Triumph on the Gallows

Shalom Tabechick was born in 5673 (1913) to a poor family in Lutzk. He worked hard as a youth to help support his family while devoting his nights to the local Betar chapter. When news of brutal Arab riots in Palestine reached Poland, Shalom felt unable to further stomach life in the exile. The struggling Jewish community of Eretz Yisrael was in danger and he yearned more each day to be with them in the homeland. Without a passport, visa or any money, Shalom Tabechick left everything he knew behind and smuggled himself across several borders all the way from Poland to Beirut. There he met a Greek fisherman who agreed to transport him to the shores of Palestine. But towards the journey’s end, the fisherman demanded a fare. Having no money, the youth was thrown overboard. Not allowing himself to be deterred from his objective, he swam to Palestine and hiked to Naharia where he joined the Betar settlement of Rosh Pinah.

In Rosh Pinah, Shalom Hebraized his name to Shlomo Ben-Yosef and obtained a job at the Haifa port, earning money to help support the settlement. Arab pogroms in the area and the British administration’s policy of turning a blind eye had made life difficult for Jews in northern Palestine. Working the fields became increasingly difficult and the money Shlomo earned helped Rosh Pinah to survive. On one occasion, he told Yitzhak Gurion, a Revisionist lawyer who he had run into in Haifa, that “there is a great scarcity of work at Rosh Pinah because of the riots. We cannot go out to work in the fields and my colleagues are beginning to feel the pinch of prolonged unemployment. I am young and healthy, so I have come to work in the Haifa port…With my earnings of one day, ten to twelve members of Rosh Pinah can be fed.” Shlomo quickly learned to speak Hebrew and was widely admired in the settlement for his dedication, idealism and reliability to the community.

The Arab village of Djani was located on Mount Canaan overlooking Rosh Pinah. During the first days of Passover 5698 (1938), the Djani Arabs were openly preparing for an assault on the Betar settlement. The British authorities, indifferent to the situation, were clearly not willing to intervene. Arabs attacked a Jewish taxi, resulting in two girls being violated and three boys dying from mutilation. Shlomo Ben-Yosef, Avraham Shein and Shalom Zuravin decided to take action themselves and close the road leading to Rosh Pinah from Arab vehicles.

On Thursday, the 20th of Nisan (April 21), the boys spotted an unknown Arab bus on the road from Tzfat to Rosh Pinah. As they attacked the vehicle, a gunshot misfired and their grenade failed to explode. Still, the Arabs fled in panic and British police arrested the boys. Although no one was hurt, the authorities feared the prospect of continued Hebrew vigilantism and sought to make an example of the three. An eleven day trial ensued before a British military court. The verdict was handed down on the eve of Shavuot. Shalom Zuravin was sentenced to life in prison while Shlomo Ben-Yosef and Avraham Shein were condemned to death by hanging. Shlomo arose and proclaimed “long live the Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan!” just as the judge finished reading the verdict. Because it was later proven that Shein was a minor, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. But despite appeals from Jewish leaders around the world for amnesty, there was no convincing the British to rescind Ben-Yosef’s execution. The authorities believed they needed to carry out at least one death sentence in order to deter Israel’s youth from further acts of violence. Experienced in matters of colonialist rule, the British wanted Palestine’s Jewish natives to recognize their dominion and were therefore determined to hang Shlomo Ben-Yosef as their example.

Shlomo inscribed two messages in his death cell. The first, “it is good to die for the homeland”, was a reflection of the young man’s attitude towards his imminent death and a tribute to Yosef Trumpeldor’s heroic last words at Tel Chai. The second message, “I believe that after my death, the Jews will no longer have this policy of restraint”, expressed hope that the Hebrew youth would follow in his footsteps rather than submit to Arab terror as the Jewish establishment encouraged. He wrote to his mother in Poland that “you should be proud of me because I am not going to die like a humiliated exile Jew”. She had sent a telegram to the British High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, requesting that the hanging be delayed until she could make the journey to Palestine and hug her son for the last time. The request was denied and the execution was set for Rosh Chodesh Tamuz.

Reuven Hazan, the only Israeli officer in the Acre fortress prison, was on duty the night of Ben-Yosef’s execution. Hoping to comfort the boy, now a national hero, Hazan was shocked when he arrived at the death row cell to see Shlomo sleeping with a smile on his lips. When he arose, the youth washed himself carefully, brushed his teeth and combed his hair. The officer was astounded. Never before had he seen a prisoner condemned to death behave with such calmness and dignity on the night of his execution.

The officer brought the condemned youth civilian clothes – a white shirt and clean pants. But Ben-Yosef protested that he had been promised his Betar uniform for the hanging and would not go willingly to his death unless he could wear it. The officer was well acquainted with the British sergeants of the prison and knew that this demand might instigate a struggle. He told Shlomo that he would be dragged by force to the gallows and that this would be interpreted as a sign of fear. “Very well,” responded Shlomo after reconsidering a moment. “I will go. Let it not be said that a Jewish soldier is afraid of death.”

As night turned to day, the officer sat with Shlomo and recited a few of King David’s Psalms. The sun was rising on the 30th of Sivan (June 29th) as Shlomo ben Yosef marched to the gallows. His voice was heard among the other prisoners. “Yehi (long live) Jabotinsky!” “Lamut o lihbosh et hahar! – To die or to conquer the mountain!”

As Shlomo Ben-Yosef approached the gallows, he began to sing the HaTikvah. The Jewish prisoners of Acre, including his two companions from the attack, arose and joined in the singing. After the hangman’s rope cut off the youth’s voice, the prisoners finished their national anthem without him. Shlomo Ben-Yosef was the first Hebrew executed by a foreign regime in the Land of Israel since the Roman occupation nearly two thousand years prior. On the wall of his cell was found a third message. “You cannot conquer the mountain without leaving graves behind.”

The British had made an example of Ben-Yosef – but not the kind they had intended. Stories of his heroism at the time of execution excited the youth and inspired them towards dreams of freedom from foreign rule. The British mask had fallen and the people saw the colonialist administration for what it was. Anti-British demonstrations erupted throughout Palestine. In every country with large Jewish populations, the windows of British consulates were smashed. Jews everywhere attached a black ribbon to their clothes in a symbol of mourning for the young martyr. Although the Zionist leadership sought to calm the Hebrew masses and avoid confrontation with Great Britain, Ben-Yosef’s hanging had triggered the beginnings of a revolt that would grow over time until freedom would be won.

Shortly after Ben-Yosef’s execution was the World Conference of Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s New Zionist Organization. Leo Blae opened the congress by reading aloud a letter Ben-Yosef had written to his companions in Betar Lutzk.

“Tel Chai my brothers and sisters. Tomorrow I am going to die. And despite this, I am happy. Because for the last ten years I have given all of my strength to Betar and I now have the honor to be the first Betari to mount the gallows. I believe that after my death our people will no longer have a policy of self-restraint. I am not regretful for I am about to die for my country."
– Shlomo Ben-Yosef

Jabotinsky then mounted the podium to address his followers.

“Shlomo Ben-Yosef, your song at the gallows was like Shir HaMa’alot in the times when the holy Temple stood. I now give you the order to do what you did. The following generations will think about you and your magnificence that went to Betar and the Jewish nation. We now correctly understand what it is for one pure and holy to go up. Like the splendor of the heavens they glow. Take with you the blessing of Tel Chai. The ideas of Betar are rooted in inner pride. This aspiration has forced us to fight with many Jews, whose dignity was destroyed by the ghetto. Not restraint but reaction. Protest against the situation that exists in the Land of Israel. The Israeli nation has become like a mouse hiding in its hole. G-D has created man and commanded him for eternity to wear the clothing of G-D in His Image and His form. Betar must contain all the electricity of the Hebrew liberation. May G-D give you strong shoulders and a strong heart to take this heavy crown that cannot be seen until the day that you may place it on your head.”

Jabotinsky called on the New Zionist Organization and the Betar youth to respect and honor Shlomo Ben-Yosef’s memory. But Menachem Begin, head of Betar Poland, was unsatisfied with his mentor’s words. He rose to the podium and began to address the congress.

“The important question that we must ask today in Betar is not what but how. In the last fifteen years that our movement has existed, we have taught ourselves and others to ask the first question. Betar wants a Jewish state. Betar wants to solve the Jewish problem. But when one arrives at this understanding, it creates the question of how. With what means will we succeed in achieving our aims? We were taught to use moral pressure on the Western powers, and that Britain will honor her commitments to our nation. But in reality, the British only need take the Arab demands into account. The Arabs receive 95% and do not agree. They fight with their blood. And we who receive only 5%, how are we fighting? It is obvious that the disproportion of strength and honor between Israel and the Arabs must force Britain to first of all consider the Arab demands over ours. Zionism is an eternal idea but its realization will be delayed by decades if we continue on this path. We must fight – to die or conquer the mountain! The Israeli national movement began with Practical Zionism. Then there was Political Zionism. And now we must create a new Zionism – Military Zionism. Our examples will be Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Cavour would have never achieved victory for Italy without Garibaldi.”

Jabotinsky (interrupting Begin): “Do you know how many Italian soldiers there were? How will you bring all these Betarim to Israel without the approval of the nations?”

Begin: “I said we are at the beginning of Military Zionism, not in the middle. I want to begin to create this military force independent of the nations of the world. I am proposing an idea. To realize this idea, we must employ expert examination.”

Jabotinsky: “Do you understand the proportion between the Hebrew military forces in Palestine versus the military power of the Arabs?”

Begin: “We will win with our moral force. Without war, Zionism will be destroyed. I propose that we alter clause number four of the Betar Oath from ‘I will lift my arm to defend my nation’ to ‘I will lift my arm to defend my nation and conquer my homeland’. We must use the strength lying dormant in our people.”

The hall erupted in applause as Begin descended the podium and Jabotinsky took the floor to rebuke his longtime pupil.

“Permit me to say a few strong words. As your teacher it is my duty. There are many types of noises in this world. There is the whistle and the noise of heavy machines. But I cannot bear the squeak of an un-oiled door because that noise serves no purpose. You are implying that there is no conscience left in the world and there is no room for such useless chattering in Betar. It is pure despair. With a broom we must sweep away these futile ideas.”

Another young Betari from Poland, Israel Shiev (later Eldad), then rose to address the congress.

“As far as I am concerned, the squeaking of a door is a very important sound for it alerts us that thieves have entered the national movement. What you propose is surrender and appeasement. I do not understand diplomacy. Nor do I understand what right we in Betar have to speak in the name of Yehuda Maccabee and Shimon Bar Kochba if we do not understand the concept of the few against the many.”

Menachem Begin and Israel Shiev publicly challenged their mentor’s approach to diplomacy. Influenced behind the scenes by Yair Stern, the students won their debate with Jabotinsky and clause four of the Betar oath was altered. Until his death, Jabotinsky would never despair of Great Britain or the morality of the Western powers. He believed that by exerting moral pressure, civilized nations could be persuaded to honor their commitments to the Zionist endeavor. The problem, as he saw it, was that Jewish leaders refused to demand what was rightfully theirs, allowing Britain to behave with duplicity towards their national aspiration. While Jabotinsky differed from his counterparts in the Zionist establishment by openly demanding justice from the nations, his students would later take these demands a step further by initiating a violent war of liberation. Shlomo Ben-Yosef’s execution served as a catalyst to spread a new idea – in blood and fire the Hebrew state fell and in blood and fire it would soon be reborn. Both Begin and Shiev would soon migrate to Palestine and play active roles in the underground struggle against British occupation. Both would taste victory eight years after Jabotinsky’s death as the British flag would be lowered over the Land of Israel and a Hebrew commonwealth would arise in its stead.