Jewish Brigade

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For other Jewish regiments, see Jewish legion (disambiguation).


Jewish Brigade

Insignia and sleeve patch of the Jewish Brigade
Active 1944-1946
Country United Kingdom
Branch Army
Type Infantry
Size 5,000 volunteers
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Ernest Benjamin
Jewish Brigade recruitment poster: "For Salvation and Vengeance!"
Jewish Brigade recruitment poster: "For Salvation and Vengeance!"
A recruitment drive poster for the Jewish Brigade: "Soldiers of 1915-1918: to the flag!" {Figure in background represents the Jewish Legion of World War I}
A recruitment drive poster for the Jewish Brigade: "Soldiers of 1915-1918: to the flag!" {Figure in background represents the Jewish Legion of World War I}

The Jewish Brigade was a fighting unit in the British Army composed of volunteers from the British Mandate of Palestine that fought in World War II on the side of the Allies against the Nazi Axis Powers.

Contents

[edit] Background

On May 17, 1939, the British government under Neville Chamberlain issued the White Paper which abandoned the idea of partitioning the Mandate. After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the head of the Jewish Agency David Ben-Gurion declared: "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper." [1]

The President of the World Zionist Organization Chaim Weizmann offered the British government full cooperation of the Jewish community in the British Mandate of Palestine and tried to negotiate the establishment of identifiably Jewish fighting unit (under a Jewish flag) under the auspices of British Army. His request was rejected, but many Palestinian Jews joined the British army, some in Jewish companies. Fifteen Palestinian Jewish battalions were incorporated into the British Army in September 1940 and fought in Greece in 1941.

[edit] Palestine Regiment

Despite the efforts by the British to enlist an equal number of Jews and Arabs into the Palestine Regiment, three times more Jews volunteered than Arabs. As a result, on August 6, 1942, three Jewish battalions and one Palestinian Arab battalion were formed. At this time, the Regiment was principally involved in guard duties in Egypt and North Africa. The British also wanted to undermine efforts of Hajj Amin al-Husayni who successfully drummed up Arab support of the Axis Powers against the Allies.

[edit] Formation of the Jewish Brigade

Jewish Brigade headquarters under both Union Jack and Jewish flag
Jewish Brigade headquarters under both Union Jack and Jewish flag

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. The Zionist flag was officially approved as its standard. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine organized into three infantry battalions 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).

[edit] Battles and Berihah

Under the command of Brigadier Ernest Benjamin, the Jewish Brigade fought against the Germans in Italy from March 1945 until the end of the war in May 1945, then it was stationed in Tarvisio, near the border triangle of Italy, Yugoslavia, and Austria. There it played a key role in the Berihah's efforts to help Jews escape Europe for Palestine, a role many of its members would continue after the Brigade disbanded.

In July 1945, the Brigade moved to Belgium and the Netherlands. The Jewish Brigade Group was disbanded in the summer of 1946.

[edit] Legacy

Out of some 30,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine who served in the British Army during WWII, more than 700 were killed during active duty. Some of the Jewish Brigade members subsequently became key participants of the new State of Israel's Israel Defense Force.

[edit] Partial list of notable veterans of the Jewish Brigade

[edit] References

  1. ^ Howard Blum, The Brigade. p.5

[edit] Resources

  • With the Jewish Brigade by Bernard M Casper (Edward Goldston, London 1947. No ISBN. Contains a forward by Brig. E F Benjamin, CBE, former commander of the Jewish Brigade. Casper was Senior Chaplain to the Brigade.
  • The Brigade. An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and WWII by Howard Blum (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2002) ISBN 0-06-019486-3
  • The Jewish Brigade: An Army With Two Masters, 1944-45 by Morris Beckman (Sarpedon Publishers, 1999) ISBN 1-885119-56-9
  • In Our Own Hands: The Hidden Story of the Jewish Brigade in World War II (1998 video) Film resource center

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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