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 J ...

resistance movement in

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

occupied

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

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

which was created during January 1942 in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

. It was established and led by Abraham Polonski and his wife Eugénie, the socialist

Lucien Lublin Lucien Lublin (1909, Brest-Litovsk – 1995) was a French electrical engineer. A socialist Zionist who became a leader of the French Jewish Resistance during World War II with Abraham Polonski and David Knout. Lublin had been a member of the Zion ...

, 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 Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

). 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 __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

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 s ...

study group headed by Rabbi Paul Roitman (1920). They included Arnold Mandel, Elie Rothnemer,

Claude Strauss Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

(writer Claude Vigée) and

Maurice Hausner Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

. 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 ...

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 *