On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. The often repeated Psalm 137 from the book of the Psalter, compiled during the first Jewish captivity in Babylon (VI century BC), contains the well-known oath:
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand dry up
Let my tongue stick to my palate …"
Recently, I have heard many times: "Stalin created Israel." There was a desire to understand this in detail. Here are the milestones in the establishment of the State of Israel in chronological order. I will omit the period of the Egyptian pharaohs, Roman legionaries and crusaders, and begin chronological description from the end of the 19th century.
Year 1882 … The beginning of the first aliyah (waves of emigration of Jews to Eretz Israel). In the period up to 1903, about 35 thousand Jews were resettled in the province of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine, fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe. Baron Edmond de Rothschild provides enormous financial and organizational assistance. During this period, the cities of Zichron Ya'akov were founded. Rishon LeZion, Petah Tikva, Rehovot and Rosh Pina.
Settlers
Year 1897 … The first world Zionist congress in the Swiss city of Basel. Its purpose is to create a national home for Jews in Palestine, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At this conference, Theodor Herzel was elected president of the World Zionist Organization. (It should be noted that in modern Israel there is practically no city where one of the central streets would not bear the name of Herzel. Something reminds me …) Herzel conducts numerous negotiations with the leaders of European powers, including the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in order to enlist their support in creating a state for the Jews. The Russian emperor told Herzel that, apart from outstanding Jews, he was not interested in the rest.
Opening of the congress
Year 1902 … The World Zionist Organization founds the Anglo-Palestinian Bank, which later became the National Bank of Israel (Bank Leumi). The largest bank in Israel, Bank Hapoalim, was created in 1921 by the Israel Trade Union and the World Zionist Organization.
Anglo-Palestinian Bank in Hebron. 1913 year
The year is 1902. Shaare Zedek Hospital established in Jerusalem. (The first Jewish hospital in Palestine was opened by the German doctor Chaumont Frenkel in 1843 - in Jerusalem. In 1854, the Meir Rothschild hospital was opened in Jerusalem. The Bikur Holim hospital was founded in 1867, although it existed as a medicine since 1826 The Hadassah Hospital was founded in Jerusalem in 1912 by a one-shift women's Zionist organization from the United States. Assuta Hospital was founded in 1934, Rambam Hospital in 1938.)
Former building of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem
Year 1904. The beginning of the second aliyah. In the period before 1914, about 40 thousand Jews moved to Palestine. The second wave of emigration was caused by a series of Jewish pogroms on the territory of the Russian Empire, the most famous of which was the Chisinau pogrom of 1903. The second aliyah organized the kibbutz movement. (A kibbutz is an agricultural commune with common property, equality in labor, consumption, and other attributes of communist ideology.)
Winery in Rishon Lezion 1906th year.
The year is 1906. Lithuanian artist and sculptor Boris Shatz founds Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem.
Bezalel Academy of Arts
The year is 1909. Creation in Palestine of the paramilitary Jewish organization Hashomer, the purpose of which was self-defense and the protection of settlements from the raids of Bedouins and robbers who stole herds from Jewish peasants.
Zipora Zayd
The year is 1912. In Haifa, the Jewish German Ezra Foundation founded the Technion Technical School (since 1924 - the Institute of Technology). The language of instruction is German, later - Hebrew. In 1923, Albert Einstein visited him and planted a tree there.
Albert Einstein visiting the Technion
In the same 1912 year Naum Tsemach, together with Menachem Gnesin, assembles a troupe in Bialystok, Poland, which became the basis for the professional theater Habim, created in 1920 in Palestine. The first theatrical performances in Hebrew in Eretz Yisrael date back to the period of the first aliyah. On Sukkot in 1889 in Jerusalem, the Lemel school hosted the performance "Zrubabel, O Shivat Zion" ("Zrubabel, or Return to Zion") based on the play by M. Lilienblum. The play was published in Yiddish in Odessa in 1887, translated and staged by D. Elin.
Founder of the first Hebrew theater Naum Tsemakh
The year is 1915. On the initiative of Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor (more details here and here), a "Detachment of Mule Drivers" is being created as part of the British army, consisting of 500 Jewish volunteers, most of whom are immigrants from Russia. The detachment takes part in the landing of British troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the coast of Cape Helles, having lost 14 dead and 60 wounded. The detachment is disbanded in 1916.
Hero of the Russo-Japanese War Joseph Trumpeldor
The year is 1917. The Balfour Declaration is an official letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild. After the defeat in the First World War, the Ottoman Empire lost its power over Palestine (the territory that was under the rule of the British crown). Content of the declaration:
Foreign Office, November 2, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild, I have the honor to convey to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration, which expresses sympathy for the Zionist aspirations of the Jews, submitted to and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers:
"His Majesty's Government is approving of the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine and will make every effort to promote this goal; it is clearly understood that no action should be taken that could violate the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities. in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I would greatly appreciate it if you would bring this Declaration to the attention of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely, Arthur James Balfour.
In 1918, France, Italy and the United States supported the declaration.
Arthur James Balfour and the Declaration
The year is 1917. On the initiative of Rotenberg, Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor, the Jewish Legion was created as part of the British army. It includes the 38th battalion, the basis of which was the disbanded "Detachment of mule drivers", British Jews and a large number of Jews of Russian origin. In 1918, the 39th battalion was created, consisting mainly of Jewish volunteers from the United States and Canada. The 40th battalion consists of people from the Ottoman Empire. The Jewish Legion takes part in the hostilities in Palestine against the Ottoman Empire, with about 100 casualties out of a total of about 5,000 people.
Jewish Legion soldiers near the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 1917
The year is 1918. The creation of a university in Palestine was discussed at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, but the foundation stone of the University of Jerusalem took place in 1918. The University officially opened in 1925. It is noteworthy that Albert Einstein bequeathed to the Hebrew University all his letters and manuscripts (over 55 thousand titles), as well as the rights to commercial use of his image and name. This brings the university millions of dollars annually.
Opening ceremony, 1925
The year is 1918. The Haaretz newspaper was published. (The first Hebrew newspaper was published in Jerusalem in 1863 under the name "Halebanon." 1939)
Halebanon newspaper, 1878
The year is 1919. Third aliyah. Due to Britain's violation of the League of Nations mandate and the introduction of restrictions on the entry of Jews, by 1923, 40 thousand Jews moved to Palestine, mainly from Eastern Europe.
Harvesting in 1923
Year 1920. Creation of the Haganah, a Jewish military underground organization in Palestine, in response to the Arab destruction of the northern settlement of Tel Hai, which killed 8 people, including Trumpeldor, the hero of the war in Port Arthur. In the same year, a wave of pogroms swept in Palestine, in which armed Arabs robbed, raped and killed Jews with the non-interference and sometimes complicity of the police. After the Arabs killed 133 and wounded 339 Jews within one week, the highest elected body of Jewish self-government appointed a special Defense Council headed by Pinchas Rutenberg. In 1941, the Haganah fighters under British command carried out a series of sabotage raids into Vichy Syria. In one of the operations in Syria, Moshe Dayan was wounded and lost his eye. By May 1948, there were about 35 thousand people in the ranks of the Haganah.
One of the founders of the Haganah Pinchas Rutenberg
The year is 1921. Pinchas Rutenberg (revolutionary and associate of the priest Gapon, one of the founders of the Jewish self-defense units "Haganah") founded the Jaffa Electric Company, then the Palestinian Electric Company, and since 1961 the Israeli Electric Company.
Hydroelectric power station Naharaim
The year is 1922. Stalin was elected to the Politburo and Orgburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), as well as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).
The year is 1922. Representatives of 52 countries of the League of Nations (the predecessor of the UN) officially approve the British Mandate in Palestine. At that time, Palestine meant the current territories of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and part of Saudi Arabia. The 28-paragraph mandate was intended to "establish the political, administrative and economic conditions in the country for the safe formation of a Jewish national home." For example:
Article 2. The mandate is responsible for creating such political, administrative and economic conditions that will ensure the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, as set out in the preamble, and the development of institutions of self-government to also protect the civil and religious rights of the inhabitants of Palestine, regardless of race and religion.
Article 4. The relevant Jewish Agency will be recognized as a public body for the purpose of consultations and interaction with the Palestinian Authority in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of a Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and being under the control of the Administration, facilitate and participation in the development of the country.
A Zionist Organization, if its organization and establishment is appropriate in the opinion of the Mandate-holder, will be recognized by such an agency. She will take steps in consultation with His Majesty's Government to ensure the cooperation of all Jews who wish to contribute to the establishment of a Jewish national home.
Article 6. The Palestinian Authority, while ensuring that the rights and conditions of other groups of the population are not infringed upon, will facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions, and will encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency as stipulated in Article 4, dense Jewish settlement of lands, including state lands and vacant lands. not necessary for social needs.
Article 7. The Palestinian Authority will be responsible for drafting national legislation, which will include provisions to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who choose Palestine as their place of permanent residence.
More details here. It is noteworthy that under the "Palestinian Authority" the League of Nations meant the Jewish authorities and in general did not mention the idea of creating an Arab state on the mandated territory, which also included Jordan.
Territories covered by the British mandate
The year is 1924. Under the presidium of the Council of Nationalities, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR creates a Committee for the Land Arrangement of Jewish Workers (KomZET) "with the aim of attracting the Jewish population of Soviet Russia to productive labor." Among other things, KOMZET aims to create an alternative to Zionism. In 1928, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR adopted a resolution "On assigning to KomZET for the needs of continuous settlement of free lands by working Jews in the Amur strip of the Far Eastern Territory." Two years later, the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR adopts a decree "On the formation of the Biro-Bidzhan national region as part of the Far Eastern Territory", and in 1934 it receives the status of an autonomous Jewish national region.
Pioneers.
The year is 1924. Fourth Aliyah. In two years, about 63 thousand people move to Palestine. Emigrants are mainly from Poland, since by that time the USSR was already blocking the free exit of Jews. At this time, the city of Afula was founded in the Jezreel Valley on the lands purchased by the American Development Company of Eretz Israel.
Ra'anana City 1927
The year is 1927. The Palestinian pound is introduced into circulation. In 1948, it was renamed the Israeli lira, although the old name Palestine Pound was present on the bills in Latin script. This name was present on the Israeli currency until 1980, when Israel switched to shekels, and from 1985 to this day, a new shekel has been in circulation. Since 2003, the new shekel has been one of the 17 international freely convertible currencies.
A sample of a bill of that time
Israeli lira in the 1960s.
The year is 1929. Fifth Aliyah. In the period up to 1939, in connection with the flourishing of Nazi ideology, about 250 thousand Jews moved from Europe to Palestine, 174 thousand of whom in the period from 1933 to 1936. In this regard, tensions are growing between the Arab and Jewish populations of Palestine. Under Arab pressure in 1939, the British authorities issued the so-called "White Paper", according to which, in violation of the terms of the League of Nations mandate and the Balfour Declaration, within 10 years after the publication of the book in Palestine, a single bi-national state of Jews and Arabs should be created. Jewish immigration to the country for the next 5 years is limited to 75 thousand people, after which it should have stopped altogether. An Arab consent is required to increase immigration quotas. On 95% of the territory of Mandatory Palestine, it is prohibited to sell land to Jews. From that moment on, immigration of Jews to Palestine became practically illegal.
Packaging of citrus fruits in Herzliya in 1933
The year is 1933. Egged, the largest transport cooperative to this day, is established.
British checkpoint at the entrance to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, 1948.
The year is 1944. The Jewish Brigade is formed as part of the British Army. The British government initially opposed the idea of creating Jewish militias, fearing that this would give more weight to the political demands of the Jewish population of Palestine. Even the invasion of Rommel's army into Egypt did not change their fears. Nevertheless, the first recruitment of volunteers for the British army was held in Palestine at the end of 1939, and already in 1940, Jewish soldiers in British units took part in battles in Greece. In total, the British army has about 27,000 volunteers from Mandatory Palestine. In 1944, Britain changed its mind and created the Jewish Brigade, nevertheless sending 300 British soldiers to it, just in case. The total number of the Jewish brigade is about 5,000 people. The losses of the Jewish brigade amounted to 30 killed and 70 wounded, 21 soldiers were awarded military awards. The brigade was disbanded on May 1, 1946. Brigade veterans McLeof and Laskov later became chiefs of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
Soldiers of the Jewish brigade in Italy in 1945
The year is 1947. 2nd April. The British government abandons the Palestine mandate, arguing that it is unable to find an acceptable solution for Arabs and Jews, and asks the UN to find a solution to the problem. (In the Assembly's discussion of the question, the representative of the United Kingdom stated that his government had tried for years to solve the problem of Palestine, but, having failed, had brought it to the United Nations.)
The year is 1947. November 10th, Sherut Avir ("Air Service") is organized. On November 29, 1947, there were 16 aircraft purchased by private individuals:
One Dragon Rapide (single twin-engine aircraft), 3 Taylorcraft-BL, one RWD-15, two RWD-13, three RWD-8, two Tiger Moth, Auster, RC-3 Seabee amphibious aircraft and Beneš-Mráz Be-550.
In addition, the Etzel organization had a Zlín 12 aircraft at its disposal,
Amphibious aircraft RC-3 Seabee
Year 1947 … November 29th. The United Nations adopts a plan for the partition of Palestine (UN General Assembly Resolution 181). This plan provides for the termination of the British mandate in Palestine by August 1, 1948 and recommends the creation of two states on its territory: a Jewish and an Arab. Under the Jewish and Arab states, 23% of the mandated territory transferred to Great Britain by the League of Nations is allocated (for 77% Great Britain organized the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 80% of whose citizens are the so-called Palestinians). The UNSCOP commission allocates 56% of this territory to the Jewish state, 43% to the Arab state, and one percent goes under international control. Subsequently, the section is adjusted taking into account the Jewish and Arab settlements, and 61% is allocated for the Jewish state, the border is moved so that 54 Arab settlements fall into the territory allocated for the Arab state. Thus, only 14% of the territories allocated by the League of Nations for the same purposes 30 years ago will be allocated for the future Jewish state.
33 countries vote for the plan: Australia, Byelorussian SSR, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Guatemala, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Canada, Costa Rica, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, USSR, USA, Ukrainian SSR, Uruguay, Philippines, France, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Ecuador, South Africa. Of the 33 votes "For", 5 are under the influence of the USSR, including the USSR itself: the Byelorussian SSR, Poland, the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Czechoslovakia.
13 countries vote against the plan: Afghanistan, Egypt, Greece, India, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Cuba, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey.
10 countries abstaining: Argentina, United Kingdom, Honduras, Republic of China, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, Ethiopia and Yugoslavia. (There were no Stalin satellites among the abstaining satellites.) Thailand did not vote.
The Jewish authorities of Palestine happily accept the UN plan to partition Palestine, Arab leaders, including the League of Arab States and the Supreme Arab Council of Palestine, categorically reject this plan.
The year is 1948. On February 24, a decision was made to create an Armored Service, armed with homemade armored vehicles. The first and only armored battalion is created in June 1948. It includes 10 Hotchkiss H-39 tanks just purchased in France, a Sherman tank bought from the British in Israel and two Cromwell tanks stolen from the British. By the end of the year, 30 decommissioned Shermans were purchased to replace the unsuccessful Hotchkiss in Italy, but their technical condition allows only 2 tanks to be put into battle. Of the total number of Israeli tanks, only 4 have guns.
Hotchkiss tank H-39 in the Latrun Museum
The year is 1948. On March 17, an order was issued on the creation of the "Marine Service" - the future of the Israeli Navy. Already in 1934, the Beitar Naval School was opened in Italy, in which the future sailors of Israel were trained, in 1935 a naval department was opened at the Jewish Agency, in 1937 a shipping company began operating in Palestine, and in 1938 in the city of Akko, the school of naval officers still operating was opened. Since 1941, 1,100 Jewish volunteers from Palestine, including 12 officers, have served in the ranks of the British Royal Navy. In January 1943, a naval division called PalYam ("Marine Company") was created in Palmach. From 1945 to 1948, they manage to deliver about 70 thousand Jews to Palestine, bypassing the British authorities. In 1946, the Jewish Agency and the Federation of Trade Unions set up the Cim shipping company.
At the time of Israel's declaration of independence, the fleet includes 5 large ships:
Corvette A-16 "Eilat" (former American icebreaker U. S. C. G. Northland with a displacement of 2 thousand tons)
K-18 (former Canadian corvette HMCS Beauharnois with a displacement of 1350 tons, arrived in Palestine on 1946-27-06 with 1297 immigrants on board)
K-20 "Hagana" (former Canadian corvette HMCS Norsyd with a displacement of 1350 tons)
K-24 "Maoz" (former German cruise liner "Sitra" with a displacement of 1700 tons, until 1946 in the service of the US Coast Guard under the name USGG Cythera)
K-26 "Leg" (former American patrol ship ASPC Yucatan with a displacement of 450 tons)
Landing craft:
P-25 and P-33 (former German landing boats with a displacement of 309 tons, purchased in Italy)
P-51 "Ramat Rachel" and P-53 "Nitzanim" (landing boats with a displacement of 387 tons, donated by the Jewish community of San Francisco)
P-39 "Gush Etzion" (former British tank landing boat LCT (2) with a displacement of 300-700 tons)
Auxiliary vessels:
Sh-45 "Khatag Haafor" (a former American tug, purchased in Italy, with a displacement of 600 tons)
Sh-29 "Drome Africa" (a former whaling vessel with a displacement of 200 tons, donated by the Jewish community of South Africa)
"Hana senesh" (a former trading schooner with a displacement of 260 tons, arrived in Palestine on December 25, 1945 "with a cargo" of 252 "illegal immigrants"
Coast Guard ships:
M-17 "Khaportsim" (former British boat M. L. FAIREMILE B with a displacement of 65 tons, purchased in Italy)
M-19 "Palmach" (former British boat, left by the British Navy to the municipality of Haifa during the withdrawal of troops from Palestine)
M-21 "Dror", M-23 "Galit" and M-35 "Tirce" (the former boats of the British Mandate Coast Guard with a displacement of 78 tons, the M-21 and M-23 were abandoned by the British, and the M-35 was bought from Cyprus)
The personnel of the fleet consisted of PalYam fighters, civilian sailors, Jewish volunteers from the US Navy and the British Royal Navy.
The year is 1948. May 14th. The day before the end of the British mandate for Palestine, David Ben-Gurion proclaims the creation of an independent Jewish state on the territory allocated according to the UN plan.
Plan for the partition of Palestine on the eve of the War of Independence, 1947.
The year is 1948. May 15th. The Arab League declares war on Israel, and Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Trans-Jordan attack Israel. Trans-Jordan annexes the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Egypt annexes the Gaza Strip (territories allotted to an Arab state).
The year is 1948. On May 20, a week after the state's independence, the first of ten modified Czechoslovak Messerschmitts, the Avia S-199, was delivered to Israel at a price of $ 180,000 per plane. For comparison, the Americans sold fighters for $ 15,000 and bombers for $ 30,000 per plane. The Palestinian Air Service purchased from different countries medium-sized C-46 Commando transport aircraft for $ 5,000, C-69 Constellation four-engine transport aircraft for $ 15,000 apiece, B-17 heavy bombers for $ 20,000. All in all, Czechoslovak aircraft made up about 10-15% of the combat strength of the Israeli Air Force in 1948. By the end of 1948, of the 25 S-199 delivered, twelve were lost for various reasons, seven were in various stages of repair, and only six were fully operational.
Avia S-199 in a museum in Israel
The year is 1949. In July, a ceasefire agreement is signed with Syria. The War of Independence is over.
Ceasefire line 1949
Myths about how Stalin created Israel:
Myth 1: If not for Stalin, then in 1947 the partition plan would not have been approved and the independent state of Israel would not have been created.
If we assume that Stalin would have been against the plan for the partition of Palestine (I wonder what alternative he would have proposed? To leave Palestine under the eternal mandate of its sworn enemy Great Britain, which itself had already renounced the mandate?), Then even taking into account the votes of the socialist camp, the number of countries that voted "For "there were more (28 versus 18). Of the 33 votes "For", 5 were under the influence of the USSR, including the USSR itself: the Byelorussian SSR, Poland, the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Czechoslovakia. Yugoslavia pursued an independent policy, there were no Soviet troops on its territory. Gromyko's speech at the UN was very touching, but nothing more. Do not forget that after the end of World War II, Great Britain was unable to maintain its colonies and protectorates. Thus, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Malta, Cyprus, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and many others gained independence. Palestine was no exception, and Britain itself brought the keys to this territory (where the national liberation struggle was in full swing) to the UN, shredding, of course, everything it could. Whether the UN voted for partition or not, the state of Israel actually already existed by that time. Its own financial system was created, including currency, health and education systems (schools and universities), transport, infrastructure, electricity production, agriculture. Local self-government bodies were organized, in fact there were military units and enterprises for the production of weapons, there was a cultural life, press, theaters. Stalin had nothing to do with all of the above. Moreover, many things were created not thanks to, but in spite of Stalin.
Myth 2. Apart from the USSR, no one else in the world wanted a Jewish national hearth.
The USSR also did not want the creation of such a center in Palestine. As an alternative, he tried unsuccessfully to create such a hotbed in the Far East. After the creation of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Jews accounted for about 16% of its inhabitants (only 17 thousand of the 3 million Jews living in the USSR at that time), and today it is less than one percent. Stalin did not allow Soviet Jews to leave for their historical homeland, and after the creation of Israel began an anti-Jewish campaign ("Murderers in white coats", "Rootless cosmopolitans", etc.).
Myth 3. Stalin saved Israel by allowing the delivery of captured German weapons from Czechoslovakia.
Arms deliveries from Czechoslovakia did exist, but they were not decisive. So, the Navy did not receive any assistance at all, there were no deliveries of heavy equipment (tanks, armored personnel carriers, etc.). Deliveries were limited to 25 converted "Messerschmitts" of poor quality at astronomical prices and small arms. Anticipating indignation, I agree that at that time any barrel was very valuable, but it is not worth exaggerating the importance of these supplies. In Czechoslovakia, about 25 thousand rifles, more than 5 thousand light machine guns, 200 heavy machine guns, more than 54 million cartridges were purchased. For comparison: in March 1948 alone, 12,000 Stan submachine guns, 500 Dror machine guns, 140,000 grenades, 120 three-inch mortars and 5 million rounds of ammunition were already in production at one clandestine plant in Palestine. The same Czechoslovakia supplied arms to the Arabs. For example, during Operation Shoded, the Haganah's fighters intercepted the ship Argyro with 8,000 rifles and 8,000,000 rounds of ammunition from Czechoslovakia destined for Syria. Artillery, for example, during the War of Independence mainly consisted of French cannons purchased from Switzerland. Moreover, after the war in Czechoslovakia, the so-called Slansky trial took place. During the show trial of a group of prominent figures of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, among whom was a veteran of the Civil War in Spain, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Rudolf Slansky, as well as 13 other high-ranking party and state leaders (11 of whom were Jews), were accused of all deadly sins, including the "Trotskyist-Zionist-Tito conspiracy." They were reminded of the supply of weapons to the Zionists, although Slansky was the only one who opposed these supplies. As a result, 11 people were executed, and 3 were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Myth 4. Jewish front-line soldiers, as a rule, communists, were sent to Palestine as on a business trip - in fact, in the same way as 15 years before "volunteers" were sent from the USSR to Spain.
Stalin was not going to let anyone leave the country "where man breathes so freely," although General Dragunsky came up with the idea of forming a division of Jewish front-line soldiers to be sent to Palestine. There were no Soviet volunteers either in the army, or in the aviation, or in the Israeli navy. Volunteers from other countries (primarily from the USA, South Africa and Great Britain) were, but not from the USSR.
Conclusion: Stalin did not create Israel.
