Esther Cailingold
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Esther Cailingold (; 28 June 1925 – 29 May 1948) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
-born schoolteacher of
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
extraction, who fought with the
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
forces during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
and died of wounds received in the battle for the Old City of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. She is commemorated, in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, by the Esther Cailingold memorial forest at
Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Lavi Lavi (, ''lit.'' Lion) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located 310 meters above sea level and 10 minutes from Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Founding Kibbut ...
in the
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, by a scholarship fund at Yeshivat HaKotel in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, and on various war memorials including that of the Israeli Armored Corps at
Latrun Latrun (, ''Latrun''; , ''al-Latrun'') is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla. It was the si ...
. Several libraries and other rooms in children's homes in Israel are named after her. In
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
she is remembered through the Esther Cailingold society in
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, part of Emunah UK, a worldwide Jewish children's welfare charity.


Biographical details


Birth, family and education

Esther Cailingold was born on Milward Road in
Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...
, London, on 28 June 1925, as the eldest child of Moshe Cailingold and Anne, née Fenechel. Moshe had immigrated from
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
in 1920, and had opened up a London branch of his family's bookselling and publishing business. After the family moved to
Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...
, (Heathlands Rd.), North London, in 1936, Esther attended the
North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is a private day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju Island, Dubai, Vietnam ...
for girls, eventually winning a scholarship to
Goldsmiths College, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...
(temporarily based in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
), to study English. She graduated with first-class honours in 1946.


Zionism

Esther's Zionism derived principally from her strict
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
background. Her father, one of the founders of Poland's Young Mizrachi movement, ("Mizrachi" here refers to the worldwide religious Zionist movement, the name has also been used by a now-defunct Israeli political party) maintained a fervent Zionism in the family home, such that "Esther was a Zionist...before she knew of any formal movement or heard her first Zionist speech". Her youthful convictions were strengthened by awareness of international events such as the rise of
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, the growth of European (and British)
anti-semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and later, during and immediately after the war, the emerging details of the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. Until then her Zionism had expressed itself mainly in religious and youth-related activities, such as her involvement with ''Bachad'', (Bachad's origins are as a pre
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
German Jewish youth movement which came to England with refugees) which ran training farms in Britain and Europe to prepare young people for future life on a
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
. Thereafter her belief strengthened that her future lay with the Jewish community in Palestine, and in the autumn of 1946 she successfully applied for a post as an English teacher at the
Evelina de Rothschild Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild (25 August 1839 – 4 December 1866) was an English socialite and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England. Biography Evelina de Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Lionel de Rothschild, the first ope ...
school in Jerusalem.


In Jerusalem


Haganah Soldier

Esther arrived in Jerusalem on 1 December 1946 to take up her teaching post. In the ensuing months, whilst immersing herself in the local culture, she witnessed the growing street violence, the imposition of curfews and other restrictions on movement, attacks on Jewish property and personnel, and specific events such as the trial, conviction and execution of
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 ...
activist
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 drawn out saga of the refugee ships such as the ''Exodus''. As a result, her perspective changed; her letters home reflect a harder attitude and an increasingly sharp anti-British sentiment. By October 1947 she had joined
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
, and while continuing with her teaching job for the time being, she began attending training camps to prepare for possible combat duty. In January 1948 she left Evelina de Rothschild and became a full-time Haganah soldier. In addition to military duties and continuing training she acted as a continuity announcer for Haganah's English-language broadcasting service, whilst seeking a posting to the garrison defending the
Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...
in the Old City, the most vulnerable of all the Jewish sectors within Jerusalem.


The Jewish Quarter

In 1948 the Jewish Quarter covered a smaller area than it had once and does now. It then housed around 1700 civilians, mainly women, children and elderly, and was defended by a small garrison of mixed Haganah, Irgun and Lehi troops under a Haganah commander. The Quarter was entirely cut off from the rest of Jewish Jerusalem, surrounded by hostile Arab districts and effectively indefensible in the face of attack. It had no strategic military value but was of great symbolic importance. However, its garrison was severely undermanned and undersupplied, dependent for food and other necessities on a weekly convoy escorted by British troops, through which arms and additional combat troops had to be smuggled. Esther entered the Old City, ostensibly as a teacher, in the last of such convoys, on 7 May 1948 and reported to the Haganah commander. Her assigned task was a mobile role - supplying the needs (arms, ammunition, food, drink, etc.) of the various outposts throughout the quarter. When she arrived, a tenuous truce was operating and things were relatively quiet, but a full-scale onslaught on the Quarter was anticipated, after the anticipated British troops withdrawal on 14 May. This duly occurred. Sections of the civilian population wanted to negotiate a cease fire. They had to be forcibly restrained. On 16 May, during the first sustained attack on the Quarter, Esther was wounded, though not disabled - she quickly returned to her duties after a field-dressing, often using the exposed rooftops as her means of access between posts. On 19 May a small
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...
unit broke through the
Zion Gate Zion Gate (, ''Sha'ar Zion'', , ''Bab Sahyun''), also known in Arabic as Bab Harat al-Yahud ("Jewish Quarter Gate") or Bab an-Nabi Dawud ("Prophet David Gate"), is one of the seven historic Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. History Zion Gate wa ...
and reached the beleaguered garrison. Esther was there to receive them and for a moment it seemed that fortunes might have turned, but the force swiftly withdrew. On that same day,
King Abdullah King Abdullah may refer to: *Abdullah II of Jordan (born 1962), king of Jordan since 1999 ** List of things named after King Abdullah II *Abdullah I of Jordan (1882–1951), king of Transjordan *Abdullah Khan II (1533/4–1598), ruler of the Khanat ...
's
Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...
arrived at the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...
and began shelling the Jewish Quarter, which was contracting daily as Arab ground troops advanced. It became a house-to-house battle, and Esther's mobile role became impossible, so she joined one of the defending groups as a Sten gunner. On 26 May she was seriously injured when a building she had just entered exploded, shattering her spine. She was carried to the Quarter's hospital, but lack of supplies meant that little medical treatment was available. When the hospital came under shell-fire the next day Esther and the other wounded were moved to a safer area. Here, she remained conscious and able to talk, read her bible and say her prayers. Meanwhile, with the destruction of the
Hurva synagogue The Hurva Synagogue (), also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid (), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was originally founded in the early 18th century by fol ...
, resistance in the Jewish Quarter effectively ended, with less than forty defenders still holding out. Surrender followed shortly afterwards.


Death

After the surrender on 28 May, Esther and the other wounded were moved, this time to the nearby Armenian School, just outside the Jewish Quarter. Early on the following morning Esther, after refusing a cigarette (it was Shabbat), she fell into a coma and did not regain consciousness. She died some time around 5.00 am on 29 May. Her last letter to her parents had been written six days earlier and handed to fellow-soldier Chaveh Leurer, who passed it to Harry Levin after the surrender. Levin in turn gave it to Moshe Cailingold when the latter came to Jerusalem in July.


Aftermath

After the surrender of the Jewish Quarter garrison to the Arab Legion under Abdullah al Tel, the remaining buildings in the quarter were systematically destroyed, including 58 of the 59 synagogues in the Old City. The quarter's Jewish residents were removed to Israeli lines, and lost all their property. The Arab victory in the Old City was one of their few successes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, which they termed their
al-Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...
("the Catastrophe"). In the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
of June 1967 Jewish forces captured the entire Old City, and thereafter the Jewish Quarter was rebuilt. None of the men or women who fought for the Jewish Quarter in 1948 received citations for bravery, although Moshe Rusnak, her commander, singled Esther out as deserving.A Cailingold, p243 Along with the 38 other Old City fighters who died, Esther was posthumously enlisted in the
Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
and, after temporary burial in a
West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...
quarry, her body was re-interred in
Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest. I ...
military cemetery in September 1950.


See also

*
Siege of Jerusalem (1948) The Battle for Jerusalem took place during the 1947–1948 civil war phase of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. It saw Jewish and Arab militias in Mandatory Palestine, and later the militaries of Israel and Transjordan, fight for control over ...


Notes and references


Sources

*Martin Gilbert: ''Jerusalem in the 20th Century''. Chatto & Windus, 1996. *Collins & Lapierre: ''O Jerusalem''. History Book Club, 1972. *Dan Kurtzman: ''Genesis 1948''. Da Capo Press edition, 1992. *Asher Cailingold: ''An Unlikely Heroine''. Valentine Mitchell, 2000. *Harry Levin: ''Jerusalem Embattled''. Cassell edition, 1997. *Yehuda Avner: ''The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership''. Toby Press, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cailingold, Esther 1925 births 1948 deaths Haganah members British military personnel killed in action British Zionists English Orthodox Jews Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British emigrants to Mandatory Palestine English emigrants to Israel English people of Polish-Jewish descent Mahal personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israeli schoolteachers Israeli military personnel killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War People from Whitechapel Burials at Mount Herzl Women in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Members of Aliyah Bet