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Abstract
The Lehi, a fringe Jewish paramilitary group created in 1940, conducted a concerted terrorist campaign against the British authorities in Palestine during and after World War II, proclaiming that its activities were undertaken in the name of national liberation. Lehi was founded and led by Avraham Stern, also known as “Yair.” Scholar, intellectual, and poet, Stern developed a fundamental ideology of national and messianic Jewish terrorism, which became the ideological basis not only for the work of the Lehi, but also for later Jewish terrorist activism. The present article examines the intellectual foundations of Lehi terrorism and how its intellectual and ideological principles influenced Lehi's most controversial activities—internal terrorism and the execution of its own members. In conclusion, the author traces the impact of Stern's intellectual legacy on later generations of Jewish terrorists.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to his assistant Adi Frimark for her dedicated work, to Dr. Ron Schleifer for his useful comments, and to Boris Dolin for his introduction to the Lehi Museum and Archives.
Notes
For Stern's early life, see Moshe Shamir, Yair— Roman biographi [Yair—A Biographical Novel] (Lod: Zmira Bitan, 2001), 15.
The most complete collection of Stern's works and letters was published by Lehi veterans many years after his death. See Avraham Stern, Be-dami tehi la-ad: Shirim, Michtavim U-Maamarim [In My Blood Shall You Live Forever: Songs, Letters, and Essays] (Tel-Aviv: Yair Publishers, 1990), 7. This is the 9th edition of the collection.
Ofra Lax, Only Death Releases from the Ranks, October 4, 2002, http://WorldWarw.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/35628.
Many of Stern's personal papers, including certificates and correspondence relating to his studies and travel, personal notes, poems, and miscellanies are filed as part of series A549 at the Central Zionist Archives (CZA) in Jerusalem.
Natan Yellin-Mor, Lohamei Herut Yisrael [The Fighters for Israel's Freedom] (Jerusalem: Shikmona, 1974), 192–196.
Many of these pamphlets and publications were collected at the time, sometimes at great personal risk, by the present author's grandfather, Shlomo Davidovich Shpiro, who worked at the Jewish National Library. Today they are kept at the Israel National Library in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.
These newspapers were not underground bulletins but open public media. They were printed with the official permission of the Polish Ministry of the Interior, and were distributed openly in kiosks and bookshops. Stern decided not to publish the names of article authors, in order to avoid possible British reprisals.
Yosef Heller, Lehi: Ideologiyah u-folitikah 1940–1949 [Lehi: Ideology and Politics 1940–1949] (Jerusalem: Shazar Center, 1989), 154.
Ibid., 63.
Stern (see note 2 above), 144–145.
Yellin-Mor (see note 5 above), 83.
Stern (see note 2 above), 144–145.
Heller (see note 8 above), 78.
Date of poem unknown. Stern (see note 2 above), 125.
Ibid., 144.
Stern uses the term “kosher” to mean “the accepted way,” thus once again blending a religious flavor into his writings. See ibid.
Many of the Lehi bulletins and newspapers are stored at the Lehi Museum in Tel Aviv. They are available for researchers at the Museum Archives.
Unlike most Lehi members, who were always armed and ready to use their weapons to avoid arrest, Stern did not carry a gun.
The date of the poem is unknown. See Yellin-Mor (see note 5 above), 59–60.
Ibid., 60.
Common military drill terms in Hebrew.
During the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), some of the Jewish prayers are recited while holding a straight palm tree branch (traditionally referred to as the “Lulav”) in one's right hand.
Stern (see note 2 above), 58. It is worth noting that in the late 19th century, that is, shortly before the time considered in the present article, the question of organ music as an accompaniment to the liturgy in the synagogue became the focus of heated debate in Central Europe. Whether Stern in the poem cited is borrowing a generic European liturgical attribute or relying on the organ's having been sufficiently “judaized,” remains a topic for a different study, one reaching beyond the scope of a paper on Stern's messianic associations with terrorism. ER: Editor's note.
Traditionally, Kaddish is a communal prayer, recited only in the presence of ten or more men. Cf. Natan Yellin-Mor (see note 5 above), 62. For the life and death of Raziel, see Daniel Levine, The Birth of the Irgun Zvai Leumi: A Jewish Resistance Movement (Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 1991).
Stern (see note 2 above), 33.
The photographs and bulletin are filed at CZA A549/14. The photos have since been reproduced in many books on Stern and the Lehi.
Natan Yellin-Mor (see note 5 above), 84.
There are numerous debates among historians, former Lehi members, and former British police officials concerning the question of how the British discovered Stern's hideout. The details of just what happened in the apartment once Stern was found are also shrouded in controversy.
Stern's burial certificate is filed at the CZA A549/26.
Moyne has had the charge of anti-Semitism leveled at him by some critics, but without any real evidence to support the claim. Moyne's efforts to have the wife of the British fascist leader Oswald Mosely interned during the war are documented at the UK National Archives, KV/1363.
Historians and former Lehi members are in disagreement about the exact number of Jews killed by the Lehi. Some put the number as high as 42, but this figure includes both members and non-members of the Lehi. See Nachman Ben Yehuda, Political Assassinations by Jews (New York: SUNY Press, 1992), 370.
Stern, 1990 (see note 2 above), 19.
Ibid., 27.
Ibid., 62.
The British officer who violently interrogated Zeroni was assassinated by the Irgun two weeks after Zeroni's escape. Shimon Cohen, “EZEL Commander Binyamin Zeroni Died,” Channel 7 News, November 16, 2008, http://WorldWarw.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/181679.
The CID was successful in recruiting many sources inside underground organizations and even in cooperating with some of the leaders. For the most comprehensive study of the CID in Palestine, including abundant material on the handling of agents and informers, see Eldad Haruvi, Ha-boleshet Chokeret: CID Be-eretz Yisrael 1920–1948]. The Police Investigates: The CID in the Land of Israel 1920–1948] (Tel Aviv: Ariel Publishers, 2011).
Ibid., quoting historian Prof. Yehuda Lapidot.
Gil Haskin, Revenge on the Internal Jewish Front during World War II, http://WorldWarw.gilihaskin.com/Article.Asp?ArticleNum=652.
Tzelnik was part of a small group within the Lehi which contemplated returning to the Irgun after the death of Stern. They were threatened with death if they left. See ibid.
Ibid. See also Y. Okev (pseudonym), Maasim Shechorim [Black Deeds] (Tel Aviv: Oz Publishers, 1949).
Some Lehi members held Giladi responsible for the death of Lehi member Pesach Levy, who committed suicide in June 1943. See Yosef Heler, “Lehi ben Yamin U-smol” [“Lehi Between Right and Left”], Cathedrah 71 (March 1994), http://WorldWarw.snunit.k12.il/heb_journals/katedra/71074.html.
Giladi (Green) Eliyahu, Memorial Site to the Fallen, http://WorldWarw.izkor.gov.il/Halalkorot.aspx?id=505591.
“Yehuda Arye Levy” in Yizkor—Official Memorial Site to the Fallen, State of Israel—Ministry of Defense, http://WorldWarw.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=505007.
Uri Katzir, “… Dfikato Hayta Hiyunit” [“… Killing Him Was Essential”], January 9, 2008, http://www.aplaton.co.il/story_392. Katzir identifies some of the information as coming from Meir Pail and Pinhas Yorman.
His gravestone bears the vague inscription, “Died under tragic circumstances while protecting the Homeland for the good of his nation.”
Katzir (see note 44 above), ibid.
Avraham Stern, Unknown Soldiers (poem), 1934. Lyrics available at http://shironet.mako.co.il/artist?type=lyrics&lang=1&prfid=1775&wrkid=5403.
The two members arrested while carrying explosives were sentenced to nine years' imprisonment, but were pardoned three years later. See Shelly Levy and Yonatan Ehrlich, Political Violence by Jews in Israel (Jerusalem: Knesset Parliamentary Research Service, 2005), 7–10.
Tzrifin, formerly Sarafend, is a large military camp established by the British forces during World War II. The group was given the nickname in the media since the trial of its members took place at the Tzrifin Military Court.
For a scathing analysis of the group's ideology, see Yehoshua Bar Yossef, “Hizayon Shel Malchut Yisrael” [“The Vision of the Kingdom of Israel”], Davar, May 10, 1957, http://jpress.org.il/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Skin=TAUHe&BaseHref=DAV/1957/05/10&EntityId=Ar00301&ViewMode=HTML.
Formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were re-established in July 1953, but relations remained soured for a long time.