by Donald Hunt
This British policy was, to a great extent, in recognition of the contribution made in 1914 by Weizmann toward the winning of the war. But the issue of a Jewish state had always been controversial. The careful wording of ‘Jewish home’, rather than ‘Jewish State’ was one example of the mendacious tone of the document. In the 1920s, the area was occupied predominantly by Arabs. Ancient manuscripts as well as Old Testament Scripture referred to the land as Canaan. In more modern times, the Christian community generally called it the Holy Land, and non- Christians referred to it as Palestine.
Jewish and Arabic cultures have common ancestral heritage. Each held Abraham as their patriarch. The Biblical story recounts Abraham as having married Sarah. The couple had no children. But Sarah was promised one by God. As Sarah grew older and beyond child bearing age, she no longer believed the promise and persuaded Abraham to take her Egyptian maid-servant, Hagar, as his wife to ensure an offspring for their family. He did. Hagar then gave birth to Ishmael, a male child, who became the ‘father’ of the Arabic race. But several years after Ishmael was born, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, the child that had been promised. He became the ‘father’ of the Jewish race.
Although the ancestral heritage begins here, the evolution of the Arabic and Jewish people was quiet different, even antithetical in many respects, leading to a modern day nadir of existence and co-existence.
Their languages, Hebrew and Arabic, evolved from the same ancient Semitic language. The earliest known written form of Semitic languages, cuneiform script, was developed about 3,000 BC. Hebrew and Arabic ancestors were called Semites. The term is derived from Shem, one of three sons of Noah. Shem’s descendants became known as Semites. In the 19th century, individuals prejudiced against Jews were called anti-Semites. Because of this modern colloquialism, the Arabic ancestors of Shem are no longer referred to as Semites. That term is now used only in reference to the Jewish race, and principally as a negative connotation, one denoting opposition to the Jewish people.
The dispute over the land of Palestine dates back to antiquity. The first Hebrew temple was built in Jerusalem by King Solomon in 957 BC. The temple was destroyed in 586 by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonian Empire. It was re-built on the same location, the Temple Mount, in 516 BC. Most Jewish citizens in Israel had been exiled to Babylon, but were beginning to return by 530. The prophet Daniel was among the exiled group. In scripture, the book of Daniel details his experiences during his Babylonian captivity.
The rebuilt temple was renovated by Herod the Great around 20 BC but was completely destroyed 90 years later by the Romans occupying Palestine. When this temple was destroyed in 70 AD, the majority of Jews living in Palestine were driven from their homeland and scattered world-wide. This process, the Diaspora, was actually the second Jewish Diaspora. The first occurred when they were exiled to Babylon.
The Zionist movement was both political and religious. The idea to re-establish a Jewish homeland was initiated in 1895 by Theodor Herzl, a journalist. The term Zionism evolved from the tradition that Mt. Zion in Jerusalem was the location of the ancient first temple. Zion now refers to the entire city of Jerusalem.
Herzl was born in Budapest in 1860. He moved with his family to Vienna in 1878 and in time, became greatly influenced by the wide spread anti-Semitism in Europe. A case in point is the Dreyfus case that occurred in France in 1899. Alfred Dreyfus, a captain in the French military, was convicted of spying for Germany. Soon after his conviction it was determined that French intelligence officials fabricated evidence against him, principally because he was Jewish. Eventually he was vindicated and reinstated as an officer.
Chaim Weizmann, a well-known biochemist, was the leading Zionist in England. As early as 1903 he was demonstrating his passion for establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine and a Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His motivation was not based on the suffering of his people. He simply had a yearning for the Jewish people to become a nation in their ancient home of Israel – at that time, Palestine. He enlisted as many important and influential people as he could to support the idea of a Hebrew University, including Albert Einstein and Hanz Eichenwald. The cornerstone for the University was laid in 1918 and the doors opened April 1, 1925.
Palestine was known in the Hebrew Bible as Canaan, part of the Fertile Crescent, and a land with a discordant past. In the sixth Century BC, a group of people in Eurasia began to dominate Eastern Europe and central Asia. They had a common language, Turkic. The Roman Empire was in decline as was the world influence wielded by the ancient Greeks. While the spread of Christianity was ongoing, a portentous event occurred in the Arabian city of Mecca. The prophet Mohammed was born and became the central human figure of the religion of Islam. The term ‘Islam’ is derived from the Arabic verb Aslama meaning to surrender or submit. According to Islamic tradition, at age 40, during the month of Ramadan, Mohammed received revelations from God and continued to receive them until his death in 632 AD. These revelations and his preaching formed the book of Qur’an, which literally means ‘the recitation’.
Over the next 1,000 years, the Turkic speaking people gradually began to dominate Eastern Europe and central Asia. They became known as Ottoman Turks, whose predominant religion was Islam. These were the successors of the eastern Roman Empire, also known as the ‘Byzantine’ Empire. Thus, the administrative rule of the ‘fertile crescent’ changed from a Christian dominated land to one dominated by Islam.
The influence and rule in Palestine is a review of a study in the history of the world. Rule was transferred from Hebrew, to Persian, to Hellenistic Greek, to the Roman Empire during the time of Christ. Then it went from Byzantine to Islamic. The Ottoman Turks maintained control until the end of WWI, but they lost it because they had chosen to support the Germans. That support led to the turnover of Turkish rule by the British in 1920.
The League of Nations then stepped in to determine mandates for all territories controlled by states that had been defeated in WWI. The mandates accomplished two things. They removed the sovereignty of the previously controlling countries and transferred control over territories to victorious, individual Allied powers. The mandate for Palestine was given to the British. It included land from the Mediterranean Sea east to Arabia. The part of the territory known as ‘Trans-Jordan’ later became the country of Jordan. Territorial boundaries for British Mandate Palestine were finalized in 1923 and established territory west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean as land to be set aside for a ‘Jewish homeland’.
Arab leadership repeatedly objected and pressed the British for the right to establish a representative government in the area. But the British rejected the principle of majority rule and insisted the Arabs accept the terms of the Mandate which in effect denied Arabic control over the government of Palestine. England was a democracy and it would seem would favor democratic rule. So, parenthetically, the reasons for rejecting majority rule were unclear.
In 1920, the Jewish population of Palestine was about 20 percent of the total. By 1940 it had grown to 33 percent. The Hebrew community was known as the Yishuv. Arabic citizens resented the influx of Jewish immigrants and Arabic reprisals on the Jewish communities soon began. In response, the Jews created the Haganah, a para-military organization designed to retaliate in kind.
The differences between these two neighboring groups expanded well beyond religion. The Jewish literacy rate was 86 percent, dwarfing the Arabic rate of 22 percent. The Jews gravitated to urban areas - the Arabs remained a rural people. The Jews also began to develop industrial and educational institutions including the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The Arabs, mirroring the farming traditions of their ancestors, had none.
As hostilities escalated, the British began making attempts to control the violence. The official British policy was to deny entry of European Jewish immigrants. Since before the war, Zionists had been organizing illegal immigration efforts and rescued thousands of indivi
duals escaping the Nazi holocaust. Most were smuggled into Palestine on rickety boats crossing the Mediterranean. Some were lost, including one vessel holding 800 passengers. It was sunk by a Russian submarine in the Black Sea.
By the war’s end, there were approximately 250,000 Jewish refugees stranded in camps scattered across Europe. The British policy against Jewish immigration was unpopular in England as well as the U.S., and with international pressure mounting, the British decided to hand the problem over to the United Nations. Eventually the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine drew up a plan for partition - separate Jewish and Arabic states. The plan placed Jerusalem under international administration. It was accepted by the U.S. and the Soviet Union but opposed by the U.K. and all Arab states. Many Jewish citizens in Palestine supported the resolution, but many did not. Menachem Begin, a powerful Zionist politician was quoted as saying,
“The partition of the homeland is illegal. It will never be recognized. The signature by institutions and individuals of the partition agreement is invalid. It will not bind the Jewish people. Jerusalem was and will forever be our capital. The Land of Israel will be restored to the people.”
The U.N. resolution to partition Palestine was passed by the U.N. general assembly on November 29, 1947. The British in Palestine, however, refused to implement the plan and declared they would withdraw from the region on May 15, 1948. The day before, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared Israel to be a sovereign and independent nation. The nation was immediately recognized by the Unites States and the Soviet Union. However, recognition by most other nations remained a highly controversial issue and was withheld pending further developments or action.
* * *
Cambridge, England was a storybook setting for anyone, and this was especially true for Jewish immigrants who had been trapped by a helotry that now seemed like a bad dream. The physical beauty of the countryside would match anything in Europe. There was almost never snow and instead, frequent days of rainy skies. To Anna, every day of freedom from tyranny was a day of sunshine. She spent weeks enjoying the company of her mother. Marlene Eichenwald would have made an exceptional ‘oma’ or grandmother, and Anna would have been a good mother herself. But circumstances did not allow this. Still, the two women, one with the genetic imprint of the other, saw their blessings in life as a quid pro quo of a blessing they did not have.
Marlene was still youthful looking at 66 years old. To others who enjoyed their company, she and Anna seemed more like sisters. Most of the wives of the men in the physics and mathematics departments had welcomed Marlene into their circles. They were gracious toward Anna as well with traditional English decorum. Anna had a gift for languages and was quick to pick up English phrases and colloquialisms.
Anna had requested permission to attend Surgical Grand Rounds at Guy’s Hospital each week. Her request was accepted, and she was now part of a group run by the Royal College of Surgeons. Taking the train into the city was a treat and she often combined the trip with sightseeing. She befriended a number of those attending and eventually was asked to make a presentation of her surgical procedure on Ernst Bishoff and the follow-up of her experience with him at Buchenwald. The room was packed. All in one day Anna became highly respected and admired.
There was only one woman in all of England who was a member of the Royal College, Abigail Brightman. She was born in Ireland but moved to Edinburgh at age seven when her father became Professor of Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh. She attended the undergraduate school there and then medical school. She went on to become the only female orthopedic surgeon in England. With a special interest in children’s developmental problems, she was in demand as a surgeon and a speaker. Her colleagues affectionately called her Abby. Tall, with reddish hair and a ruddy complexion, she had a ready smile and was pleased to meet Anna. The two became friends within a few, short weeks and often sat together at the meetings.
In the fall of 1946, after one Wednesday session, the two left the conference hall. “Anna, next week, how would you like to stay for a dinner out and sleep over at my place?” Abby suggested. “Then you can catch the train back on Thursday.”
“Sounds great,” Anna responded, delighted at the invitation. “I can’t turn down an offer like that. I’ve taken some day trips to see the sights but haven’t had dinner in the city yet. I’d love to do that. Thank you.”
“Then it’s all set. See you next week. We won’t do anything too fancy, just a pub for fish and chips.”
Anna had virtually no social life. She spent time with her parents and that was it. She wanted to work but hadn’t been able to qualify for British credentials unless she re-trained in their system. She had decided not to spend more years training with superiors over whom she had more experience. It was simply not a possibility for her. She slowly began to realize how displaced she was.
“I’m a woman with no home country,” she thought.
The week passed quickly until she was on the train back to London. The Grand Rounds topic was a case presentation and review of a problem she had only read about, management of tracheo-esophageal fistula in the newborn. It was a devastating problem and most children did not survive.
Abby did most of her work at Guy’s Hospital. Her flat was only five blocks from the hospital and 15 blocks from Victoria Station. It was a two-story walk-up with the main living area on the first level and two bedrooms and a bath on the second. The building bordered a small park with a central fountain of running water that gave a pellucid tranquility to the area.
Abby and Anna had more in common than surgery. They both enjoyed the symphony and both had been in love. Abby’s love was a barrister she had met through a friend. He had made a marriage proposal but had wanted Abby to cut back significantly on her work, something she was not yet willing to do. So everything for the couple was on ‘hold’. Anna shared her stories of Christian and their time together during their surgical training. She fondly recounted some of his pranks.
“So where is he now?” Abby asked innocently. Anna looked down.
“I am so sorry.”
“War is tragic,” Anna replied. “For everyone.”
Abby had a number of friends who had gone to war, some of whom had given their lives. She hadn’t really thought much of the suffering on the enemy side. She had simply felt that since Germany started the war, they deserved what they got. Now, obviously, Christian did not fit that template.
The evening out was extraordinary. Despite the ten-year age separation, both women were youthful and vibrant. The pub was typical British fare. It was furnished in rich mahogany, with low ceilings and a black and white tile floor. Large booths that actually had doors gave the guests an unexpected feeling of privacy.
They talked about the war and the Nazi Reich. The subject moved to their youth and tales of growing up, Anna as an only child and Abby with two older brothers. Finally the conversation turned to their futures. Abby wasn’t hesitant to give her opinion.
“Anna, you are well trained and obviously very capable. You need to be somewhere to utilize your skills. Would you ever return to Germany?”
“Never! The German economy is in a shamble anyway and the country has been destroyed. It will take my lifetime to rebuild. Even after what happened to the Jews, there’s still a lot of hatred, Abby. I believe many people would allow it all over again if they could.”
“What about America?”
“I would face the same problem professionally there,” Anna replied. “And I have no desire to go to the states. But I have been thinking about something for the past few months. I’ve been thinking about Palestine.”
Abby practically shouted. “Palestine?”
“Yes. It’s a place where I can be useful. I can have a new beginning. My people are going there and making new beginnings for themselves. I could too.”
“But from what I have read, if the British leave there
’s going to be fighting with the Arabs. It could be very dangerous.”
“That’s true. But with what I’ve been through I don’t give a lot of thought to personal danger. I’m probably not a true Zionist, but I do believe that God promised Canaan…or Palestine…to us, to the Jewish people. Now may be the time in history when God provides us that homeland, something we have not had for 2,000 years. If that happens, I’d like to be part of it. Possibly my life will yet count for something.”
After a long silence, Abby finally spoke. “Well, those are not plebian thoughts. You are not an ordinary woman or even an ordinary physician. If you decide to go, you will have an impact….of that I’m certain.”
* * *
It was a warm spring day, April of 1948. Anna was in Plymouth, England waiting to board the H.M.S. Darcy, destination Palestine. Through the efforts of Chaim Weizmann, Anna had been appointed an attending surgeon at the Hebrew University Hospital in Jerusalem. She was to spend six weeks in a Tel Aviv hostel for orientation to Israel, as yet not a country. She had said her good-byes to Hanz and Marlene. Both were now sixty-seven years old. They were sad to see their only child go but understood she had her own life to live. God had brought her through the holocaust, and for that they would be eternally grateful.
Anna felt an excitement she had not experienced since her days with Christian. It had been almost three years since she had left Germany. England was beautiful and she had been well received. But it was not her home. Anna longed for a home.
The ship was a 20,000-ton vessel that had been used as a troop transport in both world wars. It was a converted tanker that had been commissioned in 1895 as part of the British merchant marine fleet. Altogether, there were 748 Jewish immigrants who had traveled from all over Europe to begin a new life. Anna had agreed to serve as the ship’s doctor for the five day journey. The voyage was being funded by the international Zionist Society. Each immigrant or family would be assisted financially until they were settled into employment. Among the group were teachers, farmers, laborers, musicians, architects, engineers, bankers, lawyers, rabbis, nurses, one physician and a chemist. Anna was especially pleased that there were 178 children in the group. A new country would need strong young people to survive.