Zionism is nationalism for Jews in places where Jews aren’t allowed to assimilate. It began in the late Nineteenth Century and drew most of its followers from the anti-Semitic states of Eastern Europe.[1] For the most part, Eastern European Jews preferred to emigrate to Western Europe or—best of all—the United States. After the First World War, American immigration restrictions choked down on Eastern European immigrants of all varieties. The Depression had much the same effect on Western Europe. Then Hitler came to power in Germany. Suddenly, British-ruled Palestine began to look attractive. The British government “recognized” a Jewish Agency as the spokesman for the “Yishuv,” the Jews in Palestine.
Then came the Second World War. Jewish emigration from Nazi-ruled Europe slowed to the occasional droplet. Early German victories forced Britain to play offense from its back foot. To this end, Britain had two “intelligence” organizations with a special interest in Nazi Europe. The Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) fomented and supported resistance in occupied countries. MI-9 tried to rescue the crews of downed British planes. At first, they concentrated their work in Western Europe. By 1944, they both had an interest in Eastern Europe.
While there were lots of agent candidates who knew Western Europe and its languages, equivalent people who were familiar with eastern Europe were thin on the ground. Where to find people who could pass anonymously in Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, or Yugoslavia? After a while, it occurred to someone that British Palestine had a bunch. Here, the Jewish Agency had begun to learn of the Holocaust and wanted to know what might be done to help the besieged Jews.[2] S.O.E., MI-9, and the Jewish Agency collaborated in recruiting 250 male and female volunteers; approving 150 of them for training; and sending 37 behind German lines. They would be parachuted into Eastern Europe, where they would work with resistance movements, set up evasion lines for downed aircrew, and investigate the situation of the Jews.
By Spring 1944, the situation in the region had become highly unstable. A revolt against the puppet-government of Slovakia was about to begin. Traditional conservative nationalists struggled with fascists for control of Hungary. The Red Army had made a dramatic advance westward in Spring and early Summer 1944. If the Germans were pinned down by the Red Army, their allies in Hungary and Slovakia might be toppled. Or not.
Most of the 37 parachuted in between March and September 1944. Some fought with the Slovaks and some with the Yugoslav partisans, while some went to Budapest at the moment of the German coup to put the fascist Arrow Cross in power. Twelve were captured and seven of these were executed.[3] None of them accomplished their original missions. Nevertheless, the effort has inspired interest.[4] Why?
Perhaps because how we live our lives is more important than what we accomplish in them? Courage and self-sacrifice are recurring themes in the world’s art, literature, and myth.
[1] The Russian Empire, which then included most of Poland; Rumania; and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Subsequently, Poland and Hungary became independent states.
[2] See: Walter Laqueur, The Terrible Secret (1980) on the Yishuv’s incomprehension of the Holocaust.
[3] Of the seven who were executed, the most famous is Hanna Szenes, a sort of Jewish Noor Inayat Khan.
[4] Amos Ettinger, Blind Jump (1992); Judith Baumel-Schwartz, Perfect Heroes (2010); Taviva Ofer, Haviva Reick (2014); Matti Friedman, Out of the Sky (2026).
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