Acre Prison, also known as Akko Prison, is a former

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

and current museum in

Acre, Israel Acre ( ), known in Hebrew as Akko (, ) and in Arabic as Akka (, ), is a List of cities in Israel, city in the coastal plain region of the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The city occupies a strategic location, sitting ...

. The citadel in the old city was built during the Ottoman period over the ruins of a 12th-century

Crusader Crusader or Crusaders may refer to: Military * Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades * Convair NB-36H Crusader, an experimental nuclear-powered bomber * Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II * Crusaders (guerrilla), a C ...

fortress. The Ottomans used it at various times as a government building, prison, army barracks, and arms warehouse. During the British Mandate it was used as a prison in which many

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s were imprisoned as criminals or for participating in illegal protests. On June 17, 1930, Fuad Hijazi, ‘Ata Al-Zeer, and Mohammad Khaleel Jamjoum who participated in the incidents of 1929 were executed there by hanging by the British authorities. Tamari, Salim & Nassar, Issam (2014) ''The Storyteller of Jerusalem. The life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948''. Olive Branch Press. . pp.202,291. Many were imprisoned during the

1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...

. 108 Arab prisoners were executed for their involvement in the revolt. On April 16, 1947,

Dov Gruner Dov Béla Gruner (; December 6, 1912 – April 16, 1947) was a Hungarian-born Zionist activist in Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Pales ...

and the three men ( Yechiel Dresner, Mordechai Alkahi and

Eliezer Kashani Eliezer Kashani (; March 13, 1923 – April 16, 1947) was an Irgun member in Mandatory Palestine and one of the 12 Olei Hagardom. Early life Kashani was born in Petah Tikva to an impoverished Persian-Jewish family with 4 brothers and 3 sister ...

) captured by the British

6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who m ...

were

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in Acre Prison to become the first post war ‘martyrs’ of the

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

. Dov Gruner in a broadcast declared the British Army and Administration to be ‘criminal organizations’. Two weeks later, 4 May, the Irgun attacked the prison in the

Acre Prison break The Acre Prison break was an operation undertaken by the Irgun on May 4, 1947, in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine, in which its men broke through the walls of the Acre Prison, Central Prison in Acre, Israel, Acre and freed ...

, blowing a hole in the wall through which 27 Irgun prisoners escaped. 214 Arab prisoners also escaped. Three Irgun men who took part in that attack (

Avshalom Haviv Avshalom Haviv (; June 18, 1926 – July 29, 1947) was a member of the Irgun underground organization in Mandatory Palestine, and one of the Olei Hagardom executed by the British authorities during the Jewish insurgency in Palestine. His ...

Meir Nakar Meir Nakar (; July 26, 1926 – July 29, 1947) was a member of the Irgun in pre-state Mandatory Palestine and one of 12 Olei Hagardom. Early life and army service Meir Nakar was born in Jerusalem to a poor Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox-Jewish famil ...

, and

Yaakov Weiss Yaakov Weiss (; 15 July 1924 – 29 July 1947) was a Hungarian Jew born in Czechoslovakia and member of the Irgun, a Jewish guerrilla organization in Mandatory Palestine. After saving hundreds of Jews during Holocaust, in which his own mother die ...

) were captured during that attack and imprisoned and executed there. The prison also contained Jewish prisoners, members of the

Hagana Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the region, and was formally disbanded in 1948, when it ...

, Lehi, and

. One of those prisoners was

Eitan Livni Yeruham "Eitan" Livni (; 1 April 1919 – 27 December 1991) was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician, father of Israeli politician Tzipi Livni. Life and career Livni was born in Grodno, Poland (now in Belarus) ...

(father of

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...

), the Irgun operations officer. In total, the prison contained 700 Arab prisoners and 90 Jewish prisoners. A room in the prison was occupied for some months by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, and members of his family, who were exiled to Ottoman Syria in 1868. The cell is now a site of pilgrimage for Baháʼís making a wider pilgrimage to the Baháʼí shrines in Haifa and Bahji, outside Akko.

References

{{coord, 32, 55, 25, N, 35, 04, 09, E, display=title Prisons in Israel

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

History of Acre, Israel Execution sites

See also

References