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Remembering Jewish Heroes from World War II

(Israel Hayom) Ran Puni - May 9, 80 years ago, was Victory Day over Nazi Germany. Dr. Tamar Katko serves as curator of the Jewish Fighter in World War II Museum in Latrun, which she helped found. One and a half million Jews fought in World War II. She tells some of their stories. Cpl. Sam Schwartz immigrated with his family from Hungary to the U.S. in 1939. When World War II broke out, friends from the neighborhood suggested he enlist with them. He served as a paratrooper and commander who carried out operations in enemy territory. He participated in battles in North Africa, the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, and in Germany. With his unit comrades, he rescued several Holocaust survivors at Dachau camp and brought them to the U.S. for treatment after the war. For his actions, he received dozens of medals for bravery, and he is buried with his wife in Jerusalem. Polina Gelman was accepted to a flight and navigation course and recruited to the women's regiment in the Soviet Red Army Air Force. In 1942, she began missions bombing German targets. She bombed force concentrations, fuel depots, anti-aircraft batteries, searchlights, bridges, vehicles, and caused significant damage to the Germans. She completed 857 missions, logged 1,300 flight hours, and dropped 113 tons of bombs, earning her the Hero of the Soviet Union award. At the outbreak of World War II, Lt.-Col. Mordechai Frizis commanded a Greek battalion against the Italian attack in northern Greece, on the Albanian front. On Dec. 4, 1940, in the Kalama sector, he managed to break the Italian attack and force the Italian troops to retreat, leaving behind hundreds of dead and about 700 prisoners. Some saw this as the first victory for the Allies in World War II. The next day, his unit was attacked by Italian aircraft and he was killed. He became one of Greece's national heroes, with his statue erected in the main square of his hometown. 25 streets in cities across Greece bear his name. The first 12 generals in the IDF were from the Jewish Brigade of the British army. Three IDF Chiefs of Staff came from the British Army, along with two presidents - Ezer Weizman and Chaim Herzog. Most of the commanders who shaped the IDF were World War II veterans. In World War II, 1,700 Jewish soldiers from mandatory Palestine who enlisted in the British Army were prisoners in Greece, in German captivity, where they were tortured and starved. Among them was Shimon Peres' father, Yitzhak Perski. The Jewish fighters in World War II "had an urge to prove that 'we are not like you think we are.'...This means that Jews showed they don't avoid danger, don't avoid responsibility, they're the first to charge, to take responsibility....Jews proved they would fulfill any mission as army soldiers."
2025-05-13 00:00:00
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