HistoryMay 15, 1941
The Palmach Is Established
On May 15, 1941, the Haganah national command ordered the Palmach formed as a countrywide combat reserve.
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HistoryAugust 15, 1940
Eichmann Issues a Madagascar Plan Memorandum
On this day, August 15, 1940, Adolf Eichmann’s office issued a Madagascar Project memorandum calling for the forced resettlement of millions of European Jews on the island.
HistoryNovember 16, 1942
Joseph Schmidt Dies
On this day, November 16, 1942, the tenor Joseph Schmidt died near the Girenbad internment camp in Switzerland. He was 38.
HistoryFebruary 12, 1942
Avraham Stern Is Killed
On this day, February 12, 1942, British police shot Avraham Stern, founder of Lehi, in a Tel Aviv apartment. The circumstances of the shooting remain disputed.
HistoryJanuary 26, 1945
Abba Berdichev Is Executed
On this day, January 26, 1945, the Nazis murdered Yishuv paratrooper Abba Berdichev at Mauthausen after capturing him in Slovakia.
HistoryMay 8, 1943
Mordechai Anielewicz Is Killed
On this day, May 8, 1943, German forces seized the ŻOB bunker at 18 Miła Street. Mordechai Anielewicz died there during the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
HistoryNovember 7, 1944
Hannah Szenes Is Executed
On this day, November 7, 1944, Hannah Szenes was executed by firing squad in Budapest. She was 23.
HistoryApril 24, 1943
Rabbi Menachem Ziemba Is Killed
On this day, April 24, 1943, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was shot in the Warsaw ghetto while fleeing a fire during the uprising.
HistoryApril 26, 1945
SS Begins Death Marches from Dachau
On this day, April 26, 1945, the SS began forcing prisoners from Dachau and its subcamps on death marches south toward the Alps, three days before U.S. troops reached the main camp.
HistoryJanuary 19, 1945
Soviet Troops Enter Łódź
On this day, January 19, 1945, the Red Army entered Łódź. About 800 Jews who had hidden in the former ghetto were liberated.
HistoryOctober 7, 1944
Sonderkommando Revolt at Auschwitz-Birkenau
On this day, October 7, 1944, Jewish Sonderkommando prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau attacked SS guards and set fire to Crematorium IV.
HistoryNovember 3, 1943–November 4, 1943
Operation Harvest Festival
On 3–4 November 1943, SS and police units murdered about 42,000 Jewish prisoners in the Lublin district during Operation Harvest Festival.