May 29 In History
363: A good day for the Romans and bad day for the Jews. Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sassanid capital, but is impossible to conquer it. But Julian is killed at the end of the battle, some claiming that he was assassinated by a Christian Arab. Julian was the nephew and successor of Constantine. Julian repealed his Uncle’s pro-Christian promulgations allowing the old pagan cults to reappear. This earned him the title Julian the Apostate. Julian also repealed the special taxes that had been levied on the Jews. He announced that the Jews would be allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Jews actually built a synagogue near the Temple Mount in anticipation of the rebuilding of the Temple. Unfortunately, the favorable treatment of the Jews died with Julian’s demise. Rome returned to path of Constantine and the Jews returned to the road of exile and expulsion.
1096: The Jews of Bacharach,
Germany
, were massacred by the Crusaders.
1108: The forces of the Muslim Almoravids under Tamim ibn-Yusuf defeated the Christian forces of Castile and León under Alfonso VI at the Battle of Uclésv. The battle was a disaster for the Christians who lost 30,000 men including seven high-ranking nobles and the heir-apparent, Sancho Alfónsez. The Muslims were not able to capitalize on the victory and conquer the city of Toledo. The Christians of Toledo “celebrated” their deliverance by murderously attacking the Jews and burning their homes and synagogues. Alfonso died before he could punish the murderers. Following his death, the people of Carrion followed the example of their co-religionists in Toledo and attacked the Jews in an orgy of murderous pillaging.
1167: A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated at the Battle of Monte Porzio by the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the local princes of Tusculum and Albano. Jehiel Anav reportedly “supervised the finances of Pope Alexander.” Jeheil Anva would appear to be one in the same with Jehiel ben Jekutheil Anav who is believed to be the author of Tanya Rabbati which discusses Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays. He was related to the Italian born scholar and linguist Nathan ben Jehiel. Frederick Barbarossa would be one of the three kings to lead the Third Crusades. Unlike other Crusaders, the German Barbarossa was protective of his Jewish subjects causing “a Jewish chronicler, Ephraim be-Jacob of Bonna to write ‘
Frederick
defended us with all his might and enabled us to live among our enemies, so that no harmed the Jews.’”
1453: The Ottomans under Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople marking the end of Byzantine (or the Eastern Roman) Empire. (The shift from Christian to Moslem control reverberates into the 21st century)
1453: Sultan Mohammed II, the conqueror of
Constantinople
, granted equal rights to Jews and other non-Muslim subjects of the
Ottoman Empire
. The oppressed Jews were relieved to see him occupy the city. He allowed Jews from today's
Greek
Islands
and
Crete
to settle in
Istanbul
. The Sultan’s declaration contained the following words: "Listen sons of the Hebrew who live in my country...May all of you who desire come to
Constantinople
and may the rest of your people find here a shelter".
1554: Pope Paul IV issued a bull ordering Jews to surrender all books containing alleged anti-Christian blasphemies. The sweeping terms of the bull covered all rabbinic work relating to the Talmud. In effect, Paul IV nullified a bull issued by Pope X in 1518 which permitted the publication of codes of Jewish law upon the approval of church censors.
1554: After an appeal by Jews in Catholic countries, Pope Julius
III
agreed only to allow the burring of the Talmud but not "harmless rabbinical writings."
1686: Jews of
New Amsterdam
were allowed to openly practice their religion.
1724: Beginning of the Papacy Benedict XIII, a papal leader who issued a series of anti-Semitic bulls and writings that reached a level of literary or theological compulsion. In 1727, Benedict wrote Emanavit numer, which stated the conditions under which Jews could be forcibly baptized. In Alias emanarunt, “Benedict forbade selling of goods by Jews. In 1749 he issued Singulari noblis consoldtioni which dealt with the issue of Christians and Jews getting married. In 1751, he issued Elapso proxime anno which dealt with Jewish heresy and Probe te meinisse which laid down the rules for baptizing Jewish children. Finally, in 1755, he issued Beatus Andres which beatified Andreas von Ronn who had alledgedly been by Jews in 1462 as part of their religious ritual. “The pope declared that such ritual murders were fact and were part of Jewish practice, not exceptions.” (page 119)
1790: Rhode Island becomes the last of the original United States colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th U.S. state. According to Rufus Learsi, at the outbreak of the American Revolution Rhode Island was one of only five the original thirteen colonies to have had an organized Jewish community.
Newport
reportedly had 1,200 Jewish habits, half the Jews living in all of the thirteen colonies at that time. Congregation Jeshuat
Israel
(Salvation of Israel) had erected its own synagogue and Rabbi Isaac Touro was so well known that he was visited by rabbis from
Europe
and Eretz
Israel
including Raphael Cahim Isaac Corregal from
Hebron
who formed a lasting friendship with Pastor Ezra Stiles, President of Yale.
Newport
may be best remembered for the famous letter that President Washington wrote to the Jews of Newport in 1790 in which he endorsed the full participation of the Jewish people in all aspects of American life. Unfortunately, the
Newport
Jewish community had already lost its dominant role. The British occupation during the American Revolution had marked the beginning of the end of the commercial primacy of
Newport
and many of the Jews who had fled during the occupation simply did not return. The loss of prominence of the Jewish community is highlighted by the fact that the state of
Rhode Island
did not get around to removing religious tests for office until 1842. For more about this see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/rhode.html
1805(1st of Sivan, 5565): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1810: In London, Hanna Barnet Cohen and Anthony de Rothschild gave birth to Sir Anthony de Rotschild.
1826(22nd of Iyar): Rabbi Judah Leib, author of “Likkutei Maharil” passed away.
1848: Wisconsin admitted to the Union. According to Rufus Learsi, “there was no Jewish community in
Wisconsin
when it became a state, but not long afterwards the Forty-eighters began to arrive and a congregation was organized in
Milwaukee
.” The forty-eighters were Jews who left Germany and Bohemia after losing faith in the possibility meaningful emancipation and democratic reformfollowing the unsuccessful revolutions of 1848.
1854:Solomon Nunes Carvalho “wrote in his log that he and his party had ‘camped on a narrow stream of deliciously cool water, which distrubtes itself about half a mile further down in a verdant meadow bott, covered with good grass. This camp ground is called by the Mexicans, Las Vegas.’” This meant that Carvalho was the first Jews to visit what is now Las Vegas, Neveda. A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Carvalho was a Sephard who had had joined the expedition led by John C. Fremont as a photographer and artist. Reportedly, Carvalho refused to eat porcupine because “it looked like pork” even though this meant he went hungry. It would take a century for Las Vegas to open an establishment that sold kosher food.
1855: Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise of Cincinnati was reported today to have begun a tour of the United States to gain support for the creation of for the establishment of “a Collegiate Institute for the education of Jewish theologians and other scholastic attainments.
1861: Rabbi David Einhorn, a leading abolitionist, rejected the request of his former Congregation, Har Sinai, to return to Baltimore because he would have been required to remain silent on the subjects of slavery and preserving the union.
1867: Following the defeat of the Austrian Empire by the Prussians, Emperor Franz Josef authorizes an agreement called Ausgleich ("the Compromise"), which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The document extended the rights of full citizenship to all those living in the Hapsburg Empire including the Jews. With the stroke of a pen, 350,000 Jews were freed to live wherever they please and follow whatever occupation or trade they so desired. The Empire would benefit from a burst of Jewish creativity from its Hungarian and Austrian Jewish subjects as well as loyalty and devotion beyond compare.
1870: In the Turkish province of Rumania, thousands of Jews were killed and injured when they were attacked by Christians in cities throughout this section of Southern Europe.
1872: The inauguration services of the new Mount Sinai Hospital building were held this afternoon. The hospital is located on Lexington Avenue between 66th and 67th Avenues. Appropriate prayers were offered by the Jewish clergy and E.B. Hart delivered an address during which he traced the history of Mount Sinai which goes back to January, 1852. Governor Hoffman also addressed the throng.
1876: A can-can dancer named Katie Forrest sued a Jew named Solomon Care in the Marine Court over jewelry which she said he stole from her. Care claimed that he had given her the jewelry and had pawned some of it to pay for her hotel bills. Both sides rested today but no decision was rendered by the end of the day.
1876: The New York Timesreported that “the Jewish feast of ‘Shevuoth,’ or the Pentecost, the Spring-tide festival of the Hebraic calendar was inaugurated last evening with the joyous ceremonies incident to the occasion. This festival also called the Feast of Weeks because it occurs seven weeks after the Passover, under the Mosaic dispensation was one of the three imporantant festivals on which it was customary for the Jews in Palestine to assemble at Jerusalem and bring up to the Temple as offerings the first fruits of the seasons.”
1876(6th of Sivan, 5636): First Day of Shavuot
1876: On Shavuot, Confirmation Services were held at Temple Emanu-El conducted by Rabbi Gottheil, at Temple Beth-El conducted by Rabbi Einhorn at Temple Ahavat Chesed by Rabbi Huebsch and at Bnai Jeshurun by Rabbi Jacobs.
1877: The New York Times published a report from its London correspondent describing “the influence of the Jewish race in European politics” especially as it pertains to the clash between the Turks and the Russians. Regardless of his nationality, “the Jew is…pro-Turkish” “for perfectly intelligible reasons.” The Jews feel that they are less oppressed in Moslem lands than they are in Christian countries. Furthermore, the Serbian and Rumanian “Christians have in very recent times, persecuted the Jew with a fanatical fury worthy of the Middle Ages.” Finally, any advance of “Holy Russia” means an enlargement of the area where the Jews will suffer from the government’s “intolerance.”
1877: It was reported today that a Jew named Solomons who owned the general store at Union Bridges, SC testified that he had listed the names of the various armed people he had seen and that he had written their names phonetically in Hebrew because he did not know how to spell them in English. The trial was racially charged as it involved gangs of whites and African-Americans.
1877: At Temple Emanuel, in New York City Myer S. Isaacs presided over the annual meeting of the Board of Delegates of the American Israelites which came to a close this evening.
1877:”The Jews and the War in Europe,” a column published today described the contentions of famed historian Edward A. Freeman that the Jews are responsible for the British support being given to the Ottomans in their war with Russia. Freeman sees this as a failure to support Christian values (Russia) in the war against Islam. “He is under the impression that the policy of England and the welfare of Europe may be sacrificed to Hebrew sentiment. “If money is the key that opens all locks, the Jew is the master of Europe for he is our principal banker.” “Mr. Freeman points out that the union of the Jew and the Turk against the Christian” was strengthened “when Sultan Mahmoud gave the body of the martyred Patriarch to be by the Jews through the streets of Constantinople.” Freeman blames the Jews for the outbreak of the war. He contends that throughout Europe, the part of the press that is pro-Turkish is controlled by Jews. He does differentiate between “the degraded Jews of the East and the cultivated and honorable Jews of the East” but in the hand “blood is stronger than water” and “Hebrew rule is sure to lead to Hebrew policy.”
1878: The annual meeting of the Board of Delegates of the American Israelites which was being held in New York at Temple Emanuel with William B. Hockenberg of Philadelphia presiding came to a close today. The Executive Committee recommended that “immediate action” be taken to alleviate the suffering of the Jews living in Jerusalem and that steps should be taken to develop “a system of higher education among the Hebrews” living in the United States. The Committee on Statistics reported that “there were 223 Hebrews congregations in this country, with 12,030 members, having property valued at $4,607,110. A proposal was put forward to hold a conference in Paris that would completed “the work of the International Jewish Conference of 1876. The officers elected to serve in the upcoming year included: Myer S. Isaacs, President; Simon Wolf of Washington, Vice President; William B. Hockenburg of Philadelphia
1879(7th of Sivan, 5639): Second Day of Shavuot
1879: Benjamin Mayer, a member of the firm of Hirsch and Mayer, who had been found guilty of swindling numerous New York merchants, was sentenced today to serve two years and six months of hard labor in the State Penitentiary. He was also fined $6,000, a sum which must be paid before he can be released.
1881(1st of Sivan, 5641): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1882: In New York, Bernhard and Gertrude Ulamann gave birth to American photographer Doris Ulmann
1882: Thomas Timayenis a professor of languages at the University of Athens passed away. He was the father of Telemachus Timayenis, the founder of Minerva Publishing Company in New York City, “the first company in America to published books critical of Jews.” These included The Original Mr. Jacobs: A Startling Exposé, The American Jew: An Expose of His Career, and Judas Iscariot: An Old Type in a New Form. The works were intended to expose “the real Jew.” There is no evidence to show that the father was responsible for the son’s anti-Semitism.
1883: Based on certification of two doctors 20 year old Pauline (Moses) Holz, the wife of David Holz was committed to an asylum “as a suffer from chronic mania.” Only after his wife had been committed did Holz find out that her father, whom he had been told had passed away, had been in an asylum since 1872.
1887(6th of Sivan, 5647): Shavuot
1888: In New York the General Term of the Supreme Court delivered a decision that meant the North American Relief Society for Indigent Jews In Jerusalem, Palestine, will receive $50,000 and the interest thereon for 30 years as directed by the will of the last Samson Sampson.
1890: Twenty-nine year old Jacob Epstein, a Russian Jew shot his wife Flora today and then turned the gun on himself.
1892: It was reported today that the Honorary Staff of the Veteran Zouaves’ Association have made plans to present a flag to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
1892: Eva Cohen and Theodore Keppler each delivered a prayer during this afternoon’s confirmation exercises of the Hebrew Free Schools. Augusta Cohen and Sarah Rabinowitch sang “I Will Praise Thee, O Lord” and Miss Lilie Levy won the fifty dollar Schiff Prize which went to the student who was most distinguished in “all studies and deportment.”
1894: Birthdate of Austrian born, American film writer and director Josef Von Sternberg. Von Sternberg’s most famous work was actually two versions of the same movie, The Blue Angel. One was in German, the other in English. Von Sternberg made his was to the
United States
where he lived and worked until his death at the age of 75.
1894: At today’s session of the New York State Constitutional Convention Mr. Jacobs from Brooklyn submitted a proposal that would provide for a State Senate of 19 that would be elected at large by all New Yorkers.
1895(6th of Sivan, 5655): Shavuot
1895: Dr. Joseph Silverman, the junior rabbi at Temple Emuanu-El, purported to America’s oldest reform congregation, gave today’s holiday sermon. Among those attending today’s services were the members of the confirmation class.
1898: At today’s opening session of the League of Zionist Societies of the United States, Dr. Michael Singer delivered an address on “What Zionism Means” and Davis Trietsch delivered an address on “The First Congress At Basle.”
1898: Mrs. M.D. Louis, President of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls presided over the institutions graduation ceremonies that were held today at Temple Emanu-El
1898: Rabbi De Sola Mendes presided over the first annual confirmation ceremonies held at the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Orphan Asylum.
1898: As the patriotic fervor the Spanish-American grips the United States, the Benjamin Harrison Lodge of the Order Birth Abraham will waive the membership dues for any of its members serving in the military. Families of members serving as soldiers will be given $5 a week and the beneficiaries of any members who die in battle will be given an endowment of $500.
1898: It was reported today that Oscar S. Straus has agreed to accept reappointment as the United States Minister to Turkey. Straus had been appointed to the position in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat. Straus’s success and the high esteem in which he has held can be seen the fact this time he is being appointed by President McKinley, a Republican.
1898: It was reported today that the demands on the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children of the City of New York have been so great that the institution has purchased additional land at Rockaway, Long Island. It is an ocean front piece of real estate which should help provide meaningful summer excursions for underprivileged children and their mothers.
1899: Seattle, Washington’s “liberal Jews” formed Temple de Hirsch, a Reform congregation founded when Ohaveth Shaolum disbanded due to financial hardships.
1899: “The Semitic Question of Algiers In The French Chamber” published today described the debate that has taken place on the treatment of Jews in the North African colony. The Algerian anti-Semites claim they attack the Jews because they are wealthy, but their attacks strike at the many poor Jews living there. The “battle cry” of the anti-Semites is “La France aux Francais” (France for the French) which is odd since most of the Algerian anti-Semites are Spaniards.
1900(1stof Sivan, 5660): Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1901: The English Zionist Federation congratulates Herzl and assures him loyalty.
1902: The Judeans, an organization composed of representative Jews of New York, gave a reception, followed by a dinner, this evening at the Tuxedo, Fifty-ninth Street and Madison Avenue, in honor of Prof. Solomon Schechter, the eminent Hebrew scholar, who was induced to leave Cambridge University in England to become the Dean of the new Jewish theological seminary which is to be established on Morningside Heights through the munificence of Jacob H. Schiff and others.
1902: Samuel Marks, a Russian born Jew, used his relationships with Boer and English leaders - President Krüger, Generals Botha, De Wett, and Delarey; Earl Roberts, Lord Kitchener, and Lord Milner – to help set up the negotiations for the end of Anglo-Boer War which took place today at Vereeniging.
1903: Thee S.S. Deutschalnd arrived in the United States carrying Rabbi Tobias Geffen, who would gain fame as the Coca Cola Rabbi, Mrs. Gefen and their two oldest children.
1905: Pogroms began in Brisk, Lithuania. At this time
Lithuania
was part of the Russian Empire. The pogrom was one of a series that was sweeping the land of the Tsars
1907: Riva (Rebecca) Hillesum-Bernstein’s brother, Jacob, a diamond cutter moved in with the Montagnu family in Amsterdam. Like his sister, he was fleeing his village in Russia where there had been pogrom. Jacob was the uncle of diarist Esther "Etty" Hillesum
1908: In Seattle, Washington Temple de Hirsch dedicated its new facility at the corner of Union Street and 15thAvenue.
1911: Birthdate of a Leah Goldberg, a “prolific Hebrew poet, author, playwright, literary translator and researcher of Literature”
1913: A story published today entitled "Bijou Theatre Foreclosure" reported that proceedings have been instituted in the Supreme Court by Felix M. Warburg, Isaac N. Seligman, Paul Warburg and Mortimer L. Schiff, as trustees of Alfred M. Heinsheimer, against the Bijou Real State company and other to foreclose a mortgage of $420,000 on the old Bijou Theatre in New York City.
1913: Jim Conley was interviewed again today concerning the murder of Mary Phagan. Thefour hour interviews produced yet a different version of the facts. In this version Conley said that Frank had confessed to him that he had killed the girl and that the two of them hid the corpse in the basement of the pencil factory.
1917: Birthdate of John F. Kennedy. “Kennedy named two Jews to his cabinet - Abraham Ribicoff as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and Arthur Goldberg as Secretary of Labor. Kennedy was the only President for whom a national Jewish Award was named. The annual peace award of the Synagogue Council of America was re-named the John F. Kennedy Peace Award after his assassination in 1963.”
1919: Arthur Eddington confirmed Einstein's light-bending prediction
1921: Birthdate of Dancer and choreographer Pearl Lang.
1923: At a meeting in Town Hall tonight, it was announced that the Jews of New York City had raised $1,800,000 for Keren Hayesod of which $600,000 was in donations of cash, the rest being pledges. Bernard Rosenblatt, who chaired the fund drive, also announced that thanks to the successful activities in other cities, Dr. Chaim Weizmann would be returning to Palestine with $1,500,000 in actual cash payments in addition to pledges from Jews across America. The evening was also marked by a speech given by Samuel Untermeyer expressed Jewish appreciation to Great Britain for accepting the Palestine Mandate since the British had expressed sympathy for the goal of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1924: Birthdate Philadelphia native Irv Homer who gained fame as a local of radio talk show host
1925(6th of Sivan, 5685): Shavuot
1928: Birthdate of financer and public servant Felix Rohatyn.
1930: In Manhattan, Luise and Arthur Schulte who was a partner at Lehman Brothers, gave birth to Anthony Martin Schulte, “a publishing executive who was an early proponent of audiobooks and among the first to tap the ready-made audience for books written by trusted television personalities like Alistair Cooke, Carl Sagan and Walter Cronkite.” (As reported by Paul Vitello)
1933 (4th of Sivan, 5693): Willi Aron a lawyer was murdered in Dachau.
1933: Louis T. McFadden, congressman from Pennsylvania, attacked the Jews in Congress. [Editor’s Note – McFadden was an outspoken foe the Federal Reserve Board. He blamed the board for the Great Depression and saw it as part of a Jewish conspiracy to control the economy. McFadden also wanted to impeach President Hoover.]
1933: Discussion of the petition of Franz Bernheim on the violation of Jewish rights in Upper Silesia, which was to have been on the agenda of the League of Nations Council last week, is scheduled to take place today. Joseph Paul-Boncour, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and representatives of some of the smaller powers are expected to take a leading role in the discussion of Jewish rights. Sir John Simon, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs will also take part in the debated if he can return here in time to do so.
1938: As the Arab uprising continued, the British began construction of the Taggart Wall along the border with Syria and Lebanon. The wall was barbed wire fence interspersed with small forts. The wall was an attempt to stop Arab terrorists from crossing into Palestine from Syria and Lebabnon.
1938: As Arab violence continued to escalate, The Palestine Postreported that Arab terrorist gangs, searching for money and valuables, murdered eight Arab villagers, including three women, in the Tulkarm district. One woman who refused to pay was badly injured. Shots were fired at the Jewish quarters in
Jerusalem
,
Haifa
and Safed. "The Times" of
London
deplored the continued Arab terror in
Palestine
, "which led to some Jewish reprisals."
1938: The Palestine Post reported that the Tel Aviv Port celebrated its second anniversary by a swimming meet and a sailing review.
1938: Hungary restricted the proportion of Jews who could hold jobs in commerce, industry, the liberal professions, and the Hungarian government to 20 percent.
1941: Fearing capture by the British, Rashid Ali, leader of the pro-Nazi forces in Iraq and the Grand Mufti of Palestine, fled to Iran under the cover of darkness.
1942: In France, the family of Helene Berr began wearing yellow stars as the government implemented an edict ordering all Jews to wear this “Jew badge” on their clothing.
1942: Vichy France forbids Jews access to all restaurants and cafes, libraries, sports grounds, squares, and other public places.
1942: At Radziwillow, Ukraine, the Germans rounded up three thousand Jews with the intention of slaughtering them. Asher Czerkaski led the resistance against the Germans. While 1500 were killed another 1,500 found temporary safety in the forests.
1942 (13th of Sivan, 5702): In Warsaw, a Jew named Wilner, too weak to move from his chair was thrown out of the window and shot at as he fell.
1942: Bing Crosby’s recording of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” was released by Decca Records. The biggest selling single of all times is still one of the most popular Christmas songs ever written. Okay, so now we know of at least two Jews who responsible for Christmas as we know it.
1944(7th of Sivan, 5704): Last Shavuot during the Shoah
1944: The weekly internal report of the War Refugee Board stated that Turkey had not refused admission to any Jews from Greece or any of the Greek Islands. "On the contrary, thus far Turkish authorities have promptly provided transportation from
Izmir
to
Palestine
for those refugees who have reached Turkish soil."
1944: After a three and a half day journey in cattle cars, the doors were opened for the first time for a train of thousands of packed Hungarian Jews. Fifty five of them were found dead.
1947: At a meeting of the Mapai Party secretariat, Ben Gurion declared “It has become clear to me that we had very important achievements: I do not know whether any nation other than ours could have had such achievements. But if you think we have the power to defend the Yishuv, you are deceiving yourself. We had a public that is devoted to the Haganah and that is prepared to give up its life to defend Zionism, but we do have a talented public that is trained and equipped for that.”
1948: The Israeli army crossed into
Lebanon
, and scattered the Arab forces on the border.
1948: As a result of Jewish forces capturing
Acre
, Nahariya was reunited with the rest of the Jewish State. Under the terms of the partition, Nahariya had been excluded from what would become the nation of Israel.
1948: Israeli settlers established Shomrat, a new Kibbutz just north of
Acre
. Shomrat is variation of the Hebrew word Shomer, meaning “to watch” or “one who watches.” Given Shomrat's proximity to the Northern border and
Mediterranean Sea
, the name has more than a poetic significance.
1948: During the War of Independence, the Israeli Air Force went into action as a combat force for the first time. The force was made up of four Messerschmitts (ME-109’s). The planes had been bought in
Czechoslovakia
and shipped to
Israel
by sea. There was no time test the hastily assembled aircraft before sending them into combat. The Israelis did allow themselves the luxury of painting the Star of David on the planes before they took flight. The four planes were sent to attack the Egyptian armored column at
Ashdod
, which was only twenty miles from Tel Aviv. One of the four planes was flown by Ezer Weizman, the father of the Israeli Air Force and later President of
Israel
. Following a series of bombing and strafing runs, the Egyptian forces broke off their advance. But as with all “successes” the Israelis paid a heavy price. One of the four planes was shot down reducing the Air Force by 25%. Eddie Cohen, a volunteer from
South Africa
was the first combat pilot to give his life defending the Jewish state. In one of the minor ironies, the ME-109, the first combat aircraft of the Israeli Air Force, had been the pride of the German Air Force during World War II. The other two pilots were Lou Lenart and Mordechai “Modi” Alon.
1948: The British halted Jewish immigration from the DP camps on
Cyprus
to
Israel
. Under the terms of the UN cease fire agreement then being negotiated, no person of military age was to be allowed to immigrate to
Palestine
. This presented no problem for the Arabs, since their attacking armies were not immigrants. Once again, the even-handedness of the international community turned out to be a fist punching the Jews.
1948: In an article published in the British Medical Journal Aaron Valero was the first to recognize and describe the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in Palestine
1948: Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet representative to the U.N. attacks the five Arab nations that have invaded Israel expressing his dismay that the invading Arab armies are “carrying out military operations aimed at the suppression of the National Liberation Movement in Palestine.”
1948: Lehi, the Irgun and the Palmach were dissolved with most of these groups members joining the IDF.
1950: Jacob Rosenheim, president and founder of Agudath Israel World Organization arrived in Israel today so that he can take up residence in Tel Aviv. Many of the activities of the organization which has 200,000 followers are now being directed from Israel.
1950: It was announced today that Israeli actress Nechama Davidit will come to New York during June to study at the summer school of the Neighborhood Playhouse.
1951(13th of Sivan, 5710): Fanny Brice, American singer, comedienne, and actress passed away. Born Fania Borach, in New York in 1891, Brice gained fame playing in the Ziegfeld Follies and later as the radio character Baby Snooks.
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