Meir Feinstein

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Meir Feinstein (Hebrew: מאיר פיינשטיין; October 5, 1927 - April 21, 1947) was an Irgun operative who was injured while launching a railroad attack in Jerusalem and was subsequently captured and sentenced to death by the British authorities in Palestine. Before the execution by hanging in the central prison in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem could be carried out, he and his friend and fellow prisoner Moshe Barazani blew themselves up in their cells with improvised grenades which had been smuggled concealed in oranges. The story of Feinstein and Barazani became one of the most famous tales in the history of Zionism. ^[1] Menachem Begin was so moved by the two men that he had himself buried next to them on Mount of Olives.^[2]

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 hand 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. In 2007, Goodwin's son Dennis 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.^[2], ^[3]