Stamps: December '97
GACHAL, MACHAL
 

GACHAL Recruitment in the Diaspora

    Issue: December 1997
    Designer: R. Kantor
    Stamp size: 40 x 25.7mm
    Plate #: 334, 335
    Sheet of 15 stamps
    Tabs: 5
    Printers: E. Lewin - Epstein Ltd
    Printing Method:
    Offset
srael's victory in its War of Independence was determined to a great extent by the tens of thousands of young men and women recruited abroad in order to join the ranks of the locally born and raised fighters. Of the 26,000 recruits, 3,000 were Jewish volunteers from North African countries and international volunteers. The rest were Holocaust survivors.

They were known by the Hebrew acronym GACHAL, meaning overseas recruits. GACHAL recruitment began toward the end of 1947 in the displaced persons camps in Germany, Austria and Italy. Later, recruitment was extended to other countries in Europe, as well as to the detention camps in Cyprus. Immigrants who had arrived in the country within the legal immigration quotas and were living in immigrants' hostels were also drafted into the war effort.

Among the Jewish fighters in Israel the overseas recruits were not the only Holocaust survivors. Some 70,000 survivors had arrived in the country between the years 1945 and 1947. Many of them were young men, and many joined the Hagana and the Palmach shortly after their arrival. The War of Independence was fought by an army half of which's soldiers were Holocaust survivors.

However, only in 1948 did the forces initiate a preliminary system of integration for the GACHAL recruits. And no firm policy was ever formulated to take into consideration their unique sensitivities. Moreover, their military service was their first encounter with the country's veteran population.

From the beginning, many of the commanders of Israel's fighting forces wrongly believed that the Holocaust survivors did not meet their locally raised counterparts in fighting ability and motivation.

There were problems of communication. Most of the survivors spoke no Hebrew. There was a vast difference in their backgrounds from those of the local youngsters. There were age differences. And the local youth had been accustomed to viewing themselves as the focal point of the Jewish national renaissance movement.

These men were often the last remaining members of entire families, individuals who had only barely managed to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. Most of them were sent straight to the front.

The recruitment of Holocaust survivors and their part in Israel's War of Independence remain emotionally charged issues. In retrospect, however, many of the recruited survivors have noted that their role bestowed upon them deep proprietary feelings for the land of Israel.

The GACHAL stamp shows Holocaust survivors beside an infantry soldier in the War of Independence, with a map of Europe in the background.

Dr. Hana Yablonka
Ben-Gurion University

MACHAL Overseas Volunteers

uring Israel's War of Independence, when the nascent state was struggling for its very survival, some 3,500 volunteers from 37 countries around world rallied to its defense, Jews and non-Jews alike. They were known as MACHAL, the Hebrew acronym for Overseas Volunteers.

Most of them were veterans of World War II, and brought military training and experience. At that crucial moment, their skills and expertise were of decisive importance to the newly formed Israel Defense Forces. Combat-seasoned fliers and ground crew, mostly from English speaking countries -- Canada, Great Britain, South Africa and the United States -- formed virtually every Air Force squadron, ferried newly acquired planes and ammunition, and helped lay the foundation for the future Israel Air Force. MACHAL men and women fought valiantly and served with distinction in every branch of the IDF, including the Navy and the artillery, infantry, armor, medical, and signals corps, often in key positions of command.

Before the state was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, Overseas Volunteers enlisted in the Hagana, the Palmach and other underground forces. They served as crew members on Aliya-Bet ships, running the British naval blockade to bring Holocaust survivors to Palestine. The ten ships acquired in the United States, manned for the most part by volunteer crews, brought more than 31,000 Holocaust survivors.

Overseas Volunteers came with a high sense of purpose and a shared feeling of pride and privilege in knowing that they were helping to create and defend a Jewish homeland. After the war, most returned to their home countries, but a significant number stayed on, helping to found settlements, working in their chosen fields, and integrating into the life of the new-born State. Over the years, many others returned.

MACHAL veterans maintain close ties with Israel through World MACHAL and its affiliates in many countries. WORLD MACHAL affiliates built the MACHAL Monument at Sha'ar Hagai to commemorate the 119 Overseas Volunteers who lost their lives in Israel's struggle for independence. At the dedication ceremony, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin acknowledged MACHAL's contribution to the successful outcome of the war: "They came to us when we most needed them. "

The MACHAl stamp symbolized the specialized activities of the fighting volunteers. Partial views of two Norseman airplanes can he seen at the sides of the stamp, with a soldier and a jeep hetween them. The lower part of the stamp depicts the cannon known as Napoleon-chick, and the navy ship Achi Hagana K 20, which was previously the illegal immigrant ship The Jewish State.

Zipporah Porath