French Machal
Oath of allegiance to the Israel Defense Forces: October 1st, 1948 (aged 19). Army number: 59291. Army unit: Military Police.
My family emigrated from Poland to Palestine in 1923, and settled on Kibbutz Ein Harod in the Galilee. Fighting alongside Yosef Trumpeldor against the Arabs, my uncle was killed and was buried in the military cemetery at Tel-Hai. My oldest brother Jacques was born in Jaffa (Yafo) in 1925. Because of severe difficulties and disease, my family emigrated to France and settled in Paris. My brother Bernard was born in 1927, and I was born in 1929. My family managed to survive the Nazi occupation of France: Bernard was hidden on a farm where he worked, and I survived as a Protestant boy studying in a Roman Catholic college. Unbeknown to our parents, Bernard and I decided to volunteer to fight for Israel in its War of Independence in 1948.
My mother, in contrast to my father, had a deeply religious and Zionist faith in the coming of the Messiah and believed that the destiny of all Jews would bring them together in Israel. In 1947, representatives of the Jewish Agency recruited volunteers to defend the Yishuv in Palestine, and to fight against the opposition of the Arabs and the British to the creation of a Jewish State. Bernard had just graduated as a radio and television engineer, and he signed-up with the Haganah for military training; when I obtained my degree in mechanical engineering, I, too received Haganah training. In September 1948, I was a passenger on the Pan York which left Marseilles with many other Machal volunteers. I will never forget my emotions when the ship docked in Haifa: everything was totally Jewish, and I felt that this gave meaning to my Zionist education, and was the reason why I was here to join the army. Buses took us to Tel Litvinsky, where we received our army kit. I was given leave for two days. I wanted to join Bernard, who had been assigned to the Givati Brigade and was stationed in the south. We also wanted to meet with a cousin living in Yafo. I joined the military police, and then I learned that my brother had been killed on October 17th in a battle on Hill 113, near Negba, during Operation Yoav. I heard of Bernard’s death on October 20th. I wanted to join a combat unit fighting on the front lines, but I was kept in the military police. I worked on maintenance and repair of vehicles and I frequently went out on patrol in Yafo to check the identity papers of soldiers, as I was familiar with Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. I don’t believe that the Arabs were driven out of Yafo. They told me that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told them to leave, and that after the Arab victory they would return and kill the Jews and take possession of their property.
I was only able to visit my brother’s grave at Kfar Warburg and to shed my tears in 1949. I was demobilized in 1949, and decided to remain in Israel, and I was joined by my mother in 1952. From 1949 to 1955 I did my yearly reserve duty (miluim), and I served mainly on Israel’s northern borders.
In 1955 I returned to France. I have never forgotten the excitement and passion that I experienced when I first set foot in Israel. The sense of participating in such an historic event was tremendous. After the Holocaust, it was clear how necessary it was for the Jewish People to have a country after an exile of 2,000 years. Without the contribution of Machal to Israel’s victory, I doubt if Israel could have won the War of Independence.
And now, as the head of a very happy family, and when I look back at my past, I know that I did the right thing by coming to fight for Israel.
In 1996, I decided to create an Association of the French Volunteers who served in the War of Independence. Our Association has participated in the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the State of Israel. We have also compiled a book on French Machal which will serve as a testimony for future generations.
(La guerre d’independence d’Israel 1948-1949, Temoignages de volontaires francais et francophones: Editions Machal, Juillet, 2006)
Author: Maurice Fajerman