis for Jewish rebellion against British rule. In August 1944, Winston Churchill finally agreed to the formation of a "Jewish Brigade". According to Rafael Medoff
, Churchill consented because he was "moved by the slaughter of Hungarian Jewry [and] was hoping to impress American public opinion."
After early reports of the Nazi
atrocities of the Holocaust
were made public by the Allied powers, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill
sent a personal telegram to the US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
suggesting that "the Jews... of all races have the right to strike at the Germans as a recognizable body." The president replied five days later saying: "I perceive no objection..."
After much hesitation, on July 3, 1944, the British government consented to the establishment of a Jewish Brigade with hand-picked Jewish and also non-Jewish senior officers. On September 20, 1944, an official communique by the War Office announced the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army and the Jewish Brigade Group headquarters was established in Egypt at the end of September 1944 (the formation was styled a brigade group because of the inclusion under command of an artillery regiment). The Zionist flag was officially approved as its standard
. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine organized into three infantry
battalions of the Palestine Regiment
and several supporting units.
The contemporary newspapers dismissed it as a "token" (The New York Times
on page 12) and "five years late" (The Manchester Guardian).
in November which was engaged in the Italian Campaign
under 15th Army Group.
The brigade group took part in the final offensive
, fighting there against the German 4th Parachute Division
commanded by Generalleutnant Trettner
. In addition, they were represented among the liberating Allied units at a Papal audience. The Jewish brigade was then stationed in Tarvisio
, near the border triangle of Italy
, Yugoslavia
, and Austria. They searched for survivors, provided survivors with aid, and assisted in their immigration to Israel. They played a key role in the Berihah
's efforts to help Jews escape Europe for Palestine, a role many of its members were to continue after the Brigade disbanded. Among its projects was the education and care of the Selvino children
.
In July 1945, the Brigade moved to Belgium
and the Netherlands
.
officers who had participated in atrocities against European Jews. Information regarding the whereabouts of these war criminals was gathered either by torturing imprisoned Nazis or by way of military connections.
After assignment to the VIII Corps District of the British Army of the Rhine (Schleswig-Holstein), the Jewish Brigade was disbanded in the summer of 1946.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
that served in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy. After the war, some of them assisted Holocaust survivors to emigrate illegally to Israel, as part of Aliyah Bet.
Background
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and the French Empire
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
replaced the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
as the pre-eminent powers in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. This change brought closer the Zionist movement's goal of creating a Jewish state. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 signified the first official approval of this proposal, and led to a surge of Jewish emigration in 1918-1921, known as the "Third Aliyah
Third Aliyah
The third Aliyah refers to the third wave of the Jewish immigration to Israel from Europe who came inspired by Zionist motives between the years 1919 and 1923 . A symbol of the start of the third immigration wave is the arrival of the boat "Roselan" in the Jaffa Port on December 19, 1919...
". The League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
incorporated the Declaration in the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922. Jewish immigration continued through the 1920s and 1930s, and the Jewish population expanded by over 400,000 before the beginning of the Second World War.
However, in the White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
, the British government under Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
abandoned the idea of establishing a Jewish Commonwealth. When World War II began in September 1939, David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
, the head of the Jewish Agency
Jewish Agency for Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel , also known as the Sochnut or JAFI, served as the organization in charge of immigration and absorption of Jews from the Diaspora into the state of Israel.-History:...
, famously declared: "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper."
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, the President of the World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
, offered the British government full cooperation of the Jewish community in Palestine. Weizmann sought to establish an identifiably Jewish fighting formation (under a Jewish flag
Flag of Israel
The flag of Israel was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment. It depicts a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes...
) under the auspices of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. His request for a separate formation was rejected, but many Jews in Palestine wanted to fight the Nazis and joined the British Army. Some of these were formed into separate Jewish companies in their battalions. There was a Jewish battalion attached to the British Army’s East Kent Regiment stationed in Palestine.
In all, fifteen Palestinian Jewish battalions were formed in the British Army in September 1940, and fought in Greek campaign of 1941
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
.
But there was no designated all-Jewish formation. Jewish groups petitioned the British government to create such a force, but the British refused. At that time, the White Paper was in effect, limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases.
Some British officials opposed creating a Jewish fighting force, fearing that it could become the basis for Jewish rebellion against British rule. In August 1944, Winston Churchill finally agreed to the formation of a "Jewish Brigade". According to Rafael Medoff
Rafael Medoff
Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, which is based in Washington, D.C. and focuses on issues related to America's response to the Holocaust.-Academic career:...
, Churchill consented because he was "moved by the slaughter of Hungarian Jewry [and] was hoping to impress American public opinion."
Formation of the Jewish Brigade
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
atrocities of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
were made public by the Allied powers, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
sent a personal telegram to the US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
suggesting that "the Jews... of all races have the right to strike at the Germans as a recognizable body." The president replied five days later saying: "I perceive no objection..."
After much hesitation, on July 3, 1944, the British government consented to the establishment of a Jewish Brigade with hand-picked Jewish and also non-Jewish senior officers. On September 20, 1944, an official communique by the War Office announced the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army and the Jewish Brigade Group headquarters was established in Egypt at the end of September 1944 (the formation was styled a brigade group because of the inclusion under command of an artillery regiment). The Zionist flag was officially approved as its standard
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine organized into three infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
battalions of the Palestine Regiment
Palestine Regiment
The Palestine Regiment was a regiment of the British Army that was formed in 1942. During World War II, the regiment was deployed to Egypt and Cyrenaica, but most of their work consisted of guard duty....
and several supporting units.
- 1st Battalion, Palestine Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, Palestine Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, Palestine Regiment
- 200th Field Regiment (Royal Artillery)
The contemporary newspapers dismissed it as a "token" (The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
on page 12) and "five years late" (The Manchester Guardian).
World War II
In October 1944, under the leadership of Brigadier Ernest F. Benjamin, the brigade group was shipped to Italy and joined British Eighth ArmyEighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
in November which was engaged in the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
under 15th Army Group.
The brigade group took part in the final offensive
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain which started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of German forces in Italy....
, fighting there against the German 4th Parachute Division
4th Parachute Division (Germany)
The 4th Parachute Division, , was a formation in the Luftwaffe during World War II. It was formed in Venice, Italy, in November 1943, from elements of 2 Fallschirmjäger Division and volunteers from the Italian 184 and 185 Airborne Division Folgore parachute divisions...
commanded by Generalleutnant Trettner
Heinrich Trettner
Heinrich "Heinz" Trettner was a German general serving during World War II and from 1964 to 1966 Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
. In addition, they were represented among the liberating Allied units at a Papal audience. The Jewish brigade was then stationed in Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
, near the border triangle of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, and Austria. They searched for survivors, provided survivors with aid, and assisted in their immigration to Israel. They played a key role in the Berihah
Berihah
Bricha was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post-World War II Europe to the British Mandate for Palestine in violation of the White Paper of 1939...
's efforts to help Jews escape Europe for Palestine, a role many of its members were to continue after the Brigade disbanded. Among its projects was the education and care of the Selvino children
Selvino children
The Selvino children were a group of approximately 800 Jewish children orphaned by the Holocaust. rescued after World War II from ghettos and concentration camps and housed in a former Fascist children's home called Sciesopoli in the Alpine town of Selvino, Italy, constructed in the 1930s as a...
.
In July 1945, the Brigade moved to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Post World War II
Tilhas Tizig Gesheften (commonly known by its acronym TTG, loosely translated as "kiss [literally, lick] my ass business") was the name of a group of Jewish Brigade members formed immediately following World War II. Under the guise of British military activity, this group engaged in the assassination of Nazis, facilitated the illegal emigration of Holocaust survivors to Israel, and smuggled weaponry to the Haganah. Assassination squads killed former SS and WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officers who had participated in atrocities against European Jews. Information regarding the whereabouts of these war criminals was gathered either by torturing imprisoned Nazis or by way of military connections.
After assignment to the VIII Corps District of the British Army of the Rhine (Schleswig-Holstein), the Jewish Brigade was disbanded in the summer of 1946.
Legacy
The Jewish Brigade inspired numerous books and films. In 1998, filmmakers Chuck Olin (Director) and Matthew Palm (Co-Producer) released their award-winning documentary, In Our Own Hands. The film aired on PBS in the United States, and played in numerous film festivals around the world.Partial list of notable veterans of the Jewish Brigade
- Yehuda AmichaiYehuda AmichaiYehuda Amichai was an Israeli poet. Amichai is considered by many, both in Israel and internationally, as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew....
- Ted ArisonTed ArisonTed Arison was an Israeli-American businessman who co-founded Norwegian Cruise Lines in 1966 with Knut Kloster and founded Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972....
- Hanoch BartovHanoch BartovHanoch Bartov is an Israeli author and journalist.-Biography:Hanoch Helfgott was born in Petah Tikva in 1926, a year after his parents immigrated from Poland. He attended a religious school and then the Ahad Haam gymnasium. After working in diamond polishing and welding for two years, he enlisted...
- Ernest BenjaminErnest BenjaminBrigadier General Ernest Frank Benjamin was a British officer from Canada of Jewish birth who commanded the Jewish Infantry Brigade during the Second World War....
- Israel CarmiIsrael CarmiIsrael Carmi , born 1917 , was the founder of the Tilhas Tizig Gesheften .-Life:...
- Dov GrunerDov GrunerDov Gruner was a Jewish Zionist leader born in Kisvárda, Hungary on December 6, 1912. On April 19, 1947, he was executed by the British Mandatory authorities in Palestine on the charge of "firing on policemen, and setting explosive charges with the intent of killing personnel on His Majesty's...
- Mordechai Maklef
- Chaim LaskovChaim LaskovHaim Laskov was an Israeli public figure and the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.-Early life:...
- Edmund Leopold de RothschildEdmund Leopold de RothschildEdmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD was an English financier, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour , given by the Royal Horticultural Society....
- Shlomo ShamirShlomo ShamirShlomo Shamir was the third Commander of the Israeli Navy , and the first Israeli Navy Commander to receive the rank of Aluf. He was the third Commander of the Israeli Air Force .- Biography :...
- Israel TalIsrael TalIsrael Tal , also known as Talik , was an Israel Defense Forces general known for his knowledge of tank warfare and for leading the development of Israel's Merkava tank.-Biography:...
- Adin TalbarAdin TalbarAdin Talbar, also Adin Theilhaber-Talbar, was Deputy Director of the Israel Ministry for Commerce and Industry, furthered German-Israeli cooperation and is the founder of the Israel Academic Sports Association ....
- Moshe TavorMoshe TavorMoshe Tavor was born in 1917, the second of three brothers. He was a member of the Jewish Brigade, a unit of the British Army that fought the Germans in Italy in 1944-45. Tavor and others in the unit resolved to take justice into their own hands and pay back the Germans for the atrocities the...
- Meir ZoreaMeir ZoreaMeir "Zarro" Zorea MC was a general in the Israel Defense Forces and later a member of the Knesset. He earned distinction through his combat actions in World War II and in the Israeli War of Independence...
- Hans JonasHans JonasHans Jonas was a German-born philosopher who was, from 1955 to 1976, Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.Jonas's writings were very influential in different spheres...
See also
- Jewish LegionJewish LegionThe Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers...
- Special Interrogation GroupSpecial Interrogation GroupThe Special Interrogation Group was a unit of the British Army during World War II. It was organized from German-speaking Jewish volunteers from the British Mandate of Palestine...
(SIG) - The Sixth BattalionThe Sixth BattalionThe Sixth Battalion is a 1998 documentary film that examines the little known history of Jewish soldiers who fought for the Slovak Republic, which was closely aligned with Nazi Germany during World War II...
- a documentary about Jewish soldiers forced to fight for the Nazis in the Slovak Republic during World War II. - Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine
- Tilhas Tizig GesheftenTilhas Tizig GesheftenTilhas Teezee Gesheften was the name of a group of Jewish Brigade members formed immediately following World War II...
, a paramilitary sister effort undertaken by many members of the brigade
Sources
Contains a foreword by Brig. E F Benjamin, CBE, former commander of the Jewish Brigade. Casper was Senior Chaplain to the Brigade.External links
- Jewish Brigade Group (the United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
) - The Jewish Brigade (Israeli MFA)
- Jewish Brigade Group (JVL)
- Chuck Olin Digital Film Archive (University of Illinois Library) (Digital video interviews from members of the Jewish Brigade)