Volume on Volunteers in Israel's Struggle
for Independence Disappointing, Lacking
•
"American Volunteers and
Israel's War of Indepen-
dence" has the potential for
being an important supple-
ment to the chronicles of the
1948 war, but its incomplete-
ness deprives the work of a
place of honor in the annals
of contemporary Israel his-
tory.
Written by Rabbi A. Joseph
Heckelman and published by
Ktav, the work is the out-
growth of the rabbi's doctoral
thesis which he completed at
the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary in 1971. An active par-
ticipant in the radar division
—and a primitive one it -was
—the rabbi offers some first-
hand information about the
division. However, his major
undertaking is somewhat less
than complete.
A shortcoming of the work
is that even though all of the
mare than 5,000 overseas vol-
unteers which made up the
Mahal military unit, are ac-
counted for, many important
Detroiters are not included.
(And further what of the
other Americans and Cana-
dians not mentioned who
- served and lost their lives?)
One of those not mentioned
is Harry Weinsaft, a major
organizer of Aliya Bet, the
illegal immigration project
which transferred displaced
persons from the Holocaust
to pre-state Israel. Now a
successful art gallery direc-
tor, Weinsaft helped obtain
a captain to man the dowdy
steamer, the President War-
field, which became "the SS
Exodus for more than 4,000
refugees."
(According to Rabbi Heck-
elman, the 10 Aliya Bet ships
were sailed by volunteers.)
Another Detroiter absent
from the Heckelman work is
a gentile, Charles. Crudging-
ton. According to the May 4,
1973 article by former Jew-
ish News city editor, Char-
lotte Dubin, Crudgington,
new a successful sales rep-
resentative, flew a .B-17 for
the fledgling nation. Asked
why he, a gentile, fought for
a nation whose citizens were
alien to his own faith, he
replied:
"I guess I figured Israel
was right. And the others
did 400. The Arabs hated us
for that — more than they
hated the Jews."
However, one Detroiter is
mentioned in the book. —
Jules Doneson, now a travel
agent. Doneson (Yochanon
Danon) responded modestly
to a questionnaire sent out
by the author to the Associa-
tion of Americans and Cana-
dians in Israel, that his part
in Israel's war for indepen-
dence was less than valor-
ous.
According to the author,
Doneson "states that he
served in the 71st Battalion
(Galilee) from July 1948 to
May 1949, that he was the
only volunteer in his unit,
and not of vital importance
there."
Other Detroiters who were
awarded the Aleh Decoration
for their service in the war
are Rudolph J. Newman,
Harold Duboff, Ben Fin-
geroot, David Fink, Sherell
Gordon, James Kane, Robert
Leeds, Peggy Leeds, Leo
Majzels, Dr. Eugene I. Plous,
Edward Chinsky, David Saf-
erstein and Jack Branston.
Another failing of the book
is its poor editing. In some
cases, Zionism appears with
a lower case "z" and that
can be irksome, especially
Jewish Groups
Deplore Nixon
•
Exoneration
NEW YORK (JTA) — The
American Jewish Congress
and the Workmen's Circle
have sharply criticized Pres-
ident Ford's unconditional
pardon of former President
Nixon.
In a letter to Ford, William
Stern, declared that the "es-
sential search for truth" in
the Watergate affair "has
been sabotaged by your un-
fortunate pardon of President
Nixon."
The letter stated that in
accepting " a faint-hearted,
insincere declaration of con-
trition in return for a halt to
further prosecution, we feel
you have acknowledged a
double standard of justice in
our nation."
The letter said a pardon
"for crimes committed with-
out probing into their nature
and extent, a pardon which
erases the opportunity to as-
say them juridically, is, in
our opinion, a demeaning of
the sacred right of presiden-
tial pardon."
The AJCongress, in a res-
olution adopted by its execu-
tive committee at its first
meeting of the fall season,
declared: "The American
Jewish Congress deplores
. President Ford's pardon of
Richard M. Nixon prior to
any judicial action as both
unwise and unwarranted. In
our judgement, the Ameri-
can people will correctly
view the pardon as an act
of special consideration avail-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS able only to the powerful and
14—Friday, Sept. 27, 1974
well connected."
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when one • reflects on the
hardships and struggling that
made that "ism" the strong
force it is today.
Because of the scope of the
book, which covers , more
than just the roles of the
volunteers, the work should
have been entitled "Israel's
Desperate Attempts to Ob-
tain and Hold Onto Munitions
and Volunteers From the
West." That title would have
been more descriptive of
what it contains.
"American
Volunteers"
does have some redeeming
qualities, however. It does
not sugar coat the Israeli
victories, nor does it neglect
the fact that Israel made sev-
eral blunders, suffered un-
fortunate mishaps and was
under constant surveillance
by the UN which severly
limited Israel's incoming
arms "shipments."
In his description of the
Altalena 'affair, which' in-
volved the transfer of volun-
teers and munitions f r o m
Marseilles, France, Rabbi
Heckelman displays a no-
holds-barred policy when he
describes the killing of Jew-
ish soldiers by each other.
Conflicts between the Jewish
army splinter groups, Irgun
Zvai Leumi and Lohamai
Herut Israel, also are dis-
cussed- at length.
War tales and accounts
rarely include anecdotes, but
one in "American Volun-
teers" merits repeating.
Since English was the
major language of communi-
cation, and the 7th Brigade
and several units in the
armored corps were made
up . of English-s peaking
Americans, these battalions
and units were referred to as
Anglo-Saxon. Heckelman ex-
plains:
"Anglo-Saxon" was the uni-
versal Israeli designation for
those who came from Eng-
lish-speaking countries. In
the words of more than one
slightly puzzled volunteer,
`Throughout my life I've been
called a s dirty Jew, and now,
in Israel, suddenly I'm an
Anglo-Saxon.'
However, that anecdote is
greatly overwhelmed by the
stories of courageous volun-
teers. Among the more
lengthy tales, is one of David
"Mickey" M a r c u s, the
Hagana and Palmach mili-
tary consultant who helped
transform the Israeli under-
ground guerrilla force to the
nucleus of a functioning
army, according to Rabbi-
Heckelman.
Ultimately, the M a h a 1,
made up of U.S. and Cana-
dian overseas volunteers,
with the help of Gahal, the
European contingent, was
vital to Israel's winning the
war. Rabbi Heckelman states
that were it not for the Mahal
helping the Israel air force
there would be no Israel
today.
Despite the wealth of in-
f or m a t i o n disseminated
throughout the pages in this
work, its disappointing lack
of completeness on the vol-
unteers themselves and in-
excusable editing errors
greatly reduce the book's
chances of being recognized
as a major chronicle of one
aspect of Israel's war for in-
dependence.
—Heidi Press
An Open Letter
to the Jewish
Community
a
\N• MAPLE ROAD
2900
.48084
-TROY, MICHIGAN
ear
Friends:
As a _concerned
member of the Jewish ool's
community, I
D
strongfy urge you to attend Akiva Hebrew Day Sch
upcoming' 10th Anniversary Banquet. It promises to be a
n me in _congratulating Akiva
most exciting and memorable occasion.
our
I sincerely
hope of
-you'll
Jo
on ,this
milestone
achievement.
Their cultural gift to
our community is a priceless one because it involves
children,
our historic
future. occasion the honorable Abba Eban
On this
will honor us with his presence as guest speaker of the
evening and as Israel's representative in presenting the
Spiritual Bridges Award to Akiva Ilebrew Day _School.
take particular pleasure in greeting, the Rabbi of
my congregation,
Rabbi
James I. of
Gordon
of Akiva.
oung
I
red
a co-founder
1:eshivat
on his of
being
Israel
yak honored at this event for his long-time
on Sunday evening,
dedicated service to the school.
lease attend this of
October 20th at the Beth Achim Banquet hall on
Sop
21100
West 12 Mile in Southfield. For reservations
and more information, please call 354-4664.
Akiva needs and deserves your support.
Sincerely ,