The Armée Juive (Jewish Army), was a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

resistance movement in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

occupied

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

which was created during January 1942 in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

. It was established and led by

Abraham Polonski Abraham Polonski (born 1913, date of death unknown), also known as Pol or Maurice Ferrer, was one of the founders of the French Jewish Resistance movement, having previously worked as an electrical engineer in Toulouse. By June 1940, the Frenc ...

and his wife Eugénie, the socialist Lucien Lublin, Russian poet David Knout, and his wife

Ariadna Scriabina Ariadna Aleksandrovna Scriabina (russian: Ариадна Александровна Скрябина; also Sarah Knut, née Ariadna Alexandrovna Schletzer, pseudonym Régine; 26 October 1905 – 22 July 1944) was a Russian poet and activist of t ...

(daughter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin). Armée Juive was originally called the Mouvement des Jeunesses Sionistes (M.J.S.). Its intention was to protect threatened Jews and take their fighting skills back to Palestine to help create a Jewish State there. At its height, it had over 2,000 members and was primarily concerned with helping Jews escape to Spain via the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

although it also conducted attacks and sabotage operations. The first members of the AJ were recruited from a

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

study group headed by Rabbi Paul Roitman (1920). They included Arnold Mandel, Elie Rothnemer, Claude Strauss (writer Claude Vigée) and Maurice Hausner. They received funds to finance their activities from Marc Jarblum, the socialist president of the refugee Zionist Organization of France which operated from Switzerland. The Army became the Organisation Juive de Combat and was officially registered under the

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...

(FFI).

''Placing my right hand on the blue and white flag'',
''I swear fidelity to the Jewish Army''
''And obedience to its leaders.''
''May my people live again,''
''May Eretz-Israel be reborn.''
''Liberty or death.'' - the oath of the Armée Juive.

Notable members

* Frida Wattenberg (1924–2020) * Georges Loinger *

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...

Cécile Reims Cécile or Cecile is a female given name or surname. People Given name * Ce'cile (Cecile Charlton, born 1976), Jamaican musician * Severin Cecile Abega (1955–2008), Cameroonian author * Cécile Aubry (1928–2010), retired French film actress a ...

Notes

References

* ''Abraham Polonski and the Jewish resistance in France during the Second World War'' by Yehuda Ben-David, Yaʻel Zaidman, Miśrad ha-bitaḥon, 2002. * ''Sephardi Jews in occupied France: under the tyrant's heel, 1940-1944'' by Gitta Amipas-Silber, Rubin Mass, 1995. * ''L'armée juive clandestine en France: 1940-1945'' by Raphaël Delpard, Page après page, 2002. * ''Jews in France during World War II'' by Renée Poznanski and Nathan Bracher, Brandeis University Press, 2001. * ''Les Juifs dans la résistance et la libération: histoire, témoignages, débats'' by Yves-Claude Aouate and Anne Grynberg, 1985. * ''Blessed is the match: the story of Jewish resistance'' by Marie Syrkin, Jewish Pubn Society, 1976. * ''Contribution à l'histoire de la résistance juive en France, 1940-1944'' by David Knout, Editions du Centre, 1947. {{DEFAULTSORT:Armee Juive French Resistance networks and movements Zionist organizations Jewish resistance during the Holocaust Zionism in France Military organizations established in 1942 *