British-trained paratroopers from the Haganah pose for a group photo before one of their missions to Europe in 1943. Almost all parachutists were recent Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, intimately familiar with the culture and fluent in the languages of the countries they were tasked to operate in. Hannah Szenes exists as the most famous name among the participants, but thirty six other soldiers also dropped behind enemy lines to provide military reconnaissance, rescue allied personnel, and aid local Jewish communities. The majority of these volunteers did not return home.
The story of the British Army's Jewish Brigade is more well known, yet within Israel the exploits and heroics of the thirty seven paratroopers are a large part of the collective memory and national ethos pertaining to the Yishuv's contribution during the Second World War.
Haganah Archive
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