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Prologue to Unit III
- Israel
On May 8, 1945, World
War II in Europe ended. Over 35 million people
died in one of the bloodiest wars in human history.
The European Continent was totally devastated
- economically, socially, politically and physically.
It would take many years for its restoration.
For our people, the end
of the war brought home the full realization
of the terrible destruction and horrible annihilation
of European Jewry. Although some knowledge of
what was happening in Hitler's Europe was known
during the war, very few Jews fully understood
the extent, the nature, and the totality of
that destruction.
Genocide
A new word was added to
the world's vocabulary - Genocide - the systematic
destruction of a people or nation. In a period
of less than six years, over one-third of the
world's Jewish population was slaughtered in
the most horrible way - destroyed for no other
reason than having Jewish blood. Eastern Europe,
especially Poland, which was once the cultural,
religious and social center of world Jewish
Life, was gone forever.
Although other terrible
tragedies had befallen the Jewish People before
- the destruction of the Second Temple and exile
from Judea, the Crusades, the expulsion from
Spain and from nearly every country of Europe,
the Inquisition, slaughters and pogroms - none
seemed on the same level as the Holocaust.
Refugees
1945 was the lowest point
in modern Jewish history. We were faced with
the urgent task of rescuing those who had survived
and helping them to rebuild their lives in a
world which was not ready to accept them. Palestine
was still closed to these survivors by the British.
The countries from which they originally came
were not ready to accept them back (in fact,
some Jews, when they did return, faced new pogroms)
and most of the countries of the world continued
to keep their doors closed to these refugees.
And yet nearly three years
to the day of the end of World War II in Europe,
the dream and hope of two thousand years was
fulfilled with the establishment of the State
of Israel. How could this happen? It was beyond
rational belief. How did this happen? It was
a living miracle in the lifetime of your grandparents.
Israel: Sacrifice, Courage,
Heroism
The story of this struggle
to create the state and to save the survivors
is a story of sacrifice, courage and heroism.
It is a story of survivors with a strong will
to live and to recreate their lives. It is the
story that will enfold to you in the Israel
Section of this Study Guide and during your
stay in Israel.
CHAPTERS
XII.
Shivat Tzion - The Return to Zion
XIII. The Yeshuv - During
the Shoah
XIV. B’riha - The
Illegal Immigration
XV. The Struggle for
Independence and the Birth of the State of Israel
(1945-1948)
XVI. The War of Independence
(1947-1949)
XVII. Yom Hazikaron and
Yom Ha’atzmaut
XVIII. Jerusalem
XIX. The Legacy: The
War of Independence and the Current Peace Process
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