Joseph Trumpeldor ALL TOO 50011 .Lif WAS TO SET THE HEROIC EXAMPLE! IN 1920, HE WAS LIVING THE LIFE OF A PIONEER HALUTZ IN TEL HAI WHEN A HUGE ARAB FORCE TREACHEROUSLY ATTACKED THE LITTLE GALILEE SETTLEMENT... —Modern Israel's First Soldier By NORMAN NODEL Text By JOSEPH BENAMY HIS IMMORTAL WORDSIT IS GOOD TO DIE FOR OUR COUNTRY' NAVE TAKEN THEIR RIGHTnJt PLACE IN JEWISH LEGEND AND WILL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE GENERATIONS OF JEWS DETERMINED TO INSPIRED BY TRUMPLEDOR,TKE GALLANT DEFENDERS FOUGHT BACK MAGNIFICENTLY. OUT- NUMBERED BY MORE THAN 100 TO I , THEY REPELLED ATTACK AFTER ATTACK..., CREATE A FRU HOMELAND IN PALESTINE! ONE BY ONE THE HEROES FELL TRUMPLEDOR SWORE WITH THE SURVIVORS NEVER TO SURRENDER. MORTALLY WOUNDED, HE SHOUTED: 'WE SMALL NOT 8006E7_ AND THEY DIDN'T/ JOSEPH TRUMPLEDOR BECAME AN ARDENT ZIONIST AND WENT TO PALESTINE AS A • HALutz!.. (JOSEPH TRUMPLEDOR., THE SYMBOL OF MODERN JEWISH HEROISM,WAS BORN ' IN RUSSIA IN 1882.111S WAS A COMPLETELY RUSSUJIL2ED FAMILY AND WHEN NE VOLUN- TEERED COR THE RUSSO-JAP WAR, JOSEPH WAS A TOTAL STRANGER TO JEWISH LIFE AND JEWISH INTERESTS..< TAA •••■••■ O THE ANTI-JEWISH PREJUDICES HE FOUND IN THE ARMY AND ESPECIALLY,HIS HORROR OF THE KISHENEFF POGROM,AROUSED HIS JEWISH CONSCIOUSNESS AND PRIDE... Remarkable Story of Trumpeldor, Tel Hai Told in Freulich's Biography of the Hero A deeply moving story of the great hero of the early history of Zionist endeavors in Palestine and the heroism of one of Israel's out- standing pioneers is told in "The Hill of Life—The Story of Joseph Trumpeldor," by Roman Freulich, in collaboration with Joan Abram- son. It has just been published by Thomas Yoseloff. Appropriately, the biography of Trumpeldor commences with his experiences as a soldier in the army of the Russian Czar during the Russo-Japanese war in which he lost an arm and had displayed much bravery. Just as appropriate is the ac- count given of the experiences of Joseph's father, Zev, who served against his will in the Russian army for 25 years during the per- iod when children were captured for such services. Zev was a phar- macist. He was embittered but he dug to his Jewishness. Joseph, who earned his degree in law, soon dedicated himself to Zi- onism and went to live in Pales- lien, there to encounter the diffi- culties that faced the pioneers, the Arab attackers on Jewish settle- ments. His defense of Tel Hai— where a monument now honors his memory—his death in the battle for defense and for his people's national rejuvenation, is one of the epic stories in Zionism. * * * The story of his early life, as a yrisoner of the Japanese at Port Arthur, his organizational ability when he mobilized Jewish soldiers into a Jewish Prisoners' Organiza- tion and Mutual Aid Society. Joseph's father tried to discour- age his son from his desire to go to Palestine, to join in Jewish re- demption efforts, to become a farmer. Joseph had risen to the ranks of a commissioned officer in the Russian army—the first time a Jew had attained such "glory." In spite of his rating as a hero, he found it difficult as a Jew to enter the St. Petesburg University, but his superior officer, General Petru- sha yielded and his Jewishness was overlooked. In the process, how- ever, there was an unsuccessful ef- fort to get him to convert to Chris- tianity. But Joseph Trumpeldor had one ambition—to complete his studies and to leave for Eretz Is- rael. ■ * He began his Zionist organiza- tional work in the university, en- couraged solicitations for the Jew- ish National Fund, made lasting friendships, debated the Zionist idea with opponents, among them the revolutionary Peter Rutenberg who believed only in an emerging revolutionary socialism as a solu- tion to the sufferings of Jews and oppressions of all Russians. There was a love affair during his student days—with Ruth Saphir, daughter of one of the very wealthy Jews in Russia, but Joseph broke even that relationship out of his de- termination to abandon the law profession and to become a farmer in Eretz Israel. Ex-Luftwaffe Pilot Becomes a Jew (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) TEL AVIV — A former pilot in the Nazi Luftwaffe who had been "searching for identity" since the end of World War II converted to Judaism with the blessings of a Haifa rabbinical court Tuesday changed his name from Oscar Eid: er to Abraham Ben Abraham. He plans to marry an Israeli girl who had similar "identity" problems. Eider-Ben Abraham settled in 48 Friday, January 10, 1969 — Israel six years ago and became a farmer after wanderings that took him to Indonesia, India and some Arab countries. He requested conversion to Judaism at the time and was advised to apply again in three years. His application was approved by the rabbinical court Tuesday. His intended bride is a divorcee who went to India to find "new beliefs" but came back to Judaism. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Then began the Zionist experi- ence—in Migdal, in Dagania, en- countering all the difficulties under Turkish rule. Then came World War I, he met Vladimir Jabotin- sky, both labored together for the eventual formation of the Jewish Legion. He served in the Zion Mule Corps and became closely allied with the eminent Zionist friend, Colonel John Henry Patterson. * * * Freulich, who had written a his- tory of the Jewish Legion, goes into detail about the Patterson, Trum- peldor, Jabotinsky relationships and this portion of the story is part of a valuable history of early Zion- ist developments in Eretz Israel. It is a story of -struggle under the British, of the eventual emergence of the Jewish Legion, of Jabotin- sky's leadership and influence. While Trumpeldor, one armed but still a hero and a man of great determination, was fighting witb the Mule Corps at Galipoli, Jabotin- sky was organizing the Legion. The role of Peter (Pinhas) Rutenberg who later developed the electrical power plant in Palestine, emerges as part of this chapter in Zionist history. Rutenberg, who had be- lieved in Father Gapon, later to learn of the cleric's treason, had abandoned his anti-Zionism and joined with ,Trumpeldor in affirm- ing that the only place for a Jew who suffered persecution in Russia was in Bretz Israel. - - The description of the battle of Tel Hai, during which Trumpeldor lost his life, is graphically de- scribed. It was a time when "a few Jewish settlers stood between the Arabs and full control of Gali- lee." The Jewish settlers, suffer- ing the tragic losses, temporarily abandoned their colony, went to Kfar Gilado, with Trumpeldor on a stretcher, soon nearing his end. Jabotinsky, when he was impris- oned by the British some time later, wrote a poem in tribute to Trumpeldor and it is quoted in this volume of tribute to a great hero. In "The Hill of Life" are recorded the major acts of bravery by a man whose name lives indelibly in Israel's history. AFTER THE WAR,TRUMPLEDOR RE- MINDED THE JEWS THAT THE REALIZ- ATION OF A NATIONAL IDEAL IS NOT SIMPLE. THEY MUST FIGHT FOR IT! TO LIVE Del4AARETZt"-TNEY MUST 8E READY TO SACRINCE fOR ITll HE DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN WORLD WAR TOGETHER WITH JABOTINSKY HE ORGAN - IZED THE FIRST JEWISH LEGION BATTALION AND FAILED. IN A DARING POST-WAR PLAN TO LEAD AN ARMY OF SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS Of MEN INTO .PALESTINE... - Feinberg Named Chairman of Newly Created Hebrew U. Library, Council Avraham Harman, president of the Hebrew University in Jerusa- lem, and in New York, Samuel Rothberg, chairman of the board of the American Friends of the Hebrew University and chairman of the Hebrew University board of governors, issued a simultaneous CHARLES E. FEINBERG communique announcing the crea- tion of a Library Advisory Council of the American Friends, under the chairmanship of Charles E. Feinberg of Detroit. The council will be comprised. of experts inthe, literary_ field, both professionals and laymen, states- men, scholars,' clergy and person- alities ,;vhd have made significant contribOtions in educational and cultural work. Feinberg, in the. O'ffice of the council_located at 11 E. 69th St.. New York, said that the newly created council will guide and aid the American Friends in their work for the Jewish National and University Library and the Special Textbook Project. The English-born Feinberg, in the. United States since 1923, an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa and member of the Grolier Club; has made a name for himself as a Walt Whitman expert and col- lector. He believes that a collector should not consider his collection as personal property, but as a re- sponsible public institution, having the obligation of sharing .with the world its published and unpublish- ed material. Hardy Heart Going Strong Year Later Philip and Eileen Blaiberg smile happily as they prepare to de- part for dinner in Cape Town, South Africa, to celebrate the first anniversary of his heart transplant.- He is the world's longest surviv- ing heart transplant recipient.