Jewish Brigade

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{{Infobox Military Unit |unit_name=Jewish Brigade |image=Image:Jewish Brigade insignia.gif |caption=Insignia of the Jewish Brigade |country=United Kingdom |allegiance= |type=Infantry |branch=Army |dates=1944-1946 |specialization= |command_structure= |size=5,000 volunteers |current_commander= |garrison= |ceremonial_chief= |nickname= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles= |notable_commanders=Ernest Benjamin |anniversaries= }} This article is about the Jewish Brigade of the British Army that fought in World War II against the Nazi Axis Powers. For other Jewish regiments, see Jewish legion (disambiguation).

Image:JB recruitment poster Salvation and Vengeance.gif Image:To-the-flag.jpg With the outbreak of World War II, a push began to set up a Jewish Brigade on the side of the Allies. The President of the World Zionist Organization Chaim Weizmann offered the British government full cooperation of the Jewish community in British Mandate of Palestine and tried to negotiate the establishment of identifiably Jewish fighting unit (under a Jewish flag) under the auspices of British Army. His request was rejected, but many Palestinian Jews joined the British army, some in Jewish companies. Fifteen Palestinian Jewish battalions were incorporated into the British Army in September 1940 and fought in Greece in 1941.

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 Jewish battalions and one Palestinian Arab battalion were formed. The Regiment fought in Egypt and in the battles of North Africa. British also wanted to undermine efforts of Hajj Amin al-Husayni who successfully drummed up Arab support of the Axis Powers against the Allies.

Image:JB HQ.jpg After early reports of the Nazi atrocities of the Holocaust were made public, 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).

Under 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.

In July 1945, the Brigade moved to Belgium and the Netherlands and the Jewish Brigade Group was disbanded in the summer of 1946.

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. Image:JB sleeve patch.jpg

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Partial list of notable veterans of the Jewish Brigade

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References

The Brigade by Howard Blum (HarperCollins Publishers, New York)
The Jewish Brigade: An Army With Two Masters, 1944-45 by Morris Beckman
In Our Own Hands: The Hidden Story of the Jewish Brigade in World War II (1998 video) Film resource center

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