Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
הנאשמים מאשימים : לוחמי חרות בפני בית-הדין הצבאי הבריטי בירושלים : הרצאות לוחמי חרות ישראל.
ha-Neʼeshamim Maʼashimim : loḥame ḥerut bi-fene bet-ha-din ha-tsevaʼi ha-Briṭi bi-Yerushalayim : hartsaʼat Loḥame Ḥerut Yiśraʼel.
1944
This document publishes the declarations made by five LEHI fighters on trial in the British Military Court in 1944 for gun possession: Zvi Tavori, David Hame'iri, Malkah-Hasyah Shapira-Lerner, Anshel Kaufman Shpeilman, and Matityahu Shmuelevits (Refa'el Birnboim). For example, Zvi Tavori refuses to recognize the jurisdiction of the British Military Court, claiming: "I received permission to possess the gun from the only government I recognize in the Land of Israel, the LEHI, the only one to restore to the people of Israel its rightful status among the nations in the form of a Hebrew state in this land." After completing his statement, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Hame'iri received a 12 year sentence, Shapira-Lerner received a 4 year sentence, Shpeilman was sentenced to 10 years, and Shmuelevits, charged with both shooting a British platoon and gun possession, was sentenced to death by hanging. Upon hearing the verdict Shmuelevits began to sing Hatikvah. The document encourages its reader to pass it along after reading it. Epilogue: The death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. After independence, Shmuelivits became an advisor to Prime Minister Menachem Begin. He died in 1995.
Collection
Part of
Underground Publications and Ephemera Printed in Palestine at End of the Palestine Mandate
These documents capture a fascinating moment in Jewish history, a turmoil-filled “interregnum” of sorts, between the destruction of European Jewry in World War II and the establishment of Israel: the violent fight against the British, efforts to rescue Jewish refugees in Europe and smuggle them into Eretz Israel, diplomatic maneuvering over the end of the British Mandate, the proposed partition of Palestine, and anticipation of a war with the Arab world. But this collection does more than merely capture this moment. It adds nuance and layers to a dominant discourse that too often suffers from overly simplistic, ahistorical, and context-free narratives about the history of Zionism, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Metadata
- Language
- Hebrew
View all metadata for this item







