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| Unknown artist |
Jews Want to Fight As Jews
Palestine, ca. 1940
From the very beginning of World War II, Jews from the Land of Israel sought permission from British military authorities to organize a Jewish military unit and to be allowed to participate in the fight against the Nazis. Fearing that a Jewish military unit fighting under the Jewish flag would undermine Great Britain’s anti-Zionist policy in Palestine, the British resisted the formation of such a unit. After years of prolonged negotiations, and as more and more information came to light over the fate of European Jewry, the British government finally relented and agreed to the establishment of the Jewish Brigade in 1944.
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| "The voice of your brother's blood is calling out to you: Volunteer!" At the top of the poster one can see Jews marked with the yellow badge of shame. Jews throughout Nazi-occupied Europe were forced to wear a badge in the form of a Yellow or Blue Star as a means of identification. |
After the war, they supported orphanages in Italy (Selvino children) and in France. Jewish Brigade members assisted Holocaust survivors to emigrate to Eretz Israel as part of Aliyah Beth and were active in DP-camps with paramilitary training.
"The voice of your brother's blood is calling out to you: Volunteer!"
The Jewish brigade then was when in Europe, stationed in Tarvisio, near the border triangle of Italy, Yugoslavia, and Austria, where 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 was disbanded. Among its projects was the education and care of the Selvino children.
