Today, April 28, 2020 is Yom HaZikaron (lit.
'Memorial Day'), or Yom HaZikaron LeHalalei Ma'arakhot Yisrael ul'Nifge'ei
Pe'ulot HaEivah,
(lit. 'Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism').
Each year, Memorial Day is marked each year on the 4th of
the Hebrew month of Iyar, always one day before Independence Day, emphasizing
and symbolizing the connection between the fallen and their devotion, and with
the establishment of the State of Israel. On this day, deceased fallen
soldiers, members of the Israeli Police, the General Security Service, the
Mossad and victims of terror are honored. Since 1860 (when Jews first began to
live outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City) until today, 23,786 civilians
and soldiers have perished.
When I came across the website: https://honorisraelsfallen.com
I searched for someone who had fallen in 1948. Coming across the name of a
young woman who had been massacred during the Hadassah Mt. Scopus convoy, I
remembered a chapter in the book, Broken Silence, which I had published
for two sisters: Betty Bausch and Liesje Auerbach.
Liesje was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. From the Nazi Westerbork
camp she was deported to Bergen-Belsen. In July 1944 she was part of the
Bergen-Belsen transport that came to British Mandate Palestine in exchange for
German Templar women. In September 1944, even though she hardly spoke Hebrew, Liesje
continued her nurses training in Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus hospital. This is
what she wrote to her sister in the Netherlands, who survived the war in hiding:
On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born and on the
same day the neighbouring Arab nations declared war. All hell broke loose. The ten-minute drive to
the hospital on Mt. Scopus passed through the Arab quarter of Sheikh
Jarrah. Cars travelling to the hospital
were often attacked by the inhabitants of the village, while the British
authorities stood idly by. After several
such incidents it was decided to only travel to and from the hospital in
armoured vehicles. The arrangement made
with medical personnel, which was accepted unanimously, was that each member of
staff would work in the hospital for three weeks straight, and then spend a
week in Jerusalem. We continued this way
for several months.
At the end of my week off duty I tidied and cleaned my
rented room and returned to the hospital for my next three-week shift.
On Monday, 12 April 1948, it was once again time to
return to Mt. Scopus. At the pick-up
point I was told that the day before mines were discovered along the
route. This had prevented the convoy
from leaving Jerusalem. As the earlier
convoy was to be taken up Mt. Scopus first, we were told to come back the next
day.
My friend Cyota, who recently confided to me that she was
expecting a baby, was overjoyed at the chance of spending another day at home
with her husband. But I had nothing to
do in my empty room, with nothing left to eat.
I remained with those who were waiting. One of the drivers, who knew me well (I
looked after his wife when she delivered their third child) promised that if
there was room in the convoy, he would make sure I got in.
At the last moment he pushed me into a corner in the back
of his truck. It was a short ride to the
top, only a few kilometers. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found myself
once again safe and sound on the grounds of the hospital compound.
The next day, Tuesday April 13th, at nine in the morning,
the personnel expectantly waited to be released from duty by the new
shift. But no cars arrived. Hearing the salvo of machine guns and explosions
we ran to the balconies. The road was
deserted, and columns of smoke rose in the distance. While the convoy was attacked there was
nothing we could do but pray that the British would come to their aid. All the vehicles were burned. Most of the people in the convoy perished -
professors, doctors, nurses and many others – 78 in all.
Among the dead were three girls from my class -
Esther, Tzafuna and Margalit.
To this day I mourn for my friends and
all the others murdered in this convoy.
May their memory be eternally blessed.
Esther (Cyota) Appelbaum
Daughter of Tova and Yosef, was born on June 25, 1922 in the
city of Khotin, in the region of Bessarabia, Romania. In her parents’ home, she
was educated in a Zionist spirit and from her childhood she longed for the
country. After graduating from the General Gymnasium in the city of Czernowitz,
she made every effort to immigrate to Israel, and in March 1944 she left her
city of residence and immigrated to Eretz Israel. She spent six months studying
absorption and settlement difficulties, and finally decided to start studying
at the Hadassah nursing school on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. She loved the
profession she chose and after graduating she continued to work as a registered
nurse at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Even after her marriage she continued
to work there. With great love she offered her help to the sick, and in this work,
she saw a duty of respect for herself. The road to Mount Scopus passed through
the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and upon the outbreak of the war the
movement was allowed to mount convoys secured by the British army.
On the
morning of April 13, 1948, a convoy left for Mount Scopus, after the
British promised that the road was open and safe. The convoy encountered an
Arab ambush in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and hundreds of Arabs hurled
heavy gunfire at it. Some of the vehicles managed to get out and return, but
two buses, an ambulance and an escort vehicle were ambushed. For many hours the
convoy members fought and tried to prevent the Arabs from approaching the
vehicles. Fire from our positions in the city and Mount Scopus, as well as
armored vehicles sent to the area, failed to help the convoy.
British
military forces in the area did not intervene and did nothing to help, despite
appeals to them.
In the afternoon, the Arabs managed to set fire to two
buses on their passengers, and only late in the evening did the British
intervene and rescue the survivors from the trapped vehicles( 78 of the 112
passengers were killed and 24 injured).
Esther was brought to rest in a mass
grave in the Sanhedria cemetery in Jerusalem.
Many of the victims had been either stripped naked, mutilated and beheaded by the Arab mobs or were too badly burned to be identified.
Margalit Ben Shalom, the first Yemenite nurse in
Hadassah, was born on June 23, 1926 in Jerusalem to Sarah and David. The father
was blind, and the mother had poor eyesight.
Her parents had studied in the famous Blind Institute, where her father
later taught. They had a shop on Ben
Yehuda Street where they sold handmade items made by students in the
Institute. Margalit was beautiful, full
of the joy of life, and very much loved.
Margalit attended the Hebrew Gymnasium Rehavia in Jerusalem and
after finishing the seventh grade she moved to the Hadassah nursing school. In
her youth she belonged to the Scouts and was a member of the Haganah. She loved
the art of ballet and playing the violin.
In September 1947 Margalit began working as a registered
nurse the Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem. Her patients admired her
for her devoted care and her big smile that always hung on her lips as she
entered the hospital rooms. When the War of Independence began, she tirelessly worked
in the hospital, even gave up her vacation days for taking care of the wounded.
Margalit was murdered on April 13, 1948 in the same convoy
as Esther Appelbaum. She was laid to rest in the cemetery in Sanhedria in
Jerusalem.
Tzafuna (Tzipa) Ashbel
Daughter of Hannah and Dov (a professor at the Hebrew
University), was born on the last day of Passover in Poland (during her
mother’s visit to her parents’ home). When she was 18 months old she returned
with her mother to Eretz Israel and grew up in Jerusalem. After completing her
studies at Ein-Hahoresh and Ma’aleh Hahamisha, she returned to Jerusalem and
entered the Hadassah Nursing School on Mount Scopus.
Tzafuna continued to work with heart and soul at the
hospital as a registered nurse.
 |
| Ben Yehuda Street bombing Febr. 22, 1948 |
On February 22, 1948, three British Army trucks led by an
armoured car driven by Arab irregulars and British deserters exploded on Ben
Yehuda Street, killing from 49 to 58 civilians and injuring from 140 to 200
people.
The building in which Tzafuna rented a room was badly
damaged, but she managed to get out unhurt and began treating the wounded.
Less than two months later, Tzafuna was murdered in the
Hadassah Convoy on April 13 and laid to rest in a mass grave in the Sanhedria
cemetery.
*********************************************
Further reading:
YouTube video about the Hadassah Convoy massacre (the upbeat
music they used for this documentary is inappropriate – I think).
