Hannah Senesh

As World War II heated up in Europe and the massacre of the Holocaust gained momentum, violence in British-ruled Palestine increased as well. In 1941, the Mufti of Jerusalem summoned a Holy War against Britain and collaborated with the Nazis to plan the destruction of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. Fighting broke out between Arabs and Jews and against the British. The British government continued to restrict immigration to Palestine, as did the American government, making it almost impossible for Jewish refugees to flee the genocide in Europe. In 1947, the famous ship Exodus, carrying 4,515 Holocaust survivors, was sent back to Europe with all of its passengers.

Overview

1. The Story- 1914-1948, MyJewishLearning.com.

Primary Sources

1. Documents and Correspondence Relating to Palestine – Aug. 1939-Mar. 1940.
2. Summons to a Holy War Against Britain – A “Fatwa” Issued by Haj Amin al-Husseini, May, 1941.
3. The Mufti’s Diary Entry on His Meeting with Hitler, Nov. 21, 1941.
4. The German “Final Solution,” 1941.
5. Atlantic Charter, Aug. 14, 1941.
6. Murder! Sir Harold Mac Michael, 1942.
7. Declaration by the United Nations, Jan. 1, 1942.
8. The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 10, 1942.
9. Survey of Arab Affairs, Jewish Agency, Central Zionist Archives S25/5934, 1942/3.
10. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising- Telegram from Yitzhak Schwartzbart to the Jewish Agency, Aug. 8, 1943.
11. JNF in Action, 1943.
12. A Sure and Certain End, Abba Hiller Silver, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
13. After the War is Won, Sigfrid Undset, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
14. The Right to Grow, Louis Bromfield, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
15. For the Millions to Come, Walter C. Lowdermilk, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
16. The Growth of the Yishuv in Palestine, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
17. A Declaration of Rights- The Text of the Palestine Resolution Adopted at the American Jewish Congress – September 1, 1943, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
18. Our Human Assets, Fannie Hurst, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
19. In the Scales of Justice, Jacques Maritain, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
20. The Program of the United Palestine Appeal, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
21. Storm Signal, Pierre Van Paassen, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
22. 1939-1943 Four Fateful Years, Julian L. Meltzer, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
23. The Story of “Night of Stars,” Samuel Blitz, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
24. America and Palestine, Israel Goldstein, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
25. An Historic Opportunity, Stephen S. Wise, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
26. The Road to Nationhood, Bernard A. Rosenblatt, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
27. Land for Reconstruction, Morris Rothenberg, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
28. The Immigration of German Jews, Abraham Revusky, United Palestine Appeal Yearbook, 1943.
29. Palestine’s Role in the Solution of the Jewish Problem, Chaim Weizmann, Foreign Affairs 20, 1943, 324-338.
30. The Jewish National Home in Palestine- Hearings Before the Committee On Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Feb. 1944.
31. Rak Kach- Notice, Etzel Requests Recognition as an Underground Army, Sep. 27, 1944. IN ENGLISH, THE BROADSIDE READS, IN PART- “On 27th September 1944, at night, attacks were carried out by our soldiers against the British Police Fortresses at Haifa, Kalkiliya, Katra and Beit Dajan…”
32. The Alexandria Protocol, Oct. 7, 1944.
33. Prayer for Eating Hametz in Concentration Camp, 1944.
34. Protocols of Proceedings of Crimea Conference (Yalta Conference), Feb. 4-11, 1945.
35. Pact of the League of Arab States, Mar. 22, 1945.
36. Attitude of American Government Toward Palestine- Letter from President Roosevelt to King Ibn Saud, Apr. 5, 1945.
37. Article 80, United Nations Charter, June 26, 1945.
38. Jewish Colonization and Arab Development in Palestine, David Horowitz, Jewish Agency, Central Zionist Archives S90/76, October 7, 1945.
39. President Herbert Hoover in an Interview with the Scripps-Howard Press, Nov. 19, 1945.
40. Exchange of Notes between the United Kingdom and the United States Regarding the Constitution of a Joint Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry, Dec. 10, 1945. This text contains the terms of reference for the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry which visited Palestine in 1946 in order to provide an assessment and recommendations regarding the problems of European Jewry and Palestine.
41. There Are No Master Races! (comic strip), 1945.
42. Swat Them All! American Jewish Committee, c. 1945.
43. Mr. Biggott, Carl Rose, American Jewish Committee, c. 1945.
44. International Response to Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Holocaust
45. British Limits on Immigration