NCJ Number
62615
Date Published
1959
Length
200 pages
Annotation
THIS NARRATIVE RELATES TERRORIST ACTIVITIES IN ENGLAND AND IN ISRAEL DURING THE BRITISH OCCUPATION BEFORE ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE. THE 'AUTHOR' IS A COMPOSITE OF SEVERAL REAL TERRORISTS.
Abstract
THE BOOK BEGINS WITH AN EXPLANATION OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES THAT WERE ACTIVE IN ISRAEL DURING THE BRITISH MANDATE ERA. THE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE CONFIRMS MOST OF THE EVENTS RECOUNTED BY THE 'AUTHOR' AS HAVING ACTUALLY OCCURRED, ALTHOUGH DISCREPANCIES EXIST CONCERNING CERTAIN DETAILS. THE NARRATOR DESCRIBES HIS BOYHOOD ENCOUNTERS WITH ANTISEMITISM IN A EUROPEAN BOARDING SCHOOL AND HIS CONSEQUENT EXPULSION FROM THE SCHOOL. SENT TO AN AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL IN ISRAEL BY HIS MOTHER, HE EXPERIENCES A NEW SENSE OF IDENTITY AS A MEMBER OF A KIBBUTZ. LATER, HE JOINS THE LEHI, A BRANCH OF THE IRGUN, AND SERVES AS AN ASSASSIN. THE LEHI, ALSO KNOWN AS THE STERN GANG, WERE CONSIDERED OUTCASTS BY THE REST OF THE JEWISH POPULATION BECAUSE OF THEIR EXTREME VIEWS. ALTHOUGH THE IRGUN WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE BRITISH IF NECESSARY, THE LEHI WERE UNCOMPROMISINGLY ANTI-IMPERIALIST. A WAR TO THE DEATH WITH THE MANDATORY BRITISH GOVERNMENT WAS THEIR GOAL. THE NARRATIVE CONCLUDES WITH A POETIC DESCRIPTION OF ORDINARY LIFE IN ELATH, ISRAEL, IN 1954. NO REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (PRG)