For other Jewish regiments, see Jewish legion (disambiguation).
The Jewish Brigade was a fighting unit in the British Army composed of volunteers from the British Mandate of Palestine that fought in World War II on the side of the Allies against the Nazi Axis Powers.
Background
Despite the efforts by the British to enlist an equal number of Jews and Arabs into the Palestine Regiment, three times more Jews volunteered than Arabs. As a result, on August 6, 1942, three Palestinian Jew battalions and one Palestinian Arab battalion were formed. At this time, the Regiment was principally involved in guard duties in Egypt and North Africa. The British also wanted to undermine efforts of Hajj Amin al-Husayni who successfully drummed up Arab support of the Axis Powers against the Allies.
Palestine Regiment
After early reports of the Nazi atrocities of the Holocaust were made public by the Allied powers, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a personal telegram to the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting that "the Jews... of all races have the right to strike at the Germans as a recognizable body." The president replied five days later saying: "I perceive no objection..."
After much hesitation, on July 3, 1944, the British government consented to the establishment of a Jewish Brigade with hand-picked Jewish and also non-Jewish senior officers. On September 20, 1944, an official communique by the War Office announced the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army. The Zionist flag was officially approved as its standard. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine organized into three infantry battalions and several supporting units.
The contemporary newspapers dismissed it as a "token" (The New York Times on page 12) and "five years late" (The Manchester Guardian).
Formation of the Jewish BrigadeUnder the command of Brigadier Ernest Benjamin, the Jewish Brigade fought against the Germans in Italy from March 1945 until the end of the war in May 1945, then it was stationed in Tarvisio, near the border triangle of Italy, Yugoslavia, and Austria. There it played a key role in the Berihah's efforts to help Jews escape Europe for Palestine, a role many of its members would continue after the Brigade disbanded. Among its projects was the education and care of the Selvino children.
In July 1945, the Brigade moved to Belgium and the Netherlands. The Jewish Brigade Group was disbanded in the summer of 1946.
Battles and Berihah
Out of some 30,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine who served in the British Army during WWII, more than 700 were killed during active duty. Some of the Jewish Brigade members subsequently became key participants of the new State of Israel's Israel Defense Force.
Resources
Jewish Legion
Special Interrogation Group (SIG)
Complete Formula One results
Indices
Legend
Illustration to The Garden of Paradise
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