Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) - World War I in the Middle East

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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World War I in the Middle East Included Major Campaigns in "Mesopotamia" -- Researching the Battles of Kut Reveals Jewish Community Posted: 09 Feb 2018  During World War I, the British Army and their Indian allies suffered a devastating defeat in Kut, south of Baghdad.  The Ottoman army laid siege to the British force from December 7, 1915 to April 29, 1916. Thousands of soldiers died in combat and from disease. and after the British surrender, more soldiers died in captivity as they were marched to Aleppo in Syria.  The British recaptured Kut in February 1917.  "Jewish and Mohammedan refugees of Baghdad are furnished with employment (sewing) at the Base ordnance Depot by the Military Authorities." (IWM, Q24539,1917) That is the historical background to a series of photos of Jews in Amarah found in the British Imperial War Museum. "Amara" in the IWM photographs is "Kut al Amara" or just "Kut" of World War I battle reports. "Jewish refugees on the foreshore at Amarah, 1917." (IWM, Q56907)  "Jewish and Christian refugees disembarking from steamers and returning to their homes at Basra, 1917."  (IWM Q2230)  "Jewish women on New Street, Baghdad" (IWM, Q24465) "Jewish woman and child of poor class" (IWM, Q24472) Veiled girl on left is a betrothed Jewess, then mother, younger daughter and child (IWM, Q24476) Click here to see previous postings on the Jews of Baghdad, Iraq.

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Through the Enemy's Lens. World War I Photos Taken by a Captured German Officer

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Through the Enemy's Lens. World War I Photos Taken by a Captured German Officer Posted: 17 Mar 2016  Historical photos treasures are still waiting to be uncovered around the world. A German officer photographed Be'er Sheva before its capture by Australian Light Horsemen in October 2017 (Mitchell Library, New South Wales State Library) Presented here are photographs of World War I in Palestine that we found in the Australian New South Wales State Library. The photographs were taken by a German officer who was captured by Australian troops.  Details about the officer are not available, but his camera contained pictures from Nazareth in the north to Jerusalem, Hebron, Gaza, and Be'er Sheva in the south. The officer also took several gruesome pictures of a military hanging across the Jordan River in Salt.  Be'er Sheva before its capture (1917, Library of Congress) The German and Austrian armies were allied with the Ottoman army in their attempt to force the British army from the Middle East.  German officers commanded the joint forces.  On the other side, the British army included forces from Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, and Jewish soldiers from Palestine -- all under a British commander. In the north, the German officer took the picture below of the Turkish and German soldiers' muster at their Tiberias headquarters. Turkish and German soldiers at muster in Turkish Tiberias headquarters. (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) He also took several pictures of the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee which can be viewed here. In the Spring of 1917, the British army, traveling north from the Sinai Peninsula, attempted two frontal assaults on Turkish lines holding Gaza.  The results were disastrous for the Brits, and Gaza was left in ruins.  Compare the picture on the left by the German officer before the battle and the colored one on the right, taken by an Australian soldier. Both show the central mosque in Gaza. Gaza before the British attacks, a photo from the German's camera  (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Australian Light Horsemen after the capture of Gaza, note the remains of the mosque. (Hurley Collection, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Turkish infantrymen holding the line in Gaza, photo by German officer  (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) The following pictures may be difficult for some viewers. Photos by German officer of German soldiers "hanging spies" in Salt, east of the Jordan River (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Photos by German officer of German soldiers "hanging spies" in Salt, east of the Jordan River (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Caption: "Hangings outside Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem. Arabs, Armenians, Bedouins, Jews - official Turkish photo"

Israel's History - a Picture a Day - The U.S. Navy Saved the Jews of the Holy Land 100 Years Ago

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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U.S. Navy receipt for emergency aid supplies destined for the Jews of Palestine from the Joint Distribution Committee 100 years ago, February 21, 1916. According to the JDC file, the supplies included matzot for Passover. (JDC Archives)

The U.S. Navy Saved the Jews of the Holy Land 100 Years Ago Posted: 10 Feb 2016  We have written previously how the United States Government rallied to save the Jews of the Holy Land from famine and expulsion by the Turkish army during World War I.  But we are now adding an important historic document from that episode showing the vital involvement of American Jewry and the United States Navy exactly 100 years ago. At the start of the war, Jewish men were forcibly conscripted into the Turkish Army, a devastating locust plague ravaged the land in 1915, Turkish troops were looting supplies in preparation for their attack on the Suez Canal, charitable funds from European Jewish communities for the Jews of Palestine were cut off, and plans were being drawn up by the Turks to expel the Jews from the land.  The United States Ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, warned American Jewish leaders of the danger to the Jews of the Holy Land and appealed to them for funds.  The forced conscription and looting of  Jerusalem homes. (1914, Ottoman Imperial Archives) The American government had not yet entered the war and U.S. aid could still get through. But to ensure that the money and supplies would not be stolen by rapacious Turkish officials, the U.S. secretary of state approved the use of American warships for the deliveries. Thirteen U.S. ships were used for the deliveries and for providing passage to Jews expelled from the land by the Turks. More information and photographs on this historic episode will appear in the forthcoming book, American Interests in the Holy Land, Revealed in Early Photographs by Lenny Ben-David.

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Jerusalem Was Captured by the British 98 Years Ago. New Photos from the Ottoman Archives

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Jerusalem Was Captured by the British 98 Years Ago. New Photos from the Ottoman Archives Posted: 14 Dec 2015  "The End of Ottoman Rule in Jerusalem, December 9, 1917." Two cavalrymen from  the British forces hoisting a Turkish flag on their bayonets.  (Ottoman Imperial Archives) The latest batch of photographs released this week by the Ottoman Imperial Archives includes several treasures showing historical sites and events in Palestine. The picture above shows two cavalrymen from the British forces hoisting a Turkish flag on their bayonets.  The sergeants accepting the surrender of Jerusalem December 9, 1917 (Library of Congress) In the past, we featured several pictures found in the Library of Congress (LOC) and Monash University (Australia) archives showing the surrender of Jerusalem to the British forces in December 1917.  The LOC picture of two British sergeants accepting the surrender flag from Jerusalem officials (not Turkish officers) is one of the most iconic photographs of World War I in Palestine. The picture was taken by a photographer from the American Colony Photo Department; the flag was a sheet taken from an American Colony bed. The Monash archives provided a picture of Turkish soldiers hurrying into  the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City on December 9, 1917, "driven from the outlying hills by our men," the caption reads.  From the Old City they continued their retreat toward the Dead Sea.  But the photo was not very clear.  The Ottoman Archives photo below is so clear that viewers can see the writing on the building on the left, "Bezalel" in Hebrew and English. The Bezalel pavilion was built outside of the Jaffa Gate in 1912 to sell souvenirs and crafts made at the Bezalel Academy of Arts.  The structure was demolished in 1918 by the British. Turkish retreat from the Jerusalem hillsides on December 9, 1917. The Bezalel Pavilion is on the left.  (Ottoman Imperial Archives)

"The Merchants of Jerusalem" -- Are They Not Jews? - German Photographer during World War I

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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"The Merchants of Jerusalem" -- Are They Not Jews? Pictures Taken by a German Photographer during World War I Posted: 20 Apr 2015 "A typical merchant in a Jerusalem street market, 1917" (British Imperial War Museum, Q 86352) This series of pictures was taken in 1917 by a "German official photographer" in Jerusalem -- before the capture of the city by British forces in December, 1917. All of them bear the same caption: "A typical merchant in a Jerusalem street market, 1917."  Nowhere in the captions are the subjects identified as Jewish, but they appear so, particularly upon examining their side curls (peyot), and they appear to be Sephardic -- Jews from the Arab world. For the residents of the Holy Land, the period was one of abject poverty and even starvation.  Jewish men, including heads of households, were forcibly conscripted into the Turkish army, in hiding, or fled the country.  A severe plague of locusts struck the region in 1915 and ravaged crops.  Rapacious Turkish troops looted residents almost at will.  Some of the men pictured here could have been beggars. Why were the men labelled "merchants?"  Perhaps the photographer associated them with another well-known Jewish merchant, Shylock?   The dire state of the Jews of Jerusalem during the war was described in a report to the Twelth Zionist Congress in 1921: “In Jerusalem [apparently in 1917] …dozens of children lay starving in the streets without anyone noticing them. Typhus and cholera carried off hundreds every week, and yet no proper medical aid was organized. … a considerable portion of the Jerusalem population perished. The number of orphans at the time of the capture of Jerusalem by the English Army was 2,700."    The same "merchant" appearing to be fending off someone. (British  Imperial War Museum, Q 86350)  Another "typical merchant" (Q 86351)      This "typical merchant" was photographed just inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of  Jerusalem (Q 86348)  Another angle of the "merchant" above (Q 86349)       Click on the pictures to enlarge.  Click on the caption to view the originals in the Imperial War Museum.

Why Was a Ton of Matza Delivered to the US Army's 77th Division in France during World War I?

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Why Was a Ton of Matza Delivered to the US Army's 77th Division in France during World War I? Posted: 02 Apr 2015  Reposting a Classic Special Passover Feature Original caption: "Packing shipment of Matzoths [i.e. matzos] for the 77th Division for  men of Jewish faith in the A.E.F. [American Expeditionary Force] for the Passover Holiday,  at Warehouse #40, Q.M.C. Depot, St. Denis  [France] / Signal Corps. U.S.A."  (April 9, 1919, Library of Congress) The Jewish tradition of eating matza (unleavened bread) on Passover is so profound that the armed services of several countries provide Passover supplies to their soldiers even at the front. That's the practice in Israel, for sure, but the archives of several libraries provide pictures of Jewish soldiers observing Passover in the British and American armies during World War I, almost 100 years ago.   Jewish soldiers of the British army celebrating Passover in Jerusalem in 1918. (Harvard Library/Central Zionist Archives)  But when we saw the picture above of perhaps a ton of matza sent to American forces in France we wondered why so much was required. Thanks to the archivists at the Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs Division for acceding to our request and digitizing and publishing the U.S. army photograph above online.   The 77th Division and the "Lost Battalion" The 77th Division was made up of draftees from the New York City area, one of the first draftee units deployed in combat in World War I.  They assumed the name "Metropolitan Division" or the "Statue of Liberty Division." Many of the men had lived a tough hardscrabble life on the streets of New York, perhaps a factor in their surviving a hard-fought battle in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 where the Division's "Lost Battalion" was surrounded by German troops and held out for a week without food and water.  In a 2001 film about the "Lost Battalion," the men were described as Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish "gangsters." Of the battalion's 550 men, almost 200 were killed and 150 were captured or missing. A Jewish chaplain, Rabbi Lee J. Levinger, served in France during World War I and wrote that the 77th Division had "thousands" of Jewish soldiers -- for whom the matza in the picture was intended. Patch of the 77th Division Levinger described several incredible moments in his memoir: The great event of my service in Le Mans was our Passover celebration on April 14th, 15th and[77] 16th, 1919. The general order for Passover furloughs read: "Where it will not interfere with the public service, members of the Jewish faith serving with the American Expeditionary Forces will be excused from all duty from noon, April 14th, to midnight, April 16th, 1919, and, where deemed practicable, granted passes to enable them to observe the Passover in their customary manner." The full program included a Seder, four services, a literary program, a vaudeville show, a boxing  exhibition, two dances and a movie.... But certainly the most popular of all was the Seder. The soup with matzah balls, the fish, in fact the entire menu made them think of home. We held the dinner in an army mess hall, standing at the breast-high tables. The altar with two candles and the symbols of the feast was at the center of the low-roofed unwalled structure. Toward evening the rain, so typical of winter in western France, ceased; the sun came out, and its last level rays shone directly upon Rabbi Kaufman and his little altar. It was a scene never to be forgotten, a feast of deepest joy mingled with solemnity. Afterward we adjourned to the Theatre Municipale for a full religious service with a sermon. Pvt Krotoshinsky: "You know a Jew finds  strength to suffer...." During the Argonne Forest battle, the 77th Division's "Lost Battalion" was finally relieved after taking heavy casualties for five days.  Their rescue is often credited to a carrier pigeon that delivered a message to headquarters with their position.  Levinger told a different story: New York Times, November 5, 1953

World War I in the Holy Land. Kiwi Soldiers Describe their Encounter with Jews

World War I in the Holy Land. Kiwi Soldiers Describe their Encounter with Jews Posted: 23 Feb 2015   Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Commemorating the centenary of World War I, we present the picture history of the battles in the Holy Land, with the soldiers from Turkey, Austria and German on one side and the British army with its contingents from Australia, New Zealand, and India on the other. We will also post pictures showing the Jewish soldiers and volunteers from Great Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Palestine itself. The Jewish soldiers also provided incredible pictures of the Jewish communities they found in Palestine. The Turkish Army preparing to attack the Suez Canal, 1914 (Library of Congress) In January 1915, the German-led Turkish army attacked British forces along the Suez Canal. The British blunted the assault and took the hard-fought war into the Sinai Peninsula. By March and April 1917, the British army attempted to push through Gaza and up the Mediterranean coast in battles that involved as many as 60,000 soldiers, British and French ships firing on Gaza from the Mediterranean, the use of poison gas, and the deployment of newly developed British tanks. The British suffered a disastrous defeat. Remains of a British tank, 1917, Gaza In a risky maneuver in October 1917, the British army flanked the Turkish army in Gaza by moving through the desert toward Be'er Sheva. The garrison and the crucial wells of Be'er Sheva were captured in a daring cavalry charge of Australian Light Horsemen described here. The British pushed on toward Jerusalem, and the New Zealand troops were sent westward toward Jaffa. See photo album by Jewish soldier Charles Broomfield here. The following are excerpts from THE STORY OF TWO CAMPAIGNS: OFFICIAL WAR HISTORY OF THE AUCKLAND MOUNTED RIFLES REGIMENT, 1914-1919, a collection of battle reports and diaries. The following morning [November 15, 1917] the village of Ayun Kara [near Rishon Lezion] was reported clear of the enemy, and, with a company of "Camels" on  Synagogue in Rishon, 1917, Jewish soldier in doorway, British flag flying the left and the 1st Light Horse on the right, the brigade moved forward towards Jaffa, meeting with no resistance. On the way they passed through the village of Richon le Zion, where for the first time they met Jews. One member of the community was a brother of Rabbi Goldstein, of Auckland. The joy of these people at being freed from the tyranny of the Turks was unbounded. They treated the New Zealanders most hospitably—an exceedingly pleasant experience after the tremendous effort they had just made, and the harsh hungry times spent in the south with its hostile Bedouins. Jaffa was occupied without opposition, the Turks falling back to the line of the river Auja, a few miles further north. While this fighting had been taking place, great success had been achieved to the south. Ramleh, on the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway, was taken; and the enemy, whose receding line extended in a south-east direction from Jaffa, had reason to feel anxiety for Jerusalem itself. Jewish soldiers from Australian and New Zealand Light Horsemen (Australian War Museum) In normal times Jaffa had a population of 60,000 people, including 30,000 Moslems, 10,000 Jews, and 10,000 Christians, but during the war its population had gone down considerably, and it had lost its prosperity, partly through there being no fuel for the engines which had been used to pump the water from the wells to irrigate the orchards. Within a few days of the British occupation, Jews and Christians, who had been expelled by the Turks, started to return, bringing their goods and chattels in all sorts of conveyances. During the night the 53rd Division pushed up the Hebron road and occupied Bethlehem. Turks evacuate Jerusalem, 1917 General Allenby's report goes on to say—"Towards dusk the British troops were reported to have passed Lifta, and to be within sight of the city. On this news being received, a sudden panic fell on the Turks west and south-west of the town, and at 5 o'clock civilians were surprised to see a Turkish transport column galloping furiously cityward along the Jaffa road. In passing they alarmed all units within sight or hearing, and the wearied infantry arose and fled, bootless and without rifles, never pausing to think or to fight. "After four centuries of conquest the Turk was ridding the land of his presence in the bitterness of defeat, and a great enthusiasm arose among the Jews. There was a running to and fro; daughters called to their fathers and brothers PAGE 168concealed in outhouses, cellars and attics, from the police who sought them for arrest and deportation. 'The Turks are running,' they called; 'the day of deliverance is come.' The nightmare was fast passing away, but the Turk still lingered. In the evening he fired his guns continuously. "At 2 o'clock in the morning of Sunday, December 9th, tired Turks began to troop through the Jaffa gate from the west and south-west, and anxious watchers, peering out through the windows to learn the meaning of the tramping were cheered by the sullen remark of an officer, 'Gitmaya mejburuz' (We've got to go), and from 2 to 7 that morning the Turks streamed through and out of the city, which echoed for the last time their shuffling tramp. On this same day, 2082 years before, another race of conquerors, equally detested, were looking their last on the city which they could not hold, and inasmuch as the liberation of Jerusalem in 1917 will probably ameliorate the lot of the Jews more than that of any other community in Palestine, it was fitting that the flight of the Turks should have coincided with the national festival of the Hanukah, which commemorates the recapture of the Temple from the heathen Seleucivs by Judas Maccabæus in 165 B.C." British General Allenby enters Jerusalem's Old City, 1917 On December 11th the Commander-in-Chief, followed by representatives of the Allies, made his formal entry into Jerusalem. The historic Jaffa gate was opened after years of disuse for the purpose, and he was thus enabled to pass into the Holy City without making use of the gap in the wall made for the Emperor William in 1898. The General entered the city on foot—and left it on foot.

Why Was a Ton of Matza Delivered to the US Army's 77th Division in France during World War I? Special Passover Feature - ISRAEL'S HISTORY

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

Why Was a Ton of Matza Delivered to the US Army's 77th Division
in France during World War I? Special Passover Feature

Posted: 17 Apr 2014
A version of this article appears in today's Jerusalem Post Magazine

Original caption: "Packing shipment of Matzoths [i.e. matzos] for the 77th Division for
men of Jewish faith in the A.E.F. [American Expeditionary Force] for the Passover Holiday,
at Warehouse #40, Q.M.C. Depot, St. Denis [France] / Signal Corps. U.S.A."
(April 9, 1919, Library of Congress)

The Jewish tradition of eating matza (unleavened bread) on Passover is so profound that the armed services of several countries provide Passover supplies to their soldiers even at the front. That's the practice in Israel, for sure, but the archives of several libraries provide pictures of Jewish soldiers observing Passover in the British and American armies during World War I, almost 100 years ago.


The Jewish Legion soldiers of the British army celebrating Passover in Jerusalem in 1918. 

(Harvard Library/Central Zionist Archives)

But when we saw the picture above of perhaps a ton of matza sent to American forces in France we wondered why so much was required.

Thanks to the archivists at the Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs Division for acceding to our request and digitizing and publishing online the photograph above.


The 77th Division and the "Lost Battalion"

The 77th Division was made up of draftees from the New York City area, one of the first draftee units deployed in combat in World War I. They assumed the name of the "Metropolitan Division" or the "Statue of Liberty Division." Many of the men had lived a tough hardscrabble life on the streets of New York, perhaps a factor in their surviving a hard-fought battle in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 where the Division's "Lost Battalion" was surrounded by German troops and held out for a week without food and water. In a 2001 film about the "Lost Battalion," the men were described as Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish "gangsters."

Of the battalion's 550 men, almost 200 were killed and 150 were captured or missing.

A Jewish chaplain, Rabbi Lee J. Levinger, served in France during World War I and wrote that the 77th Division had "thousands" of Jewish soldiers -- for whom the matza in the picture was intended.

Patch of the 77th Division

Levinger described several incredible moments in his memoir:

The great event of my service in Le Mans was our Passover celebration on April 14th, 15th and[77] 16th, 1919. The general order for Passover furloughs read:

"Where it will not interfere with the public service, members of the Jewish faith serving with the American Expeditionary Forces will be excused from all duty from noon, April 14th, to midnight, April 16th, 1919, and, where deemed practicable, granted passes to enable them to observe the Passover in their customary manner."

The full program included a Seder, four services, a literary program, a vaudeville show, a boxing exhibition, two dances and a movie.... But certainly the most popular of all was the Seder. The soup with matzah balls, the fish, in fact the entire menu made them think of home.

We held the dinner in an army mess hall, standing at the breast-high tables. The altar with two candles and the symbols of the feast was at the center of the low-roofed unwalled structure. Toward evening the rain, so typical of winter in western France, ceased; the sun came out, and its last level rays shone directly upon Rabbi Kaufman and his little altar.

It was a scene never to be forgotten, a feast of deepest joy mingled with solemnity. Afterward we adjourned to the Theatre Municipale for a full religious service with a sermon.

Pvt Krotoshinsky: "You know a Jew finds strength to suffer...."During the Argonne Forest battle, the 77th Division's "Lost Battalion" was finally relieved after taking heavy casualties for five days. Their rescue is often credited to a carrier pigeon that delivered a message to headquarters with their position. Levinger told a different story:

New York Times, November 5, 1953

Private Abraham Krotoshinsky ... was awarded the D. S. C. [Distinguished Service Cross] for bearing the message which informed the division of the exact location of the unit, and was instrumental in releasing[118] them. Krotoshinsky was an immigrant boy, not yet a citizen, a barber by trade. His own words give the story simply enough:

"We began to be afraid the division had forgotten us or that they had given us up for dead. We had to get a messenger through. It meant almost certain death, wewere all sure, because over a hundred and fifty men had gone away and never come back. But it had to be done. The morning of the fifth day they called for
volunteers for courier. I volunteered and was accepted. I went because I thought I ought to. 

First of all I was lucky enough not to be wounded. Second, after five days of starving, I was stronger than many of my friends who were twice my size. You know a Jew finds strength to suffer. Third, because I would just as soon die trying to help the others as in the 'pocket' of hunger and thirst.

"I got my orders and started. I had to run about thirty feet in plain view of the Germans before I got into the forest. They saw me when I got up and fired everything they had at me. Then I had to crawl right through their lines. They were looking for me everywhere. I just moved along on my stomach, in the direction I was told, keeping my eyes open for them.... 

It was almost six o'clock that night when I saw the American lines. All that day I had been crawling or running doubled up after five days and nights without food and practically nothing to drink.

Then my real trouble began. I was coming from the direction of the German lines and my English is none too good. I was afraid they would shoot me for a German before I could explain who I was.... Then the Captain asked me who I was. I told him I was from the Lost Battalion. Then he asked me whether I could lead him back to the battalion. I said, 'Yes.' 

They gave me a bite to eat and something to drink and after a little rest I started back again with the command. I will never forget the scene when the relief came. The men were like crazy with joy."[Note: Later Krotoshinsky moved to Palestine to try his hand at agriculture. Unable to make a living there, he moved back to New York with his family, but he was still unemployed. He received a presidential appointment to work in a New York post office.]

Watch "The Lost Battalion" Movie here.

Rabbi Levinger described another incredible event during the fighting: A soldier in a famous fighting division ... sought a private interview with me. It seems that in the advance on the St. Mihiel sector he had rescued a Torah, a scroll of the Law, from a burning synagogue. Throwing away the contents of his pack, he had wrapped the scroll up in the pack carrier instead, and carried it "over the top" three times since. 

Now he wanted permission to take it home to give to an orphan asylum in which his father was active. A soldier was not ordinarily allowed to take anything with him besides the regulation equipment and such small souvenirs as might occupy little room, but in this case a kindly colonel became interested and the Torah went to America with the company records.

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The Lost Battalion ( full movie )