The Jewish Brigade Group
(1944 - 1946)
The only military unit
to serve in World
War II in the British Army — and,
in fact — in all the Allied forces — as
an independent, national Jewish military
formation, the Jewish Brigade Group comprised
mainly of Jews from Eretz Yisrael and had
its own emblem. The establishment of the
Brigade was the final outcome of prolonged
efforts by the yishuv and the Zionist
Movement to achieve recognized participation
and representation of the Jewish people in
the war against Nazi
Germany.
In 1940, the Jews of Palestine
were permitted to enlist in Jewish companies
attached to the East Kent Regiment (the “Buffs”).
These companies were formed into three infantry
battalions of a newly-established “Palestine
Regiment.” The battalions were moved
to Cyrenaica and Egypt, but there, too, as
in Palestine, they continued to be engaged
primarily in guard duties. The Jewish soldiers
demanded to participate in the fighting and
the right to display the Jewish flag.
In a letter to Chaim
Weizmann in 1944, British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill stated that his government
was prepared “to discuss concrete
proposals” in the matter of the formation
of a Jewish Fighting Force. While Jews
were dispersed throughout the British army,
the Jewish Agency wished to concentrate
them into one unit, flying the Jewish national
flag.
Churchill was much more
receptive to the idea than his predecessor,
Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain disapproved
of an all-Jewish Brigade, fearing that it
would give more legitimacy to the Jewish
yearning for national independence. British
policy since the White
Paper of 1939 no longer favored partition,
and therefore symbols of Jewish independence
were not encouraged. As more and more information
came to light over the tragedy in Europe,
however, the British bowed to Zionist demands
for a Jewish military unit.
It was not until September
1944, after six years of prolonged negotiations,
that the British government agreed to the
establishment of a Jewish Brigade. It consisted
of Jewish infantry, artillery, and service
units. After a period of training in Egypt,
the Jewish Brigade Group — approximately
5,000 soldiers — took part in the final
battles of the war on the Italian front under
the command of the Canadian-born Jew, Brigadier
Ernest Benjamin. In May 1945, the Brigade
was moved to North East Italy where, for
the first time, it encountered survivors
of the Holocaust.
In the summer of 1946, the British authorities
decided to disband the Brigade.
Skills gained in the Jewish
Brigade and in the British army in general
was experience that would be put to use again
during Israel's War
of Independence. More than its military
value, however, the Jewish Brigade served
as a symbol of hope for renewed Jewish life
in Eretz Israel. The soldiers of the Jewish
Brigade met with survivors of the Holocaust in
Displaced Persons camps, bringing them Jewish
and Zionist culture. The Jewish Brigade was
also instrumental in bringing many of the
survivors to Palestine, by Bericha and “illegal
immigration.”
Sources: Joint
Authority for Jewish Zionist Education |