Avraham Stern

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Avraham Stern (Hebrew: אברהם שטרן Avraham Shtern), alias Yair (Hebrew: יאיר) (December 23, 1907 - February 12, 1942) was the founder and leader of the Zionist underground organization later known as Lehi which was also known as the "Stern Gang".

Stern was born in Suwałki, Poland, immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1925, and studied in the Hebrew Gymnasium in Jerusalem, and afterwards in the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. He specialized in Classic languages and literature (Greek and Latin).

He founded Lehi in 1940 (though it did not adopt that name until after his death), by splitting from the Irgun, when the latter joined forces with Haganah to support the British in their fight against the Nazis.

Stern rejected collaboration with the British, and claimed that only a continuing struggle against the British Empire would lead eventually to an independent Jewish State and resolve the Jewish situation in the Diaspora. British refusal to permit Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to enter Palestine, strengthened his beliefs in the verity of this observation.

Stern was unpopular with many of the other Jewish Underground leaders. He struck an odd figure in the casual environment of the Underground, which was largely based on the kibbutz movement, by appearing as a fastidious and formal intellectual, who always insisted on wearing a necktie and jacket, even in the blazing Middle East summer. His movement drew an eclectic crew of individuals, from both ends of the political spectrum, including prominent right-wing activists such as Yitzhak Shamir (later to become the prime minister of Israel).

In January 1941, Stern attempted to make an agreement with the German Nazi authorities, offering to "actively take part in the war on Germany's side" in return for helping Jewish refugees to come to Israel into a Jewish State. Another attempt to contact the Germans was made in late 1941, but there is no record of a German response in either case.

Stern was killed in February 12, 1942 by British Intelligence officers. After having been arrested in a Tel Aviv apartment where he had been hiding, Stern was shot from behind in his apartment after already being handcuffed. He was executed for his role as leader of the Lehi.

Stern was also a poet. As early as 1934 he prepared his first poetry book for publishing. He wrote, inter alia, Lehi's anthem, "Anonymous Soldiers."

Avraham Stern's memorial day is attended every year by Israeli political and government officials. In 1978, a postage stamp was issued in his honor.

In 1981 the town "Kochav Yair" (Yair's star) was founded and named after Stern's nickname.

[edit] Further reading

• J. Bowyer Bell, Terror Out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, Lehi, and the Palestine Underground, 1929-1949, (Avon, 1977), ISBN 0-380-39396-4