Re: [Marxism] To Einde - about Lehi proposal to the Nazis

[" Ian Pace" <ian@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>

> Ian, can you make more clear which text is from which source? Perhaps
> insert some line breaks (====). I cannot distinguish what exactly is from
> where in your previous post. Thanks.
Sure. Everything underneath is from a single source until one finds
asterisks.

Solidarity,
Ian

******
Ha'aretz, February 4, 1983.  By B. Michael.

[LEHI (Hebrew acronym for Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) was one of the
three Jewish underground organizations in Palestine.  It was formed
following a split in ETZEL (the organization headed then by Begin).  One of
its leaders during the period described below is current Israeli Foreign
Minister Yitzhak Shamir.  Both ETZEL and LEHI were often referred to as
fascist by the labor organized third underground, the Haganah.  At one time
Haganah members would capture members of ETZEL and LEHI and turn them over
to the British.


A Document on a Trite Subject
==============================

Much has already been written and said about the sad and shameful attempts
of LEHI to establish contacts with Nazi Germany.  I believe that the German
side of the matter has not yet been publicized.  Deep in the pile of
documents that I collect compulsively there is one that presents these
contacts from the Nazi perspective.  An interesting document.

It has become of interest once again as a result of statements by Foreign
Minister Yitzhak Shamir, one of the best known leaders of LEHI, concerning
the Avneri-Peled-Arnon-Arafat meeting.  And there is indeed no comparison,
because I am not Begin and I don't consider every enemy a "Nazi".

And there is certainly no comparison because of the date.  1941.  The
Nurenberg laws are already in force.  The yellow star has been forced upon
the Jews of Poland, Holland, and if I am not mistaken also France.  Burning
synagogues are a daily occurrence.  The murder of Jews is no longer a
secret.  And nevertheless LEHI establishes contacts with the Germans.

Here is the story as it was seen from the German side:

On January 21, 1941, a very interesting document was sent from Ankara
in Turkey.  It was sent by Franz von Papen, then Nazi Germany's
ambassador to Turkey, to the Nazi Foreign Office in Berlin.

The document in question was classified as "secret", and its identifying
number is E234151-8.

To this document Ambassador von Papen attached another document, also
classified as "secret", which included an intelligence report from the Naval
Attache, who resided in Istanbul.  This intelligence report was written on
January 11, 1941, and is stamped with the official seal of the Nazi embassy
in Turkey, which asserts that it was received on January 18, 1941.

The intelligence report included three sections.  Two of them are not of
interest to us now.  Section 3, on the other hand, is very interesting.  And
so writes a German officer to Ambassador von Papen:

      "Dear Honorable Mr. Ambassador!
Attached to this letter you will find the following:
1. ....
2. ....
3. A proposal of the National Military Organization in Palestine for
   a solution to the Jewish problem in Europe.

  With my allegiance,
  I am yours,
   ( -- )"

(In order to prevent any mistake, it should be noted that despite the fact
that throughout the letter the German intelligence officer refers to the
National Military Organization [ETZEL's full name -- YA], and even
transliterates the words "Irgun Tzva'i Le'umi" in German, he actually means
LEHI, and not ETZEL.  In its early days this group was called "The National
Military Organization in the Land of Israel", and the name LEHI was born
later).

And when we arrive at the detailed report on section 3, we read as follows:

      "Guidelines for the proposal of the National Military Organization in
Palestine, concerning the solution of the Jewish question in Europe,
AND THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF THE NATIONAL MILITARY ORGANIZATION
IN THE WAR ON THE SIDE OF GERMANY (My emphasis, B.M.).

      "... The National Military Organization, being aware of the positive
approach of the Reich's government to Zionist activity inside
Germany, and to the Zionist emigration plans, believes that:

      "1. A common interest is possible between the establishment of a new
   order in Europe according to the German conception, and the
   national aspirations of the Jewish people, as expressed by the
   National Military Organization.

      "2. Cooperation is possible in the future between the New Germany and
   a New Hebrew National Entity.  (In German -- Voelkisch-Nationalen)

      "3. The establishment of the historical Jewish state on a national
   and totalitarian basis, which will maintain contacts with the
   German Reich, is a German interest, for strengthening and
   protecting the German power posts which will be established in
   the near future in the Near East.

      "Based on these points, and under the condition that the government
of the German Reich recognize the national claims mentioned above,
the National Military Organization offers to take an active part in
the war on the side of Germany.

      " ...

      "Cooperation with the Israeli liberation movement is also in
accordance with one of the latest speeches of the
Reichskantsler[sp?], in which Mr. Hitler emphasized that he will use
any combination and any coalition in order to isolate the British
and beat them..."

Later in the document its author describes historical landmarks on the path
of this National Military Organization, tells of its start in the
Revisionist Zionist movement, its ties with "Herr Z. Jabotinsky", and the
split that was caused by "the pro-English stance of the Revisionist movement
in Palestine" (and from this it is clear that it is LEHI that is being
referred to and not ETZEL).

Into this historical summary enter a few enlightening statements that
demonstrate a surprising familiarity with the affairs of the Jewish
settlement in Palestine, and with some interesting traits of that
"organization".  For example:

      "As opposed to other Zionist movements, the National Military
Organization does not accept the notion that the homeland can only
be taken over by slow and clandestine colonization.  The
Organization believes that `war and sacrifice' are the only
instruments for the occupation and liberation of Palestine"...

Or,

      "The National Military Organization is ideologically and structurally
very close to the totalitarian movements in Europe"...

*****

'The main group was the National Military Organization (the Irgun), which
began to direct its operations against the British administration in
Palestine after the publication of the white paper in 1939. Later that year,
when the Irgun called off its campaign against the British, a split took
place. the more militant wing, led by Avraham Stern, seceded from the Irgun
to form Lohamei Heurt Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), better
known as Lehi, after its Hebrew acronym, or the Stern Gang. The Stern Gang
was so hostile to the British that it sought contact with the Axis powers in
order to drive the British out of Palestine' - from Avi Shlaim - 'The Iron
Wall: Israel and the Arab World' (Penguin, 2000), p24

*****

'At the same time that the mufti was asking for the Nazis' help, Avraham
Stern, the Lechi commander, suggested establishing a Jewish alliance with
Nazi Germany to end British rule in Palestine. He was guided by the same
principle: my enemy's enemy is my friend' [this passage then has a footnote
citing Yosef Heller's 'Leh'i: 1940-1949' in Hebrew, vol II, p. 530] - from
Tom Segev - 'One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British
Mandate', (Abacus, 2000), p464n

*****

'In the second half of 1940, a few members of the Irgun Zvai Leumi
(National Military Organization)--the anti-British terrorist group
sponsored by the Revisionists and known by its acronym Etzel, and to the
British simply as the Irgun--made contact with representatives of
Fascist Italy, offering to cooperate against the British. Soon the Etzel
split, and the group headed by Avraham "Yair" Stern formed itself into
the Lehi (from the initials of its Hebrew name, Lohamei Herut
Yisrael--Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), also known as the Stern
Gang. A representative of this group met with a German foreign ministry
official and offered to help Nazi Germany in its war against the
British. The Germans understood that the group aimed to establish an
independent state based on the totalitarian principles of the Fascist
and Nazi regimes. Many years after he tried to forge this lik with
Nazis, a former Lehi leader explained what had guided his men at the
time: 'Our obligation was to fight the enemy. We were justified in
taking aid from the Nazi oppressor, who was in this case the enemy of
our enemy--the British.' " - from Tom Segev - 'The Seventh Million: Israelis
and the Holocaust' (Hill and Wang, 1993), p. 33

*****

'A section of the Irgun headed by Avraham Stern, known as Lehi or the Stern
Gang, made an offer to Hitler to assist in the conquest of Palestine in
exchange for the transfer of the Jews of Europe. Alarmed by this proposal,
Stern's envoy, Naphtali Lubentchik, was arrested by the authorities in Acre
on his return from Beirut, and a year later Stern was tracked down by the
British police, aided by bothe the Haganan and the Irgun, and shot'. - from
Dan Cohn-Sherbok & Dawoud El-Alami - 'The Palestine-Israeli Conflict'
(Oneworld, 2001), p39 (note that this comes from the Zionist half of this
book written by Cohn-Sherbok)

*****

'In opposition to the Haganah, the Irgun believed that it must continue to
fight the British in Palestine, and try to seize power. Avraham Stern, who
had formed a breakaway 'Irgun in Israel' movement (also known as the Stern
Gang) , tried to make contact with Fascist Italy in the hope that, if
Mussolini were to conquer the Middle East, he would allow a Jewish State to
be set up in Palestine. When Mussolini's troops were deeated in North
Africa, Stern tried to make contact with Nazi Germany, hoping to sign a pact
with Hitler which would lead to a Jewish State once Hitler had defeated
Britain. After two members of Stern's group had killed the Tel Aviv police
chief and two of his officers, Stern himself was caught and killed. His
followers continued on their path of terror.' - from Martin Gilbert -
'Israel: A History' (Doubleday/Black Swan, 1998/9), p. 111-112

*****

'Avraham Stern, code-named Ya'ir - was a leading underground fighter in
Palestine and founder of the Lohamei Herut Israel, (Stern Group). In 1939 he
was imprisoned with other members of Lehi command until June 1940. He
doubted that the Allies would win the war and tried to contact the Germans,
to persuade them to adopt a pro-Jewish policy in Palestine. He was captured
by the British mandate authorities in Palestine and executed. ' - Simon
Wiesenthal Centre on Stern

******






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