page_title: Jewish Brigade
section_title: Involvement in the Bricha
hierarchical_section_title: Jewish Brigade / Post-war deployment and disbandment / Involvement in the Bricha
caption_attribution_description: English: Four thousand years of Jewish history come to life in Arthur Szyk's Visual History of Israel, completed by the artist in 1948, the year of Statehood, and printed in 1949. Biblical King David (top left) and his son King Solomon (top right), shown holding a copy of 'Song of Songs', flank three famous Biblical personages: the warrior Hur, Moses the deliverer, and Moses' brother and high priest, Aaron.The blue Star of David dominates the print, with the 'Crown of the Good Name'; directly above, and Hillel's dictum 'If I am not for myself, Who will be for me?' below. The clusters of grapes symbolize the historic bounty and productivity of the land. This is a direct reference to the large grapes Joshua and Caleb brought back after a brief spy trip into the Land of Israel, before Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. The phrase, 'The time of our freedom', also appears with the Star, referring to the Deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.Bar Kochba sits to the left of the Star. He led a temporarily successful revolt against the Romans 65 years after they had destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (in 70 C.E.). His shield displays the Star of David, which symbolizes God’s security and strength. The prophet Ezekiel sits to the right. He foretold the return of the Jews to their Homeland after their 70 years of captivity in Babylon.The two tablets containing the Ten Commandments anchor the lower section, flanked on the right by the pioneer builder (chalutz) and on the left by the soldier of the Jewish Brigade. The activity of both has been essential to the well-being and success of Israel, especially since 1948. The oranges next to the soldier, now exported worldwide, mirror the grapes on the opposite side as a contemporary expression of Israel's accomplishment. Two fierce Lions of Judah sit poised at both sides of the base of the Decalogue.The Hebrew language script both above and below Bar Kochba and Ezekiel proclaim: 'Praise be You God, our God, King of the Universe, who had kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to commemorate this time.' This prayer for newness and celebration refers to the blessing of the creation of the New State of Israel.The historic organization of Israel into twelve tribes is depicted throughout the painting by the twelve yellow colored symbols, one for each of the twelve tribes. Interspersed among the four vertical columns, these signs of the tribes integrate the composition just as the tribes they symbolize represented the heart of the Nation of ancient Israel long ago.The Visual History of Nations Series consists of nine highly illuminated and brilliantly designed visual histories of selected individual founding and member countries of the United Nations. This series of images was commissioned in 1945 by Canadian philatelist Kasimir Bileski and originally referred to as The United Nations Series. Each print was created as an exquisite frontispiece and title page for a unique international stamp album. All images reflect the artistic genius of the 20th century’s greatest miniaturist illuminator.Of the approximately sixty colorful and highly detailed images commissioned by Bileski only nine countries were completed and printed prior to Szyk’s sudden death in 1951.
context_page_description: The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in World War II. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv Jews from Mandatory Palestine and commanded by Anglo-Jewish officers. It served in the latter stages of the Italian Campaign, and was disbanded in 1946.
  After the war, some members of the Brigade assisted Holocaust survivors to emigrate to Mandatory Palestine as part of Aliyah Bet, in defiance of British restrictions.
context_section_description: Many members of the Jewish Brigade assisted and encouraged the implementation of the Bricha. In the vital, chaotic months immediately before and after the German surrender, members of the Jewish Brigade supplied British Army uniforms and documents to Jewish civilians who were facilitating the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivors to Mandatory Palestine. The most notable example was Yehuda Arazi, code name "Alon," who had been wanted for two years by the British authorities in Palestine for stealing rifles from the British police and giving them to the Haganah. In 1945, Arazi and his partner Yitzhak Levy travelled from Mandatory Palestine to Egypt by train, dressed as sergeants from the Royal Engineers. From Egypt, the pair travelled through North Africa to Italy and, using false names, joined the Jewish Brigade, where Arazi secretly became responsible for organising illegal immigration. This included purchasing boats, establishing hachsharot, supplying food, and compiling lists of survivors.
  When Arazi reached the Jewish Brigade in Tarvisio in June 1945, he informed some of the Haganah members serving in the Brigade that other units had made contact with Jewish survivors. Arazi impressed upon the Brigade their importance in Europe and urged the soldiers to find 5,000 Jewish survivors to bring to Mandatory Palestine. Jewish Brigade officer Aharon Hoter-Yishai recalled that he doubted the existence of 5,000 Jewish survivors; regardless, the Jewish Brigade accepted Arazi's challenge without question. For many Jewish soldiers, this new mission justified their previous service in the British forces that had preceded the creation of the Jewish Brigade.
  Another Jewish Brigade soldier actively involved in the Bricha was Israel Carmi, who was discharged from the Jewish Brigade in the autumn of 1945. After a few months, the Secretariat of Kibbutz HaMeuchad approached Carmi about returning to Europe to assist with the Bricha. Carmi's previous experience working with survivors made him an important asset for the Bricha movement. He returned to Italy in 1946 and attended the 22nd Zionist Congress in Basel, where he gained insight into how the Berihah operated throughout Europe. Carmi proposed establishing a second Berihah route across Europe in the event that the existing route collapsed. In addition, he also proposed dividing the Bricha leadership into parts: Mordechai Surkis, working from Paris, would be responsible for the financial workings; Ephraim Dekel in Prague would run the administrative element, and oversee the Berihah in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany; and Carmi, working from Prague, would oversee activities in Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Romania.
  Jewish Brigade soldiers, assisting with the Bricha, specifically took advantage of the chaotic situation in post-war Europe to move Holocaust survivors between countries and across borders. Soldiers were intentionally placed by Merkaz Lagolah at transfer points and border crossings to assist the Jewish DPs (displaced persons). For example, Judenberg, a sub-camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, acted as a Berihah point where Brigade soldiers and partisans worked together to assist DPs. Similarly, in the city of Graz, a Bricha point was centred in a hotel where a legendary Bricha figure, Pinchas Zeitag, also known as Pini the Red or "Gingi," organised transports westwards to Italy. One of the Jewish Brigade's greatest contributions to the Bricha was the use of their British Army vehicles to transport survivors (up to a thousand people at a time) in truck convoys to Pontebba, the brigade's motor depot. These secret transports generally arrived at 2 or 3 a.m., and the Brigade always ensured that DPs were greeted by a soldier or an officer and welcomed into a dining hall with food and tea. Everyone was given a medical examination, a place to sleep, and clean clothing; and within a few days the group was moved to hachsharot in Bari, Bologna and Modena. After recuperating and completing their hachshara training, the DPs were taken to ports where boats would illegally set sai
caption: 1948 Art Celabrating the Birth of Israel showing a soldier of the Jewish Brigade at lower left by Arthur Szvk
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2100", "Image ImageLength": "2625", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "5", "Image ImageDescription": "Four thousand years of Jewish history come to life in Arthur Szyk's Visual History of Israel, completed by the artist in 1948, the year of Statehood, and printed in 1949. Biblical King David (top left) and his son King Solomon (top right), shown holding a copy of 'Song of Songs', flank three famous Biblical personages: the warrior Hur, Moses the deliverer, and Moses' brother and high priest, Aaron.\n\nThe blue Star of David dominates the print, with the 'Crown of the Good Name'; directly above, and Hillel's dictum 'If I am not for myself, Who will be for me?'  below. The clusters of grapes symbolize the historic bounty and productivity of the land. This is a direct reference to the large grapes Joshua and Caleb brought back after a brief spy trip into the Land of Israel, before Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. The phrase, 'The time of our freedom', also appears with the Star, referring to the Deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.\n\nBar Kochba sits to the left of the Star. He led a temporarily successful revolt against the Romans 65 years after they had destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (in 70 C.E.). His shield displays the Star of David, which symbolizes God\u2019s security and strength. The prophet Ezekiel sits to the right. He foretold the return of the Jews to their Homeland after their 70 years of captivity in Babylon.\n\nThe two tablets containing the Ten Commandments anchor the lower section, flanked on the right by the pioneer builder (chalutz) and on the left by the soldier. The activity of both has been essential to the well-being and success of Israel, especially since 1948. The oranges next to the soldier, now exported worldwide, mirror the grapes on the opposite side as a contemporary expression of Israel's accomplishment. Two fierce Lions of Judah sit poised at both sides of the base of the Decalogue.\n\nThe Hebrew language script both above and below Bar Kochba and Ezekiel proclaim: 'Praise be You God, our God, King of the Universe, who had kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to commemorate this time.' This prayer for newness and celebration refers to the blessing of the creation of the New State of Israel.\n\nThe historic organization of Israel into twelve tribes is depicted throughout the painting by the twelve yellow colored symbols, one for each of the twelve tribes. Interspersed among the four vertical columns, these signs of the tribes integrate the composition just as the tribes they symbolize represented the heart of the Nation of ancient Israel long ago.\n\nThe Visual History of Nations Series consists of nine highly illuminated and brilliantly designed visual histories of selected individual founding and member countries of the United Nations. This series of images was commissioned in 1945 by Canadian philatelist Kasimir Bileski and originally referred to as The United Nations Series. Each print was created as an exquisite frontispiece and title page for a unique international stamp album. All images reflect the artistic genius of the 20th century\u2019s greatest miniaturist illuminator.\n\nOf the approximately sixty colorful and highly detailed images commissioned by Bileski only nine countries were completed and printed prior to Szyk\u2019s sudden death in 1951.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "4", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:01 16:31:51", "Image ExifOffset": "3516", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3666", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11891", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2100", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2625"}