The Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine were a group of 250

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 ...

men and women from

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

who volunteered for operations run by British organisations

MI9 MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) held b ...

and the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE) which involved parachuting into

German-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly military occupation, militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the governmen ...

between 1943 and 1945. Their mission was to organize resistance to the Germans, aid in the rescue of Allied personnel and carry out assignments set by the Jewish Agency of Palestine.

History

Of the 250 original volunteers, 110 underwent training. Thirty-two eventually parachuted into Europe and five infiltrated the target countries by other routes. Most of those selected for training were emigrés from Europe, with intimate knowledge of the countries to which they would be sent. Three of the parachutists infiltrated Hungary, five participated in the

Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...

in October 1944, and six operated in northern Italy. Ten parachutists served with British liaison missions to the

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

. Nine parachutists operated in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Two others entered

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and one each operated in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

captured twelve and executed seven of the 37 parachutists sent into occupied Europe. Three of those executed were captured in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Two were captured in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and one in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After seven missions the parachutist who entered

was captured and killed.

Hannah Szenes Hannah Szenes (often anglicized as Hannah Senesh or Chanah Senesh; ; ; 17 July 1921 – 7 November 1944) was a Hungarian-born poet, playwright, and resistance operative trained by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). In 1944, she was ...

, one of the best-known of the MI9 parachutists, was seized in German-occupied Hungary and executed in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

on 7 November 1944, at the age of 23. Szenes was a talented poet and her songs are still sung in Israel. After the war, remains of three of the seven parachutists killed in the war, including Szenes, were interred on the National Military and Police cemetery 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 ...

cemetery 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 ...

. Memorials for the other four are also at Mount Herzl Cemetery.

Mount Herzl burials

A national burial site is located in the national military and police cemetery at

: *Sergeant Haviva Reik,

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

H.Q. and MI9. Died 20 November 1944, age 30. AKA Ada Robinson and Martha Marinovic. *Sergeant Stephan Rafael Reisz, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 159 G.H.Q. (Middle East) and SOE. Died 20 November 1944, age 30. AKA S. Rice. *Aircraftwoman 2nd Class

and MI9. Died 7 November 1944, age 23.

Gallery

File:Paratroopers memorial IMG 1100.jpg, The graves of the seven Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine in

in Jerusalem File:Jewish parachutists of Yishuv.jpeg, Group of Jewish paratroopers. From right to left, top row: Reuven Dafni, Zadok Doron, Abba Berdichev. Bottom row: Sara Braverman, Arieh Fichman, Haviva Reik

References

{{reflist

External links

Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine
in the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

site
Combat and Resistance: Jewish Soldiers in the Allied Armies
on the

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website *United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Jewish Parachutists from Palestine
Jewish resistance during the Holocaust Military units and formations of the British Army in World War II Jews from Mandatory Palestine Burials at Mount Herzl Military units and formations of Mandatory Palestine in World War II Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Zionism in Mandatory Palestine

History

Mount Herzl burials

Gallery

See also

References

External links