List of Irgun members

This is a list of notable members of the Irgun, either having been listed by the Irgun's website^[1] or by reputable independent sources .

Former Irgun members^[2] have held positions of highest influence in the Israeli political and security establishments since independence, and the lasting effect of the ideology espoused by extremist groups such as the Irgun and the Lehi continues to be a source of active research and debate among responsible historians and political observers to this day.

Contents 1 Persons listed on the Irgun website 1.1 Irgun Chief Commanders 1.2 The Gallows 1.3 Senior Commanders 2 Persons cited in other sources 3 Contract affiliates 4 ZZW / IZL issues 5 References

Persons listed on the Irgun website

Irgun Chief Commanders

• Jabotinsky, Zeev – Leader of the Irgun (1880–1940)
• Tehomi, Avraham – First Commander in Chief (1903–1990)
• Bitker, Robert – Second Commander in Chief (1907–1977)
• Rozenberg, Moshe – Third Commander in Chief (1890–1989)
• Raziel, David – Fourth Commander in Chief (1910–1941)
• Kalai, Hanoch – Fifth Commander in Chief (1910-1979)
• Meridor, Yaakov – Sixth Commander in Chief (1913–1995); Likud member of the 10th Knesset.
• Begin, Menachem – The Last Commander in Chief (1913–1992); first Likud Prime Minister of Israel.

The Gallows

The Irgun website lists the following as having been executed during the British occupation; though many were indeed hanged at places such Acre Prison, others were killed during firefights, or committed suicide to avoid capture.

• Alkahi, Mordechai (1925–1947)
• Barazani, Moshe (1926–1947)
• Beit-Tzuri, Eliyahu (1922–1945)
• Ben-Yosef, Shlomo (1913–1938)
• Dresner, Yehiel (1922–1947)
• Feinstein, Meir (1927–1947)
• Gruner, Dov (1912–1947)
• Hakim, Eliyahu (1925–1945)
• Haviv, Avshalom (1926–1947)
• Kashani, Eliezer (1923–1947)
• Nakar, Meir (1926–1947)
• Weiss, Yaakov (1924–1947)

Senior Commanders

• Aharoni, Yaakov-Sika
• Allis, Shraga – "took part in planning the blowing up of the King David Hotel, the attack on the British officers club and other operations."
• Amitai, Shmuel (1920–1998)
• Amitzur, Bezalel – later chairman of the board of directors of Maman Aerospace, and founded the Irgun Museum at Jabotinsky House.
• Amrami, Yaakov (1916–1996) – set up the Hadar publishing house, which mainly published books connected with the anti-British underground. Wrote a book entitled Hadvarim Gdolim Hem Me-itanu (Hadar, 1994).
• Ashbel Michael (1922–1947) known as Mike. At first sentenced to death by hanging together with IZL member Yosef Simchon. After the IZL captured two British officers their sentence was lightened to lifetime in prison. Michael was killed during the Acre prison breakout - for six hours the British let him bleed to death in the Acre police courtyard. He wrote several songs which became well-known throughout Israel ('Little Sarah - Upon Barricades' etc.)
• Assaf, Avraham (1914–1980)
• Avinoam, Yitzhak – anticipated in KDH bombing and Goldschmidt House operations.
• Avni, Yosef – "took part in the conquest of Deir Yassin, where he was wounded upon attacking the Muchtar's house." Commanded the first group ("the porters") that arrived at the King David Hotel prior to Yisrael Levi's "strike force".
• Ben-Eliezer, Aryeh (1913–1970) – co-founder, Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry and later on the Committee for National Liberation. Elected to the Knesset as a Herut member and served as Deputy Speaker.
• Cohen Dov ("Shimshon") (1915–1947) Served in the British army until 1945. An excellent officer. Joined the IZL and commanded the Acre prison break-in in which he was killed while trying to save his men.
• Cohen, Ben-Zion ("Giora") – "[c]ommanded the capture of the village of Dir Yassin and served as deputy commander in the capture of Malha." Later joined the IDF and attained the rank of Major, and "participated in various security projects within the framework of Raphael (The Authority for Development of Weapons)."
• Cohen, Rahamim ("Gad")
• Efrat, Dov
• Eliav, Yaakov ("Yashka") (1917–1985) – during the split the Irgun, sided with Avraham Stern and became one of the founders of the Lehi, and later, its Chief Operating Officer for several years.
• Fallan, Chaim
• Germant, Natan-Niko ("Shimshon")
• Gershoni, Shalom ("Nachum") (1916–1991)
• Globman-Naot, Yehuda ("Avitagar")
• Goldshmid, Yehoshua ('Gal") (1925–1948) – took part in KDH bombing, attack on Camp Schneller and planned the attack on Deir Yassin. The youngest IZL member to be commander of Jerusalem. Admired by all who knew him.
• Grosbard, David (1915–1990) – served as a member of the central institutions of the Herut movement and manager of the Herut newspaper.
• Heichman, Aharon – listed by other sources as a High Commander^[3]; later a manager of ZOA House in Tel Aviv.
• Hillel, Yaakov ("Asher") – according to the Irgun website, "took part in reprisals against Arabs rioters", in the blowing up of income tax offices in Haifa and in the embarkation of the Altalena from France.
• Katz, Shmuel (b. 1914) – one of the founders of the Herut movement and a member of the First Knesset; was later inivited by Menachim Begin to be his propaganda advisor.
• Koenig, Zvi ("Yishai") (1924–1948)
• Kook, Hillel – operating within the U.S. during WW II, set up the Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry, and the Hebrew Committee for National Liberation. Elected to the First Knesset as a Herut member.
• Landau, Haim ("Avraham") (1916–1981) – Herut founder, Knesset member, held positions in the Begin government.
• Lapidot, Yehuda ("Nimrod") – commanding roles in the assault on Ramat Rachel and in Operation Kedem; later an advisor to Begin and noted author.
• Lenkin, Eliyahu ("Benyamin") (1914–1994) – commanded the Altalena; later a battalion commander in the IDF, and a member of the first Knesset.
• Lev-Ami, Shlomo
• Levi, Yisrael ("Gideon") (1926–1990) – commanded the "strike force" that delivered explosives to the King David Hotel.
• Levi, Yosef ("Uzi") (1916–1948)
• Livni, Eitan (1919–1992) – took part in the Night of the Trains attack, a joint Irgun-Lehi-Haganah bombing of the country's railroad network on October 31-November 1, 1945. Later active in the Herut movement and served as member of the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Knessets; father of Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni. Eitan's gravestone bears a map of Greater Israel with borders extending out to the Jordan River.^[4]
• Malatzky, Menahem
• Mazali (Pshadetzky) Aryeh (1917–1983)
• Meiten, Shmuel
• Meridor (Vizhvolovsky) Eliyahu ("Dan") (1914–1966) – active in the Herut movement and member of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Knesset; father of Finance Minister Dan Meridor.
• Nathanson, Isser (1916–1977) – later joined the Department of Physics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
• Nehmad, Moshe ("Shimshon") (1912–1963)
• Paglin Amichai ("Gidi") (1922–1978) – became the IZL chief of operations from 1944 when Eitan was exiled to Africa. A tactic genius - he planned major operations, including the KDH bombing, the break-in to the Acre prison and the Capture of Jaffa in 1948. The IDF refused to enlist him in 1948 - they refused to enlist many key IZL men; politics above defense. Therefore returned to the family oven business. He built the oven in which Eichman's body was burnt. Was very dear to Begin, and upon Begin's election to Prime Minister was appointed National Advisor for Arab Relations. Tragically, Gidi and his wife Tzipporah (also an IZL member) were killed in a suspicious car crash in 1978.
• Pedahzur Eliezer ("Gad")
• Raanan-Kaufman, Mordechai – had a key role in planning the Deir Yassin assault.
• Raz, Yaakov (1919–1938) Among the first IZL to fall. He was attempting to plant a bomb in an Arab market in retaliation to Arab murderous attacks on Jews. Israel National Poet, Uri Zvi Greenberg, wrote a song in his honor.
• Russo, Nissim ben Yaacov (1933–2006) – "Participated in the blowing up of the King David Hotel, the attack on the British officers club and many other operations. Was seriously wounded in ambush by British military while attempting to carry out another operation."
• Salomon, Dov ("Yishai")
• Schiff, Menahem ("Zeev") (1926–1983)
• Shamir, Petachia – Herut founder, serving as head of its Organizational Division; also served as Betar commissioner
• Simchon, Yosef (1926–1955)
• Stern, Avraham ("Yair") (1907–1942) Split with the IZL in 1940 following the IZL decision for a unilateral cease-fire during the war. Founded the Lehi and gave it its anthem and ideology.
• Sudit-Sharon, Eliezer ("Kabtzan") (1925-)
• Tahori, David ("Yitzhak") – took part in the September 29, 1947 Haifa police station bombing, in which 4 British policement, 4 Arab policemen and 2 Arab civilians were killed, and 46 persons injured.
• Tamler, Eliyahu ("Yehoshua") (1919–1948)
• Tamir, Shmuel (1923–1987) – lawyer in the Rudolf Kastner case, Knesset member (1965–1980), Minister of Justice in the Begin government (1977–1980)
• Tavin, Eliezer-Yaakov (1919–1994)
• Verner-Vered, Shalom ("Shimshon", "Giora")
• Virnick, Yisrael ("Zvi") (1921–1948)
• Zeroni, Benyamin (1914-2008)

Persons cited in other sources

The Irgun's exact membership roster is not known, and like many paramilitary and clandestine organizations, was somewhat nebulous; and in any case certain highly notable early Irgun members (such as Yitzhak Shamir) simply are not listed on the Irgun website. The following persons have been attributed by reputable sources as having significant roles, either as bona fide IZL members, assets or close affiliates.

• Yitzhak Shamir, joined the Irgun in 1937; joined the Stern faction in 1940; commander of the Lehi after Stern's assassination.
• Uri Avnery, joined as a teenager (1938–1942); later became a radical socialist activist. In 1945 he would publish a pamphlet, "Terrorism: the infantile disease of the Hebrew revolution".
• Israel Eldad
• Benjamin M. Emanuel, passed "secret codes" to Menachem Begin.^[5] A Chicago pediatrician, he is father to Rahm Emanuel, Ari Emanuel and Ezekiel J. Emanuel.^[6][7][8]
• Natan Yellin-Mor
• Sarah Agassi, b. 1926, who reminisced about her experiences casing the King David Hotel in preparation for the famous bombing attack, at a 2006 commemoration of the event.^[9]
• Zippora Levi-Kessel, staff secretary at the time of the Altalena affair^[10]
• Moshe Hason, also listed by Lapidot as a High Commander during the Altalena Affair.
• Abraham Stavsky, who procured the Altalena for the Irgun (though not a member); also said to be active in the so-called Bergson Group (the Irgun delegation to the U.S.)^[11]
• Victor Ben-Nahum, also part of the Bergson Group.
• Uzzi Ornan, detained by the British in 1944. Later became a linguist and a political activist
• Elie Wiesel^[12]. As a student in Sorbonne, Wiesel translated from Hebrew to Yiddish for the Irgun newspaper (November 1947 – January 1949). He later was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in appreciation for his lifelong activities on behalf of persecuted peoples of the world as well as for his educational activities regarding the Holocaust, of which he himself was a victim.
• Zvee Aroni, internationally renowned cantor, recounts his time with the Irgun here.

Contract affiliates

Persons of notable affiliation to the Irgun, but who were probably not members in any formal sense.

• Lt. Monroe Fein, the U.S. naval officer who captained the Altalena.

ZZW / IZL issues

The whole issue of the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (known in Hebrew as Irgun Zvai Leumi and in English as the National Military Organization), the Revisionist Zionist resistance organization in Warsaw under the time of the German occupation, is rather complicated due the ZZW's being largely ignored by the "mainstream" Irgun in Israel, while all the same there are ZZW members such as Dawid Wdowinski who pointedly describe theirs as a bonafide IZL faction.^[13][14]

References