Meir Feinstein
Encyclopedia
Meir Feinstein was born in the Old City of Jerusalem. His parents, Bela and Eliezer, immigrated from Brisk
. He was an Irgun
operative who lost an arm on Oct. 30, 1946 while planting an Improvised Explosive Device
in the railway station in Jerusalem, and was subsequently captured and sentenced to death by the British
authorities in Palestine. At his trial, Feinstein refused legal counsel and refused to recognize the authority of the British court or participate in the trial, other than to speak at the summation. Before the reading of the verdict Feinstein broke his silence, saying:
Twenty years after the trial, it became known that a third co-conspirator, Daniel Azulai, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, was in fact a plant of SHAI
, the intelligence service of the Haganah
. Feinstein was unaware of this, seeing Azulai as a close friend and Irgun sympathizer.
On April 21, 1947, a few hours before their execution by hanging in the Jerusalem Central Prison in the Russian Compound, now the Museum of the Underground Prisoners, could be carried out, he and his friend and fellow prisoner Moshe Barazani
blew themselves up in their cells with improvised grenade
s which had been smuggled in concealed inside hollowed out oranges
. Originally, Feinstein and Barzani planned to use one grenade to attack the hanging party and the second grenade to kill themselves; however, when they learned that Rabbi Goldman, the official chaplain of the Jewish National Council, was to be among the party, they changed their plans in order to spare his life, killing themselves alone.
The story of Feinstein and Barazani became one of the most famous tales in the history of Zionism
. Menachem Begin
was so moved by the deeds of the two men that he requested in his will that he be buried next to them on the Mount of Olives
, which he was.
Just before his death, Feinstein gave to British prison guard Thomas Henry Goodwin, whom he and Barazani had nicknamed "the good jailer", a copy of the Bible, inscribed in Hebrew and English, "In the shadow of the gallows, 21.4.47. To the British soldier as you stand guard. Before we go to the gallows, accept this Bible as a memento and remember that we stood in dignity and marched in dignity. It is better to die with a weapon in your hands than to live with hands raised. Meir Feinstein", then requested a moment of privacy for prayer, thereby saving Goodwin from being injured by the grenade (and preventing him from being able to stop the grenade being detonated.) In 2007, Goodwin's son Denis donated the Bible to Feinstein's nephew Eliezar, who received it on behalf of the Underground Prisoners Museum
in Jerusalem at a commemorative state ceremony.,
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
. He was an Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
operative who lost an arm on Oct. 30, 1946 while planting an Improvised Explosive Device
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
in the railway station in Jerusalem, and was subsequently captured and sentenced to death by the British
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...
authorities in Palestine. At his trial, Feinstein refused legal counsel and refused to recognize the authority of the British court or participate in the trial, other than to speak at the summation. Before the reading of the verdict Feinstein broke his silence, saying:
Officers of the army of conquest!
A regime of hanging trees is the regime you wish to impose on this land, which was destined to be a lighthouse for all of
humanity, and in your foolish wickedness, you presumed that by this regime you will break our people's spirit, the people to whom
this whole country had been a gallows. You were wrong. You will learn that you have encountered steel, steel forged in the fire
of love and hatred - love for the homeland and freedom, hatred for enslavement and invader. Burning steel it is. You will not
break it. You will burn your hands.
How great is your blindness, British tyrants? Did you not notice who stands against you in this campaign, unexampled in the
history of mankind? Shall you scare us with death? We, who have listened for years to the rattling of the wheels of them Railroad
cars, who led our brothers, our parents, the best of our nation - to slaughter, which too had no precedent in human history? We,
who asked, and ask ourselves everyday: in what are we better than them? From the millions of our brothers? What have we won? For
we could have been among them and with them in the days of fear and in the moments of dying.
And to these recurring questions, there is in our conscience but one answer: we remained alive not to live and await in
conditions of slavery and oppression, a new Treblinka. We remained alive, to ensure life, freedom and dignity for us, for our
nation, for our children and their children for generations to come. We remained alive so that it wouldn't matter anymore that
which happened there and might happen under your rule, the rule of treason, the rule of blood.
Therefore we shall not be frightened, for we have learned and by countless of victims for nothing we have learned - that there is
life worse than death, and there is death greater than life…
Twenty years after the trial, it became known that a third co-conspirator, Daniel Azulai, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, was in fact a plant of SHAI
SHAI
Shai , established in 1940, was the intelligence and counter-espionage arm of the Haganah and the forebear of the Military Intelligence Directorate in Mandate Palestine....
, the intelligence service of the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
. Feinstein was unaware of this, seeing Azulai as a close friend and Irgun sympathizer.
On April 21, 1947, a few hours before their execution by hanging in the Jerusalem Central Prison in the Russian Compound, now the Museum of the Underground Prisoners, could be carried out, he and his friend and fellow prisoner Moshe Barazani
Moshe Barazani
Moshe Barazani, also Barzani , was an Iraqi Kurdish Jew and a member of Lehi . He was born in Baghdad to a Jewish family from Northern Iraq that moved to Jerusalem when he was an infant. He joined Lehi at an early age and took part in sabotage operations...
blew themselves up in their cells with improvised grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s which had been smuggled in concealed inside hollowed out oranges
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
. Originally, Feinstein and Barzani planned to use one grenade to attack the hanging party and the second grenade to kill themselves; however, when they learned that Rabbi Goldman, the official chaplain of the Jewish National Council, was to be among the party, they changed their plans in order to spare his life, killing themselves alone.
The story of Feinstein and Barazani became one of the most famous tales in the history of Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
was so moved by the deeds of the two men that he requested in his will that he be buried next to them on the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
, which he was.
Just before his death, Feinstein gave to British prison guard Thomas Henry Goodwin, whom he and Barazani had nicknamed "the good jailer", a copy of the Bible, inscribed in Hebrew and English, "In the shadow of the gallows, 21.4.47. To the British soldier as you stand guard. Before we go to the gallows, accept this Bible as a memento and remember that we stood in dignity and marched in dignity. It is better to die with a weapon in your hands than to live with hands raised. Meir Feinstein", then requested a moment of privacy for prayer, thereby saving Goodwin from being injured by the grenade (and preventing him from being able to stop the grenade being detonated.) In 2007, Goodwin's son Denis donated the Bible to Feinstein's nephew Eliezar, who received it on behalf of the Underground Prisoners Museum
Museum of Underground Prisoners
Museum of Underground Prisoners is a museum in Jerusalem, Israel, commemorating the activity of the Jewish underground - Haganah, Irgun and Lehi - during the period leading up the establishment of the State of Israel.-History of the building:...
in Jerusalem at a commemorative state ceremony.,