Trudy Gold
1945-1948 Heroes and Villains

Trudy Gold | 1945-1948 Heroes and Villains | 08.21.22

Visuals displayed throughout the presentation.

• Right, the title today is “Heroes and Villains, 1945 to 1948.” In many ways, these are the most traumatic years that the Jewish people faced. My last session, I talked a little about the impact of the Shoah. But I want to continue in that vein, because, of course, the impact of the Shoah, and then three years later, the establishment of the State of Israel. So I’m going to quote from some of my favourite authors, who I think are absolutely outstanding scholars. And the first quote actually comes from Isaiah Berlin, and he says this, “All Jews who are at all conscious of their identity of Jews are steeped in history. They have longer memories. They are aware of a longer continuity than any other which has survived.

The bonds that unite them have proved stronger than the weapons of their persecutors and detractors, and stronger than the persuasion of their own brothers, fellow Jews who argue that these bonds are not strong, that the Jews are united by no more than a common religion, or common suffering. That their differences are greater than their similarities. Therefore, a more enlightened way of life, liberal, rationalist, socialist, communist, will cause them to dissolve into their social and national environment.” Then he goes on to say, “If this were true, Israel would not have come into being. Historical consciousness amongst the Jews is very powerful”

Now, this is a quote from Abram Leon Sachar, who was a brilliant historian, and his great work on… his major work on the Jews actually finishes in 1939, and post-war, he wrote this, “Which of us could have conceived of the Europe steeped in the tradition of the enlightenment renaissance of classical liberalism, and public secular education was capable of methodologically destroying its entire Jewish communities? In one terrifying convulsion, world Jewry was deprived of a third of its population. The entire demographic structure of Jewish life was altered traumatically and irretrievably, more than at any time in its long and tragic history. Conversely, only a generation ago, the dream of a Jewish national home in Palestine was still equated with an autonomous enclave within the British system. Today, the garrison is gone, an Israeli army has taken its place, and the Star of David waves from the flag points.”

And now, I’m going to quote from the great Yehuda Bauer, “It seems to me that there was no Jew in the world who was not, in some degree, socially uneasy. I do not think there is a country where Jews feel totally secure. Israelis do not feel uneasy about themselves. They certainly face other problems, and very serious ones.” And this is Isaiah Berlin, “When I go to Israel, I don’t feel I’m in a foreign country. In Israel, I don’t particularly feel a Jew, but in England I do yet, I make remain totally loyal to Britain, to Oxford, to liberalism, and Israel.” And then, Berlin went on to say, “The purpose of Zionism is normalisation, the creation of conditions in which Jews can live in a nation. Now, back to Yehuda Bauer, I don’t want to stop the Jews living where they live if they do not mind being a minority. If you don’t want to belong to a minority, and you want a normal life, you can only fully attain it in a country whose culture is yours.”

And now I’m moving on to Tom Segev. “The most fateful,” and I think this is very important in terms of our talk. “The most fateful decisions in Israeli history other than the founding of the state itself, the mass immigration of the 1950’s, the Six-Day War, and Israel’s nuclear power project were all conceived in the shadow of the Holocaust. Just as the Holocaust imposed a posthumous collective identity on its 6 million victims, so too, it formed the collective identity of this new country, not just for the survivors, who came after the war, but for all Israelis then and now.”

Now, not long after the creation of the state, there was a debate between the President of the American Jewish Committee, and Ben-Gurion. What is Judaism, who is a Jew, to what extent is the state of Israel a Jewish state? Is the life of a Jew in Israel more complete than the life of a Jew in any other country? Ben-Gurion responded, he did not speak for Jews living in other countries, but he would not forego Israel’s claim to speak in the name of the Holocaust. He described the victims as people lost to the state of Israel. And he said this, “The Jewish state is the heir of the 6 million who were murdered, the only heir for these millions. If they had lived, the great majority of them would’ve come to Israel”

He described himself as a Jew, who has no concern for what the Gentiles say. He said, “I’m aware that there are differences of opinion amongst many American Jews, but it’s a question of 6 million who were murdered in Europe. They belong to the Jewish people. And there is such a thing as the Jewish people in the world.” And of course, as I discussed last week, last session with you, the whole issue of the impact of the Holocaust, I said, it’s almost too soon to evaluate. And it has permeated the non-Jewish world. And to quote the great lamented Rabbi Sacks on the subject of anti-Semitism, he said, “First they hated us for our religion, then they hated us for our nation, then they hated us for our race, and now they hate us for our nation.”

So with the great Jonathan Sackhs, despite the Shoah, where if you had a logical brain in your head, the notion of Jewish power, it should have died in the Shoah, but it didn’t. And it leads to the final comment that I want to make. The words of Howard Jacobson. He said, “The problem is today, they cannot forgive us the Holocaust.” So I want you to begin today in this kind of vein because the issues of ‘45 to '48 are still here. And, of course, one of the most problematic issues, which I alluded to last week, how do you look at the murder of a third of the Jews in the world? How do you actually apportion any kind of blame?

Well, we know the Nazis did it. We know their accomplices helped them. But to many of the Zionists in Palestine, Europe itself were either the collaborators and the bystanders. Because, as I pointed out, by December, 1942, there’s already a minute silence in the House of Commons, in the State Department, the nine governments in exile in London, the Russians, they knew something appalling was happening. And I spent quite a lot of time on this vein. But I want to put a proviso in this. I was speaking to a close girlfriend of mine this afternoon. She was in correspondence with, I think, an Israeli friend who was really putting a lot of blame on the British and the mandate.

Now, let me say very, very carefully, I think the British and Palestine have a lot to answer for, but they were not the Nazis. They didn’t put it all in action. And I’m just going to talk also about the issue of knowledge, because we know, when somebody says to you, “There’s massacre in Mariupol,” we know because we see it. Now, let me read from Bauer. Knowing usually comes in a number of stages. And, for me, he is the greatest historian of the Holocaust. “First, the information has to be disseminated, then it has to be believed. That is some connection has to be established between the new reality and a possible course of action. Finally, there comes an action if and when action came. And as far as the British are concerned, they were wary of the horror stories in World War I. And, it must be said, the priority always was Allied victory.”

And this is Clement Attlee, “The only real remedy for the consistent Nazi policy of racial and religious persecution lies in Allied victory. When the hour of liberation strikes, it will also be the hour of retribution.” And now, I’m going to quote from Lucy Dawidowicz, who wrote one of the first very important books on the Holocaust. “To remind ourselves of the important "elementary historical fallacy of hindsight, and to guard against the temptation to be influenced by what we now know concerning the ultimate fate of those unfortunate refugees excluded from asylum in Great Britain and the Empire including Palestine.”

So really, I began with quite a long introduction, because I felt very strongly that, and I’m not saying I agree with everything I’ve just read to you, I just wanted you to take on, and I’m sure many of you have spent a lot of time thinking about this, the actual issue of knowledge, and what is going to lead to the Jews in Palestine finally going to war with the British. So I have to go back to the Malcolm MacDonald White Paper of 1939. Can we see the first slide please, Judi? Yeah now, by 1939, the British realised that the, remember they control the whole of the Middle East, and they realised, oh, sorry, the French are involved as well, but they control Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Persia, they see it as part of their fiefdom. And they realise that the Arab leadership in Palestine is not going to renege on its threats.

The Mufti of Jerusalem had already informed the British, even though he’s not allowed into Palestine, he later on spends the war with Hitler. He was a total anti-Semite. Hitler told him about the final solution, he visited the camps, but he made it quite clear to the British, if they didn’t restrict Jewish immigration, he would act in a way that was a contrary to British interest. And if you recall, during the First World War, that’s exactly what the British had done against the Turks. They had persuaded the Arabs to revolt against the Turks. And, in fact, there’s a comment of Chamberlain. What did Chamberlain say? He basically said, the Jews are going to have no cause but to side with us, therefore it’s in our interest to back the Arabs.

And what it led to was the White Paper where, the White Paper on Palestine in May, 1939, when the persecutions in Europe were absolutely at their height. It’s not long before the invasion of Poland. He restricts immigration into Palestine, 15,000 a year for five years, and whoever has the majority will have the state. And what that meant would be another Arab-dominated state in the Middle East. It’s a total slap in the face to the issue of, and Ben-Gurion, of course, says “We will fight the White Paper as if there’s no Hitler, and we’ll fight Hitler as if there is no White Paper.”

When war breaks out in May, 1939, in fact, the whole of the issue of, including the Haganah and the Irgun volunteer for the British Army, very few of them are let in. It’s not until, it’s really not until 1944 when the Jewish Brigade is founded that you see over 20,000 Jews fighting for the British. A small breakaway group from the Irgun led by Avraham Stern, later called Lehi. They said the British were as bad as the Nazis, and they continued the fight against the British. So war breaks out, the British have restricted the White Paper, and it has to be said that during the war, boats bringing refugees, many of them were turned back, some of them were sunk, and it’s a terrible, terrible indictment.

Josiah Wedgewood, he actually said in parliament, you’re behaving, you know, the British government is behaving like Hitler. So much knowledge is coming through that, finally, can we see the next slide, Judi? Yeah, finally, in May 1942, 600 delegates and Zionist leaders from 18 countries meet in the Biltmore Hotel in America. And it becomes the official stand on the ultimate aim of Zionism. Essential, they said, was the immigration of 2 million additional Jews to Palestine. And in 1944, the one million Plan became the official policy of Zionism. It was prompted, of course, by the opposition to the White Paper, and to quote the British community, “The Jewish community has been reduced to a permanent minority status.”

And also the realisation that it was American Jewry would play the large part in America in the destiny of Zionism after the war. And, as I’m sure most of you know, the Haganah and the Irgun had their agents all over America. And the Irgun in particular, Peter Bergson’s group, he did incredible work in Hollywood. He recruited Ben Hecht, and they were staging pageants all over America, sort of making the American public understand what was going on in the war. Weizmann wanted to hold back a little. He said, “You’re being too unequivocal.” Weizmann still believe it believed in the honour of Britain. And in fact, Henrietta Szold and Judah Magnes, they also felt that they’re going too far to call for statehood now, but they do.

And the last line of the Biltmore Programme it’s, “The conference urges that the gates of Palestine be opened, and the Jewish agency be vetted with control of immigration into Palestine with the necessary authority for up building the country, including the development of its unoccupied and uncultivated land. And that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth integrated into the structure of the new democratic world.” And this is how it finishes, “Then and only then will the age old wrong to the Jewish people be granted.” And, of course, this is against the backdrop of the ships being turned back. The most appalling situation.

Now, just to give you a notion of the extent of the horror and the tragedy. In May 1943, you know, it’s Pesach time. In April 1943 on air of Pesach, there was of course the incredible Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. One of the leaders of Warsaw Jewry, a man called Szmul Zygielbojm, whose family were in the Warsaw ghetto. He came to London, he was one of the two Jewish members of the Polish government in exile. And because nobody was taking a stand on what was going on, he decided to commit suicide.

And he left a letter, and this is what he said, “Out of nearly 350,000 Polish Jews and about 700,000 Jews deported to Poland, about 300,000 have been murdered, and the murders are still going on incessantly. I cannot be silent and I cannot live by the remnants of the Jewish people of Poland of whom I am a representative are perishing. My comrades in the Warsaw ghetto perished with weapons in their hands, it was their last heroic impulse,” and he commits suicide.

And also, it’s important that you know that the Zionist leadership themselves, be it Ben-Gurion, or Begin who, in 1944, took over the Irgun, Ben-Gurion made a very important speech on November, can we go onto the next slide, please, Judi? That’s, of course, the great Szmul Zygielbojm. And can we go onto the next slide, please? David Ben-Gurion, and he talks about what’s going on in Europe and he says, “We do do not know exactly what goes on in the Nazi Valley of Death, or how many Jews have already been slaughtered, murdered, burned alive, and how many are doomed to annihilation.”

But he talks about, “Europe is now a vast Jewish cemetery in which the bones of our people are scattered. "And our bleeding nation caused the conscious of humanity to trial before the judgement of history. We demand the right to a homeland and independence. Let us tell our dear brothers, martyred and tortured in the Nazi ghetto, Your tragedy is our tragedy, your blood is our blood. We shall have no rest until we redeem you both from the Nazi hell and from debilitating exile, and bring you to the land.” And, of course, by the beginning of the spring of 1944, the Irgun decide to rejoin the war against the British.

And this is the extraordinary note written by Begin, “What we want, the establishment of Hebrew government and the implement,” Can we go onto the next slide please, Judi? Here you have Begin, “The establishment… The establishment of the Hebrew government and the implementation of its plans. That is the sole way of rescuing our people. Salvaging our existence and our honour. We will follow this path, there is no other. We will fight, every Jew in our homeland will fight. Our fighting youth will not be deterred. May God be with us and aid us.”

So the situation in Palestine comes to the boil. And it culminates with the Lehi deciding, can we see the next slide, Judi? Thank you, deciding to assassinate Lord Moyne, who was the most important British figure, he was in charge of the Hall of the Middle East, and British policy in Persia and in Africa, which meant he was also in charge of Egypt. He was actually resident in Cairo. And what happens is in November 1944, two members of the Lehi attack and shoot him and his driver. Now it’s a very, very controversial assassination, the assassination of Lord Moyne. He was a very much part of the English aristocracy. He was a very close friend of Winston Churchill. He’d been an officer in the Boer War, of course, he was an aristocrat. He came from the Guinness family, an incredibly wealthy family.

And those of you who live in London, his father had given Kenwood House and the great art collection there to the people of London. He’s a great yachtsman. He was in the Boer War. He bought back the first living Komodo dragon. He wrote books on culture, all the cultures he’d encountered on his boating trips around the Pacific, in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic. He was a real British hero. Now, as far as the Zionists were concerned, he had a very bad record, I’m giving you a few quotes. This is way back in 24th of December 1941.

And it’s about, tragically, one of the boats that had sunk. “The landing of 700 more immigrants will be formidable additions to the difficulties of the high commissioner. It will have a deplorable effect throughout the Balkans in encouraging further Jews to embark.” February the 7th, “Any relaxation of our deterrent measures is likely to encourage further shipments.” 5th of March, “All practical steps should be taken to discourage illegal immigration.”

Now, he’s not alone, this is Lord Cranborne, who is Secretary of State for the colonies after the sinking of the Struma. The Struma was a refugee ship that sunk just outside Turkish waters. We now know that it was actually torpedoed by the Russians. But I remember one of the most peculiar incidents in my life because I was part of the IHRA ITF. So I worked for the British government. And I had a phone call from somebody at the Foreign Office saying, “Do we have to apologise for the Struma madness?” Anyway, this is what Lord Cranborne said, “Under the present unhappy situation in the world, it’s inevitable that we should be hardened to horrors.”

And again, you have the great Josiah Wedgewood, who was a very close friend of Jabotinsky’s. He said, “This is conduct worthy of Hitler. "Conduct worthy of the Middle Ages carried out by the British government.” So the point is, Lord Moyne is already, as far as the Zionists concerned, persona non grata. And then we come to a very, very murky affair. The Kasztner affair that I’ve covered with you in a lot of detail. If you remember Himmler through Eichmann, made this very strange offer, the Blood for Goods Deal. Joel Brand went off to relay the order to the British government. He was imprisoned by the British. And according to Brand, Lord Moyne, he met Lord Moyne who said, “What should I do with a million Jews?”

Now, the point was that it wasn’t Lord Moyne. We now know who it always was, but he was seen as an arabist. And anyway, the Lehi wanted to assassinate the highest ranking officer they could find. And, consequently, that is what they did. Now, it completely shattered Churchill. Churchill had been very pro-Zionist, and this was his comment. Remember this is one of his closest friends, and this is what he said, “If our dreams for Zionism were to end in the smoke of an assassin’s pistol, there is now a new set of gangsters worthy of the Nazis. I can assure the House that the Jews of Palestine "have rarely lost a better or more informed friend.”

And it’s interesting, you know, because Churchill, he was in power at the end of the war. He didn’t see Weizmann, his son, Randolph, who was a great Zionist, said that Weizmann wanted to see him, and Randolph said, “My father’s too old and he’s too tired.” But, of course, what happens? Can we go to the next slide please? Yeah, because what happens is there’s a change of government in England. Churchill, the great warhorse that had saved a nation. Think of the victory days. Ben-Gurion was actually in London and he said, “How can I scream for joy?” But the Labour Party is now elected into power. And it had a record of sympathy for the Zionists. Begin was already very cynical about it, but they decided the whole of the Yishuv decided to stop any activities that would upset the British to see what the Labour Party would do. And, of course, Bevin, can we see his face please? Right, there you have Bevin.

Now Bevin, the new colonial secretary, all major decisions on Arab anti-Zionism are coming from Cairo. The League of Arab states had coming to being with headquarters in Egypt. And even though the Mufti had spent the war with Hitler, the French let him out, he escaped. And the new colonial secretary relied very heavily on advisors, people like Harold Beeley, like Arnold Toynbee, likes of Frank Roberts, and whose secretary, by the way, was Christopher Mayhew. And despite the Arab access, it was considered policy, British policy to cultivate Arab goodwill.

So, it’s at this stage that Bevin says that he is not going to alter the white paper. You’ve got to remember the situation, you know, the shock of the Shoah. And now Bevin is not going to open the gates of Palestine to the survivors. And when I look at the times of Albert Coman, I’ve going to, which I will be doing in my next session, I’m going to talk far more about the Bricha Movement and how they’re moving, and I mentioned it last time, they’re moving of the refugees from the DP, from Poland and Eastern Europe into the DP camps, particularly in, into the American zone. Now this is what he said. “If the Jews with all their sufferings want to get too much to the head of the queue, you have the danger of another anti-Semitic reaction through it all.”

Can you imagine how that went down amongst Jews in England and Jews in Palestine? June 46 at the Labour Party conference, the US favours admission of Jews into Palestine because they don’t want too many in New York. And this is Begin’s comment. “This is the whole issue of how you resolve the problem of displaced persons. One cannot say that those who shaped British policy at the time did not want to save Jews. You’d be more correct to say that they wanted Jews not to be saved. The average Englishman was probably as indifferent to Jewish life as any other non-Jew in the world.” See the cynicism of it all?

But those who ruled Palestine and the Middle East were not in the least indifferent. They were highly interested in achieving the maximum reduction in the number of Jews liable to seek entry into the land of Israel. And this is the head of the Palestine committee. He did not accept the view that the European problem of Jews is less treatable than it was before the German persecution. He’s speaking about absolutely extraordinary. Now, meanwhile, what’s going on in the DP camps, can we go to the next slide please, Judi? Yeah. Okay, leave it there.

In the DP camps, it was absolutely extraordinary because having mentioned the comment of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch what is the first comment? They didn’t feel anything. But gradually who went into the camps? Who went into help? When Ben-Gurion visited the camps, the Bricha movement is funnelling them in, but all sorts of Zionist organisations. And they found, and being Jews, just think of the Isle of Man, they founded all sorts of committees within the counts. They actually were going to have elections to the world Jewish congresses in bar in 1946, representatives from the DP camps sent representatives to the Conference. They were granted quasi government responsibilities by America.

As I said to you, they’re being funded, they’re being funnelled into the American zone. America is the new hope of Zionism. 600 teachers went into work with them in the camps. 600 schools were set up for the 12,000 children. Tens of thousands of adults attending classes in the People’s University as it was called, you know, studying Jewish history, studying the, studying the story of Palestine, studying Zionism, and they had their own newspaper resurrection. Now these are Holocaust survivors in DP camps being helped by Zionists. And of course the Jewish brigade, which I mentioned last time, was very active.

Can you imagine the impact of these bronzed Palestinian Jews who’ve been fighting? They were in their army uniform. They were fighting under the yellow star of David actually going into the camps. These young bronze gods, they must have appeared and really, really saying to these people, this is your country too. And of course the partisans are going to be involved in the Great R movement. And this is a quote from their own newspaper. “How few we are, dispersed and separated during those terrible years. We have learned one thing, tenacity. And we shall once again revive and cement. And with all our physical and spiritual power, we rebuild our lives and the world anew. We came in an ark that has floated to the top of Mount Ararat on a flood of blood. And we, and we the last to drag ourselves out alive. Or are there others who are await our sign, like the biblical Noah, we are sending the first of.”

Now, it’s at this stage that politics intervene because after Bevin refuses to open the gates to Palestine, all of the Zionist organisations come together and they create the United Hebrew defence. And they begin attacking British targets in Palestine. And also we see the running of the ships into Palestine, over 70,000 DPs. And I mentioned this when I talked about the Exodus are going to run the gauntlet into Palestine. And also, after the Shoah it has to be said there was sympathy with the Jews of Palestine. Now what about America? Harry Truman, the new president, faced with all the problems of the Cold War. There was one man who had total access to him, and that was his old business partner who was a Jew. Weisman got to him.

Weisman although he’d lost power really, because he’d taken such a pro British stand. He still was a formidable statesman and he was still very useful. And he managed to get to Truman and begged him to put pressure on the British to open the gates of Palestine. Now why would America do this? And again, you have to look at the various sources. Was it that there was sympathy? During the war, America had been the only country to set up the war refugee board, but a thousand of them went there. In the end, when you’re talking about heroes and villains, I can talk about individual heroes. I cannot talk about heroic governments, perhaps Denmark, but basically the Americans, they didn’t want a refugee problem. And there is one body of thought that said Truman did it because of sympathy.

Don’t forget that American soldiers were liberating the camps. Certainly it had a huge impact on Eisenhower. The Americans made sure that important American figures visited the camps. Even the Hollywood moguls were sent over there, which was fascinating because it didn’t seem to impinge on their consciousness of a, as Americans. So, did, was Bevin right? Was the last thing that America wanted, or the American government wanted, a hundred thousand Jews in New York? And also American Jewry had found its voice. The American Jewish Co, the American Jewish Congress, really the lobby was very active now, and there were marches through the streets of Washington, aren’t 6 million Jews enough?

Condemning the British government’s policy. Think of the running of the ships. And it’s at this stage that the Americans decide to set up the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry. Now, Britain was in a very, very bad situation. The man behind it was Earl Harrison. He was a US academic, a lawyer. He was really one of the good, he really was one of the good guys. Truman had already asked him to inspect the DP camps and to produce his report. And his report harshly criticised American and British treatment of DPs. And he recommended resettlement in Palestine and America. And it was because of him that the Americans moved very quickly to create separate camps for Jewish DPs.

Can you imagine, some camps, there were Jews and ex Nazis who were hiding just as ordinary German, all sorts of strange things happening. He, so he sets up special camps just for Jewish DPs. He improved the Russians and also and medical treatment and handed much of it over to the incredible joint. So he himself felt very strongly that the British should open the gates of Palestine. And what happens is the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry, if you want to read more about it, and Bartley Crum, who was one of the delegates, he wrote a book called “Behind the Silken Curtain”. It was led by a Texas judge called Judge Acheson. And also Richard Crossman was the British delegate, one of the British delegates. And in the end, they reported back that Palestine should be open to a 100,000 Jews immediately. And just take this situation, America, Britain was bankrupt, Britain’s up to its eyes in debt. The situation in Britain is becoming darker and darker. Bevin said, “There are 90 million Muslims in India I cannot offend.”

He had to agree to the Anglo-American Commission. And remember back in February 44, the congress, the American Congress had said Palestine should be open to Jewish immigration. And this is the quote from Congress so that the Jewish people may ultimately recon reconstitute Palestine as a free and democratic state anyway. Not only did they say a hundred thousand Jews should be allowed into Palestine, but there should be the prohibition against Jewish land purchase be abolished. They wanted a complete annulment of the white paper and the Jewish national endeavour be allowed to develop. And Britain, but Britain said, “We will not take one step until all illegal arms be surrendered.”

Now the joint Hebrew resistance comes, comes to, has already come together. There was a time during that that they kept quiet, but that’s when it all really erupts. You have attacks and I’m not going to, you see, it depends entirely what side of the fence you’re on. The ig, they were working together. Remember you have this brief period when all the groups are working together. Not big, pardon? Not the lucky, but the I and the Haganah. The Haganahs, by far the biggest group. They blew up all the, Haganah blew up all the, they blew up the pipeline through Haifa. They blew up the bridges that connected Palestine to the surrounding or the surrounding countries.

Remember, Britain’s got a huge garrison in Palestine at a time when the British Empire is crumbling. There are many, many attacks and it culminates, of course in the King David Hotel. Can we see the next slide, Judi? Yeah. In July, back in May 19, I should mention actually back in May, 1947, no, sorry, let’s talk about the King David Hotel first. What happens is the King David Hotel, which I’m sure so many of you know, and you also know about this terrible incident. The King David Hotel was the military wing of the British in Palestine. And I’m going to stress that begging and, but it was a begging operation. But Bangor knew about it is under the auspices of the, of the Hebrew joint resistance.

According to the ea gun, they gave war, the, what they did was they put, they put explosives in milk churns under the hotel. They gave a warning, they gave a warning to the King David Hotel itself, to the British there. They also phoned the French Embassy. And according to the British, they never received the warning. I actually, having read much about this, I do believe, I do believe that the warning was given. But what happens is the, for whatever reason, the British didn’t act on it, or maybe there wasn’t enough time, but 91 people died. It absolutely stunned the world. And it was now, and it is at this stage that Ben-Gurion distances himself from the Irgun. And you begin to see different tactics.

The Irgun are going ahead and the Lechi are going ahead with trying to bomb the British out of Palestine. And they’re also taking, they are taking the situation to other countries. They blew up the British Embassy in Rome. There are also, there are even an attempt to try and blow up the foreign office. And it’s another presentation for another time. It became very uncomfortable for Jews living in England. And then in May 19, and then in May 19th, 1947, the Acre Jail was attacked and the prisoners were all released. Three of the participants were arrested. They were, and the British said that they were going to hang them. They were already hanging what they, those who they called terrorists.

Later on, they are all considered heroes of Israel. I mean, for example, the two men who carried out the murder of Lord Moyne were given a state burial because their bodies were referred, were returned by Egypt under a prisoner exchange. And they were given a state burial. And this was in the period of the labour government. So it’s important to remember who’s a hero, who’s a villain. Anyway, the Brit, so Begin said that, that you have no right to execute our people. And he captures two British sergeants. The British say, “We don’t give into terror.” And the next day the bodies of the two sergeants are found in a eucalyptus grove in Nataliia.

Now, you can just imagine how high temperatures are running both in London and in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Haganah are doing everything to run the illegal ships to Palestine. So are the Irgun by the way. Over 70,000 people are brought in, 50,000 of them are sent to Cyprus. That island with a ironically had been given to the British in 1878, present to Benjamin Israeli. The British, and it culminates of course in the Exodus, that is the largest ship, four and a half thousand survivors on board. And to punish them, Bevin doesn’t send them back to the, he doesn’t send them to Cyprus. He sends them back to Germany. And you can just imagine the image, think cinema, the image of Holocaust survivors being put behind bars by the British.

The British have another go. The Morrison Grady plan to try and have one more attempt at sorting out the problem. A new partition plan, 43% should be British, 40% Arab, 17% for the Jews and it should be ruled by a high commissioner. But by this time, all faith in Britain has gone as far as the Jews are concerned. And frankly, as far as the Americans have, were concerned they’ve missed the boat. And the other points is that the members of the Yishuv, some of them were absolutely brilliant diplomats. Golder had raised, I mentioned this in a previous presentation. Golder had managed to raise $50 million in a fundraising tour of America.

Basically, our message was simple. You stood by why we, you stood by while 6 million died. Very unfair. But just imagine the emotion. If you don’t help us, there are 600,000 of us in Palestine and we are going to die. And they bled and they bled and they bled and they gave and gave and gave. And that of course allowed arms to be built, bought. And there were so many entrepreneurs in Europe, you just think it’s the end of the war. There are weapons, the world is awash with weapons. Czechoslovakia was actually supplying the Haganah with arms through all sorts of fronts because of course it was illegal to supply a non-government, but it was also all sorts of arms dealers.

And there were a few Jews in very interesting positions who were doing everything they could to help supply the embryonic fighting force that, because now the decision was we’ve got to go for statehood, but we are try and do it legally. And this was the tension now between the Irgun and the Haganah, which of course exploded into Israeli politics, correlated in the affair and really hasn’t gone away. It’s about the soul of the Jew. What side of the fence are you on? The Irgun to this day say they bombed the British out of Palestine. The Haganah and the Yishuv said, we did it through diplomacy. We did it through bringing people in. Where is the truth? It’s somewhere in the middle, but then we’ve always been a quarrelsome, stubborn, stiff-necked people. But the point is, it’s at this stage that pressure is put on the British and the decision is made.

The British have really, they’ve made such a terrible mess. Let’s hand the situation over to the United Nations and the United Nations set up Unstop. Can we see the next slide please, Judi? There’s the slide of the Acre break, the prison break. And interesting, those of you who see the seen the film “Exodus”, they used a lot of the images in the actual, so you would see that reproduced in the film. Can we go on one more Judi please? Yeah. There you have the terrible affair of the Sergeants. Ironically, one of them was half Jewish. And his sister gives this heart rendering plea for her, for her brother’s life to be saved. This is really the low point in relations between Britain and the Jews of Palestine.

And as I said, it was very, very uncomfortable for Jews in Palestine. I remember when I taught, I began teaching, remember in the late '70’s, early '80’s. And I heard many stories from students, adult students, obviously on the, on the kind of issue that they were facing. You can imagine what was going on in the British press. And at another stage we will look at all of this and can we go on one more please, Jude? There you see the ship, the Exodus. That is the original Exodus. And it had such an incredible PR issue.

Let’s hold it on the Exodus because UNSCOP creates a special commission. Just so you’ve had the Anglo-American Commission, UNSCOP, the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine. They sent a dozen members of countries, representatives of countries like Canada, a couple of the South American countries, Sweden, to investigate. They were charged with talking to Jews, talking to Arabs, and to come back with some sort of plan. The Jews managed to make them understand that the Jews in the DP camps were also to be investigated because they are also interested in the fate of the Jews of Palestine.

Would it lead to a Jewish state? And some of the representatives who were actually on the dock when the Exodus landed, two people were shot, survivors were running against the British, the women were attacking them with knitting needles. And one of them said, you know, this has got to end now. It’s referred to the United Nations. So can we go to the next scene please? Now it should be stated that even though the Mufti had spent the war with Hitler, he was still officially in charge of the Arabs of Palestine. The other problem was that the Arab surrounding Israel, Palestine were all completely disunited.

You had Farouk I, Egypt, you had Abdullah in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, in Saudi, you had the dynasty that had destroyed Abdullah’s dynasty. Remember Abdullah’s brother had been king of Iraq. So they all hated each other. And it was actually, and I’ll talk about this in another presentation. Abdullah actually tried to make a deal with the Jews, which is fascinating, and he was assassinated for it in 1953, 52, 53, when he went to pray in Jerusalem. So in the end, the United, United Nations partition of Palestine, and what you see happening, that is the plan, they will separate Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The yellow area is to be the Jewish, let me, sorry, the brown area is the Jewish state. The yellow area is the Arab state.

And you can see, unless there’s peace, it’s absolutely unworkable. And it’s at this stage that the vote was 33 in favour, 11 against and 13 abstentions. Of course the British abstained. And it was a very, very dark moment when evidently Ashton faced the British delegate, said his Majesty’s government has decided, will abstain. And it was also fascinating because America and Russia voted together on the motion, which meant that the whole communist block came in and the country where they got the majority, they needed a two-thirds majority was Poland. You know, talk about the debt of history.

So let’s go back to my original premise. Who were the heroes? Who were the villains? Well, I think the heroes were the rescuers. People like the joint and the incredible work they did, the Jewish brigade, the DPs themselves, the American pilots who ran it was mainly the American Navy, naval pilots who 22 of them went over there to run the, the ships, the Haganah, the Irgun, it all depends what side you are on, but they all had one aim. And that was to create a Jewish state and a Jewish state now. And ironically, as I said to you right at the beginning of this presentation, how, what is the impact of the Shoah and the establishment of Israel on the Jewish world? And I said to you, and I’m going to stand by it, I still think it’s too soon to evaluate.

Last year the largest number of Jews in the world now live in the Jewish state. The second largest proportion, of course is in America. And it’s, isn’t it interesting that Israel is the one state where there are certain countries who still do not recognise her right to exist? So I think I’ll stop there. Judi, thank you so much for helping me. And shall we have a look at the questions? I’ve tried to hold an even path, if that’s ever possible. So let me have a look at the questions.

Q&A and Comments

Q: Victoria, have I been to the Czecko-Slav club in West End Lane? A: Yes, I have.

Jack wants me to comment on the activities on the Temple Mount. I don’t know, I don’t know what period you are talking about, Jack. Can we get the quotes from Yehuda Bauer, Ben-Gurion, et cetera online? I will sort that out.

Q: David, what was the experience of British Jews between '45 and '48 with respect to the British occupation? A: It was very, very difficult. When the sergeants were hanged, it was, there were riots in Liverpool. There were, and the, the press became very, the press you can imagine, it was incredibly hostile. And there were, look, the Irgun tried to block the foreign office. There were attacks all over Europe. They were fighting for a Jewish state. As far as they were concerned, the British were the villains. That’s why right at the beginning I said yes, there’s absolutely no doubt that the, the look, I’m going to say it. Bevin was an anti-Semite and his, many of his advisors were, I had the misfortune of meeting Christopher Mayhew. They were anti-Semites. You know, you can cross a line. You might not want, you might believe it’s in your interest to support the Arabs in Palestine, because after all, there’s that three letter word, oil. On the other hand, to show inhumanity as they did to survivors. But be very careful, you cannot blame the British for the Shoah. That was the Nazis and their collaborators. So I will be doing a whole presentation on that because I’ve, I made a study of the British press at the time, and it’s absolutely fascinating.

Esther, believed that the UK miscalculated and believed the Jews in Israel will ask them to come back. Yes, that was a pretty bad miscalculation. It was actually the United Nations. The British believed that the UN wouldn’t want to touch it and they would actually say, come give it back to the British. Michael.

Q: Was the Shoah an anomaly or instead, was it not really a continuation of Jewish history during much of the time after Rome captured Judea and Jews were exiled? A: That is a very profound question, Michael, and it really depends where you stand. I talked about this last time, remember the Ultra-Orthodox who lost more than any, any other group in percentages. They, of course, they commemorate on Tisha B'Av. They see it as a continuum of a history. I think that’s a PhD thesis, Michael.

This is Gita. Anti-Zionism is the get out free card for anti-Semites from Jacobson’s memoir “Mother’s Boy”. Yes. He’s a totally wonderful writer. You didn’t mention that the ships that were turned back were turned back by the British. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that quite clear. Yes, of course. They were turned back by the British, the British wouldn’t allow them into Palestinian waters.

Q: Is it too convenient to blame the British for everything that happened to European Jew? A: Yes, and it’s also wrong. It’s wrong. The British were not the Nazis, very important. Hitler put it in motion. One of the issues of Israel is that faced with the murder of a third of all people, because they were Jews, “Birth was sentence of death,” to quote Yehuda Bauer. It psychologically, the impact was absolutely appalling. And I agree with you. You cannot blame the British for the Shoah. You can blame them for their policy in Palestine if you choose to. And I think most of us online will. The British had 50,000 soldiers in India to rule 700 million in India. By contrast, there were a 100,000 British soldiers in Palestine control a few hundred thousand Jews. Isn’t it fascinating, you know, if you think about it, the militant Jews, it’s the debate. I would question whether there were ever a 100,000 troops. I’m not sure that that figure is right. I have it somewhere. I haven’t got it to hand. I think no, certain more were sent because of the troubles, Michael. But let, let’s look at that number very, very carefully. I know it was over 50,000. I know that.

Yes, Lord Moyne was Clementine Churchill’s cousin. Yes, of course. They were incredibly close. And don’t forget that Lord Moyne’s daughter-in-law was Diana Mosley. Lord Moyne’s son had married Diana Mitford and she divorced him to marry Oswald Mosley. Lord Moyne did everything to, to have her interned by the way. You see, the point about Lord Moyne, he might have been an anti-Zionist, although according to Churchill, he was changing his mind. That by '44, the British government were thinking about a state, a Jewish state in Palestine. And Lord Moyne was a great British hero. Just think about it. He’s a daredevil. He is, he’s the, you know, the family estate is given to the British nation. He’s a great soldier. He’s also a politician. He’s on the London County Council. He’d given his house when war broke out, and when the Nazis invaded Poland, he gave his his stately home to Polish refugees. He was really seen as one of the good guys and a very close friend of Winston Churchill. So his death, and I think he, I think Martin Gilbert doesn’t take this view, but I really believe that’s what completely turned Churchill against Zionism. Not against Zionism, but he became very disillusioned.

This is from Michael. My late father served with the first Canadian division who were co defending the south coast of England in the summer of 1940 after the fall of France. The British Canadian defences were extremely thin. My dad told me that the Germans invaded, it was very unlikely the German invasion of Britain could be stopped. If it hadn’t been for the RAF winning the war, it is most unlikely that Britain could avoid invasion occupation. Yeah, it’s very important. I mean, my father, who was in the British Army for 16 years, had a very unusual career for a Jewish boy. Or maybe I shouldn’t say that. He, he said, look, they saved us. And I think Anglo Jewry have got to remember that. If they crossed the channel, we would’ve gone exactly the same way as European Jewry. It happened on the Channel Islands. And we already know from the Wannsee document and that the lists were drawn up and Eichmann had a list of the 2,000 most prominent Jews. So we’ve got to be careful here. Yeah.

And the British, look, the British stood alone in 1939, till 19, just think about it, till 1941, from September '39 till the summer of '41, and then to December '41, until the Americans came in. If it hadn’t been for Pearl Harbour, would Roosevelt have been able to get America into the war? So I think, you know, it’s all about balance. Who were the heroes? Who were the villains? You see, I still think of Churchill as a hero. He had his shoes with Jews at times, but I still think of him as the man who saved Britain.

Surely Churchill condoned Lord Moyne’s attitude towards immigration. Look, it’s very complicated, that particular thing. I have done a presentation on Churchill. I think I better do one again, rather not give you a glib answer, Joel. He actually didn’t, but he didn’t follow things up. So did that make him, I’m not going to use the word complicit about Churchill. He did give the order to bomb the camps. Martin Gilbert found it, but the order was never carried out. Although Bomber Command said they never received it. More work to be done on that.

When I, this is from Judith. When I started teaching English in Manchester in the '70’s, a colleague told me my father was in the British Army in Palestine. It’s a shame she didn’t make lampshades about all of you lot. I was too stunned to reply. She was my friend. And Joan said, I guess she wasn’t. Yeah. I mean, blood was running very high. A lot of British soldiers were killed. At the end, from a British point of view, there’s been a terrible war. Britain’s bankrupt. Remember as a child, I can remember all the prefabs. I can remember rationing. And now British soldiers are being blown up. Who are the heroes? Who are the villains?

Ernst Bevin was foreign secretary, not colonial secretary. I believe he was. I think it was a joint post, wasn’t it? I’ll check it. Thank you. I was told by a Holocaust survivor that Ben-Gurion visited. Yes, he did. Ben-Gurion asked everyone that they must demand to go to Palestine, even if they wanted to go elsewhere. Certainly you see the Zionists themselves believe that the only answer was Palestine. There are survivors who criticise the Zionists, by the way. You see, it’s such a dark story when a third of all people are are murdered. Who do you blame? Could the Zionists have done more to help? Huge question mark. I don’t know what they could have done. Because if ever there was an example of Jewish powerlessness, it was the Shoah. Could other countries have stopped it? That’s why do you think Israel is as it is? Why was it the socialist Ben-Gurion insisted that Israel go nuclear? Why? It’s the . has risen again. Why did Abba Kovner say we will never again go like sheep to the slaughter? They didn’t, by the way, and I’ll be talking about that when I give a presentation on Kovner who becomes Israel’s national poet.

This is from Karen. At the 16th anniversary of the Liberation of Bergen Belsen, I met a woman named Jacobson from Paris who began a kindergarten for new children born who were living as DPs. Yes. There are so many extraordinary stories. Thank you for that, Karen. When Rashida Tyre was elected to Congress, she wrapped herself in a Palestinian flag and accused American Jews of dual loyalty. What changes? Truman’s friend, Eddie Jacobson was very important in persuading his old pal to recognise the Jewish state. Truman waited all of 16 seconds after Ben-Gurion declared independence. Yes, Michael, that’s very important. But Russia, but he didn’t do anything else. He gave them recognition. Russia gave them both recognition and legal recognition. It’s interesting.

Michael, the number was, one, two, three, four, five. It was 10,000 in '47, not a hundred thousand which you first said, I think it went up to, I thought it went up to 50,000. Can we check that?

Q: What became of those involved at the King David Hotel? What do you mean? A: Well, 91% of them were killed. Begin hid. Look, they later on, after the criminal, some Irgun and some Lechi were executed by the British. Those who were caught were executed. Aram Stern was actually killed in police custody. They later became heroes of Israel. Begin hid. He was one of the most wanted men in Palestine. He was seen as a terrorist by the British.

In December, 1945, McDonald represented the US at the Anglo-American Committee to inspect the settlement of European Jews in Palestine. The final report caused for the immediate admission of Palestine of a hundred DP people. Yes, that’s right. Yes, I said that, Adrian. Yes, of course. That they said allow them in immediately. It was, of course, the British didn’t exactly reject it. What they said, Adrian, was, we won’t allow them in unless the Yishuv surrenders all its arms. In his diaries. This is an important point. Thank you. He wrote to his meeting. I had to tell myself that this was not Hitler seated before me. McDonald was appointed the first US ambassador to Israel, and he was a great friend of Israel. Yeah, I mean, as I said to you, there’s no doubt that Bevin crossed the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.

Ellen is saying, hi. Who sent Exodus back? The British, of course. In the photo I see about seven, ah, they were people who were being interviewed. They were being interviewed by the British. They interviewed Arab leaders. They interviewed Jewish by the, by the commission. Hello Judi.

Have you heard of Zalman Grinberg? A survivor of Dachau? He became the head of the central committee for liberated Jews in the American Zone. His work gave hope to survivors, and it was he who persuaded the allies to treat Jews as a separate group. Thank you very much for that information now. Sarah. Oh, hi Sarah. How are you? Truly, oh, she’s complimenting me. The interweaving of the quotes, the clarity of the presentation. Oh, thank you. It it, I cannot tell you how hard it is to give these presentations because they wrench the soul. They really do.

And Rose, I’m so sad at humanity. Thank you, Adrian. King Abdullah was assassinated in Jerusalem in '51. I hate making mistakes with dates. Oh my goodness.

Q: Can you suggest a book which is suitable for teenagers? A: You know, Etgar is an organisation in London that’s doing brilliant work on this and they have produced a book on Israel. It’s called Etgar. I will get the details for you. It’s run by Adam, it’s run by Adam Tabban, Joe Rosenfeld, and they go into schools. They’re very good.

Q: How did the DPs get to Palestine? A: Illegal boats in the end, and of course the camps were finally opened after, after the British left Palestine, they flooded into Palestine. There was a war. They had maybe a day’s training. Many of them were given guns.

Adrian’s complimenting me, and as he knows so much, he’s a guide. I tried very hard to keep the balance. Believe me. Joseph, Poland voted for partition because they wanted as many Jews as possible to kept away from their country. No, Joseph, not at this stage because who was controlling Palestine? The communists and Stalin gave the order that they voted as a block. The truth about Poland of course, is very, very complex. And just to give you a heads up, we are planning next. I’ve told you we’re already planning quite a lot, a long way ahead and after Pesach we will be looking at Eastern Europe in much detail going all the way back. Russia, Poland, 'cause I think it’s time. And then in, in August we’re going to Wendy’s going, want to look at South Africa, which is fascinating. Then we go on to France, but we will be doing far more political lectures in the evenings.

One of the pilots was in Miami at the showing of “Above and Beyond” Nancy Spielberg’s film about pilots who flew for Israel. Yes. You’ve got to remember a lot of Jews went to, who’d fought for the British or the free French or the Americans went to Palestine to fight. Another hero, Sam Rotberg, he set up gold tour. Yes. He was amazing Susan. Yes, he was a mentor of mine. Oh, you lucky woman. Oh, Marjorie, Jonathan Sack said “First they hated our religion, then they hated our race now and now they hate our nation.” Yes, thank you Jill. Also, of course a lot of South Africans went, sorry Al, I should not have left them out. And also the South Africans were allowed to send money to the new state of Israel, which was problematic for American Jews and British Jews.

This is from Alan, also one of the last South African pilots, Smokey Simon passed away a short while back. Cecil Margo, South Africa was chief of the IA of the Israeli Air Force for a while. Alan, I have news for you. Wendy is going to be giving a whole month on South Africa because it’s an extraordinary Jewry. A talk with you and Helen about the press about responsibility for the Shoah would be wonderful. Well, for Holocaust Memorial Day last year, you may remember I invited Howard Jacobson in, I think we should talk about it. But it’s very painful, you know?

And this is Barbara who’s making a comparison of the horrible fate of Ukrainians. But as Jews, what are we doing? Especially Israel, well, I know, and I hope she doesn’t mind me saying it, that Wendy Fisher is up to her neck with Israel aid in getting as me just as she was involved in Afghanistan. She’s getting as many of them out as possible. So my colleague, who I’m so proud of, who runs, who is our manufacturers, she I know what she’s up to.

A 100,000 British police and troops in Palestine is correct. Thank you Adrian. Adrian Wolf, the Royal Navy was more powerful than the Germans. A major factor of the German ability to invade Britain. Yes. Oh, please mention the instance of three ships that Eichmann sent. Look, I think we’re going to have to, Steven, it’s a very, it’s actually the, it’s the, it’s the trains and also of course the Marisha ships. Yeah. I must do a bit more research on that. Thank you. Yes, Steve. And this is very important area. Yeah, thank you for putting that. I’m putting that in my head. And also the Prime Minister who infamously declared Mummy’s two men. Yes. You are right. Yes. I must do more on that.

The United States refused permission to the RAF to bomb the camps. Yeah. The Americans themselves refused it. I know that. No, it wasn’t that. The RAF, evidently bomber command never received the order. 100,000 type. Roosevelt agree with truth. Henry, as you know, Roosevelt is very complicated on the Jews. I believe that William will be giving a lecture on Roosevelt. So many people are, or Susan, thank you. Lovely to hear from you Susan. I am coming down to Cornwell at Sun Stage.

Q: What was the relationship with the Christian Palestinians and the Jews during the mandate? A: Not too hot, but that’s a big question.

Hatzalah first field. Oh yes. And of course Hatzalah is doing an amazing job, first field hospital.

Anyway, thank you all very much. Judi, as ever, thank you for keeping me sane.

• [Judi] You’re welcome.

• So shall we, shall we say goodnight then?

• [Judi] Yes. Thank you everybody. And thank you Trudy.

• God bless, darling. Bye.

• Bye.