The Story of the Jewish Legion - Revision history

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 The memoir covers the public campaign for the Jewish unit, its military engagements in the Middle East, and personal anecdotes, blending political advocacy with historical account. It underscores Jabotinsky's vision of the Legion as a nucleus for a future Zionist military force, which anti-Zionists view as foundational to the settler colony's armed apparatus.<ref name="Commentary1945" /> The translation by Katz and foreword by Patterson add layers of Zionist endorsement, reflecting their own involvements in the movement.
-[[|thumb|right|500px|'Goy' appears in the Glossary.]]
+[[File:My Scans 9.jpg|thumb|right|500px|'Goy' appears in the Glossary.]]
 == Content ==
 The book chronicles the establishment of the [[Zion Mule Corps]] and the subsequent [[Jewish Legion]], comprising the 38th to 40th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers.<ref name="FSU2006">Grace, RJK, [https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182280/datastream/PDF/view The Obligation of Service: The Jewish Chronicle and the Formation of the Jewish Legion during World War I] ''Florida State University'', 2006.</ref> Jabotinsky describes his lobbying efforts in London, the recruitment of Jewish volunteers from various countries, and the unit's service in the Palestine Campaign.<ref name="Nation2006">The Nation, [https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/zionist-imagination The Zionist Imagination] ''The Nation'', June 8, 2006.</ref> It portrays the Legion as a revival of Jewish militarism after two millennia, a notion critiqued as romanticizing colonial conquest.<ref name="Hudson2014">Hudson Institute, [https://www.hudson.org/node/37624 Book Review: 'Jabotinsky' by Hillel Halkin] ''Hudson Institute'', May 30, 2014.</ref>

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 '''The Story of the Jewish Legion''' is a 1945 memoir by [[Vladimir Jabotinsky]] recounting the formation and activities of the [[Jewish Legion]] during World War I, translated into English by [[Samuel Katz]] with a foreword by [[John Henry Patterson]]. The book details Jabotinsky's efforts to establish a Jewish military unit within the British Army to fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine, framing it as a step towards Zionist colonial ambitions in the region. Published by Bernard Ackerman in New York, it serves as a primary source on the Legion's role in advancing settler colonial objectives under the guise of wartime alliance.<ref name="Goodreads1945">Goodreads, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3557364-the-story-of-the-jewish-legion The Story of the Jewish Legion by Vladimir Jabotinsky] ''Goodreads'', accessed March 2, 2026.</ref><ref name="Commentary1945">Commentary, [https://www.commentary.org/articles/seymour-melman/the-story-of-the-jewish-legion-and-an-answer-to-ernest-bevin-by-vladimir-jabotinsky-to-whom-palestine-by-frank-gervasi-the-zioni The Story of the Jewish Legion, and An Answer to Ernest Bevin, by Vladimir Jabotinsky; To Whom Palestine?, by Frank Gervasi] ''Commentary'', 1945.</ref><ref name="GoogleBooks1945">Google Books, [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Story_of_the_Jewish_Legion.html?id=LCtHAQAAIAAJ The Story of the Jewish Legion] ''Google Books'', accessed March 2, 2026.</ref> The narrative highlights the Legion's contribution to British imperial efforts while promoting the Zionist regime's expansionist agenda, critiqued in anti-Zionist perspectives as an extension of colonial displacement of Palestinian Arabs.
 The memoir covers the public campaign for the Jewish unit, its military engagements in the Middle East, and personal anecdotes, blending political advocacy with historical account. It underscores Jabotinsky's vision of the Legion as a nucleus for a future Zionist military force, which anti-Zionists view as foundational to the settler colony's armed apparatus.<ref name="Commentary1945" /> The translation by Katz and foreword by Patterson add layers of Zionist endorsement, reflecting their own involvements in the movement.
 == Content ==
 The book chronicles the establishment of the [[Zion Mule Corps]] and the subsequent [[Jewish Legion]], comprising the 38th to 40th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers.<ref name="FSU2006">Grace, RJK, [https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182280/datastream/PDF/view The Obligation of Service: The Jewish Chronicle and the Formation of the Jewish Legion during World War I] ''Florida State University'', 2006.</ref> Jabotinsky describes his lobbying efforts in London, the recruitment of Jewish volunteers from various countries, and the unit's service in the Palestine Campaign.<ref name="Nation2006">The Nation, [https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/zionist-imagination The Zionist Imagination] ''The Nation'', June 8, 2006.</ref> It portrays the Legion as a revival of Jewish militarism after two millennia, a notion critiqued as romanticizing colonial conquest.<ref name="Hudson2014">Hudson Institute, [https://www.hudson.org/node/37624 Book Review: 'Jabotinsky' by Hillel Halkin] ''Hudson Institute'', May 30, 2014.</ref>

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 ::One cold and slushy winter evening, there was a knock at my door, and a young man, very poorly dressed, came in and handed me a grimy piece of paper. I recognized the handwriting on the paper as that of a friend who lived in Jaffa. The note was in Hebrew: "This is Harry First. You may trust him." "I come from Palestine," said the young man. "The workers there have heard that you wish to raise a Jewish Regiment; so they told me to come to you and to tell you that they are with you and that you should not let yourself be intimidated. This is the first thing. Secondly: I am at your service. I speak Yiddish and English; I am a member of the [[Poale Zion]], and know Whitechapel. What shall I do?» "Settle in Whitechapel,ONI replied, "and talk to the youth." He rose and went. And for two years [[Harry Furst|Harry First]] agitated in White-
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 :chapel, in workshops, in restaurants, in his committee and at meetings; one after another he sought out individual supporters, introduced them to me and then went on with his work. He became one of the best-known figures in Whitechapel; he was loved and hated. Hated for obvious reasons; loved because even opponents admired his quiet, sincere determination and his noble poverty. When the Legion came into being he went into khaki, quietly and conscientiously served his two years in Palestine, sought no honors, seldom even came to see me. Afterward he disappeared, and today I do not even know where he is. Perhaps somebody will show him these lines: Shalom, [[Harry Furst|Harry First]], one of those "unknown soldiers" by whom, and not by "leaders," history is made.
 :In Whitehall, whence Britain and half the world is ruled, the government had created a Propaganda Department; but I did not know it. One day the Admiralty invited the correspondents of the foreign press to the naval base of Rosyth in Scotland to view the British Home Fleet. Among those who accompanied us was the English journalist [[Masterman]]. We talked about the Alexandria venture, of which he had heard, and I told him about my plans.

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 *[[Jewish Legion]]
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 :Chapter V How Politics Are Made
 ::IT WOULD TAKE too long and would be too dreary if I were to present a diary of the events of those two years— until the day in the summer of 1917 when the order for the creation of a Jewish Regiment was I shall only mention several episodes, some of them as stages on our way, others because of the figures that appear in them—figures many of whom played an important part in the events of the world, or in our world. In general, however, - consider this series of episodes to be an illustrated reply to the question which is very often heard these days at Zionist meetings: How can one force a government which is unwilling. By using threats! By beating one's fist on the table? By raising one's voice! No, my friends. When a government is "un-willing," remain quiet and cool; only-take no notice of negative answers. Go on, try again, recruit new adherents, no matter whether low or high-until the government is converted and is even pleased at having been "forced" to change its mind.

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 Extracts from [[Vladimir Jabotinsky]], ''[[The Story of the Jewish Legion]]'' Translated by [[Samuel Katz]], with a Foreword by Col. [[John Henry Patterson]], New York: Bernard Ackerman.
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 :dressed in their poor Sabbath best; girls with flowers in their hair or carrying Zionist flags; English officers, Italian officers of a detachment stationed at Tel-Aviv, Arab spectators-all as excited as we. I gave these volunteers some advice which may not have been quite unnecessary. "My friends, that you will be brave I know; but it is not the danger to life and limb which is the most difficult thing for a soldier to endure. Much more difficult are two other troubles of army life monotony and rudeness. You see danger only once a month; but between attacks you must sit for weeks in the trenches, repeating again and again hateful, monotonous routine jobs, without any excitement, without any change and then the sergeant, even your own sergeant, will add uncomplimentary appellations, like 'bloody fools' or its Hebrew equivalent. You must be able to stand this. Not the man who can shoot best is the best soldier. The best soldier is the man who can endure the most. And when the British N.C.O. swears, it does not mean that he is rude. The Englishman is our partner today, and to him, unlike us, life is a game. But perhaps his philosophy is also a useful one. For in sport the average man is more patient and more honest than in everyday life. A merchant may cheat his customer, but he will not cheat at cards. For at games, if not in life, everybody likes to be a gentle-man. And you all remember how, as children, you used to play a game in which the loser had to get a fillip on the tip of his nose. Should anybody hit you on the tip of your nose in the street, you would hit back, but in play you swallow the blow and laugh. That is the Englishman's outlook. Everything is a game, especially war. The sergeant swears at you? It is only a playful fillip; don't be annoyed. You have to founder in deep mud? Regard it as a bad card in a game; have patience. :A bullet, a bomb? It is also a part of the game. I do not believe in their philosophy generally, but in war it is best— play the game like good players, and hold on...." Before I left Tel-Aviv I saw Weizmann. He was excited and somewhat dissatisfied. "You have cleaned out the country," he said to [[James Rothschild]]. "Where are we to find workers and teachers and officials?" But later, when the volunteers had to leave to do their military exercises, he attended a grand parade and presenting them with a Jewish flag, made a moving speech; he thanked them in the name of the
 ==Notes==

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:31, 9 November 2025
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−		+	Extracts from [[Vladimir Jabotinsky]], ''[[The Story of the Jewish Legion]]'' Translated by [[Samuel Katz]], with a Foreword by Col. [[John Henry Patterson]], New York: Bernard Ackerman.

	*[[Jewish Legion]]		*[[Jewish Legion]]

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 :worked out a Hebrew terminology for the exercises and commands, which was later adopted for our battalion of Palestine volunteers and later still, in a dark hour, for the self-defense in Jerusalem. They were good-natured, intelligent, clean, brave young men. Many of them are living in Palestine today; for the others their grateful people Israel has not found a niche in Old-newland. I found two of them in New York after the war: Frug, a barber, and Kretschmar, a businessman. Several lie buried under a Magen David on the Mount of Olives.
-:It was already known in Whitechapel that the Legion was coming. At a meeting of the Zionist Committee, Sokolow himself expressed his change of mind and said to the younger members, "Don khaki now, so that later you may be able to don 'blue-white.' " Several hundred friends gathered around Harry First and awaited with impatience the day on which they could sign on; others murmured in the restaurants-"for" or "against." And in addition it was learned that the government was negotiating with St. Petersburg with a view to organizing conscription for aliens.
+:It was already known in Whitechapel that the Legion was coming. At a meeting of the Zionist Committee, Sokolow himself expressed his change of mind and said to the younger members, "Don khaki now, so that later you may be able to don 'blue-white.' " Several hundred friends gathered around [[Harry Furst|Harry First]] and awaited with impatience the day on which they could sign on; others murmured in the restaurants-"for" or "against." And in addition it was learned that the government was negotiating with St. Petersburg with a view to organizing conscription for aliens.
 :This was true. In Whitechapel, whisperings were heard that this had been "managed" by the Legionists. Jews hate to believe in history, a featureless power which creates facts whether we like them or not. Jews always seek a guilty human. Conscription had to come even if we had taken the trouble of disturbing the process. But I say quite frankly that I did not desire to disturb it in the least. On the contrary. One day I received a telegram from Nabokov. "Take leave and come. Urgent."
-:At the Embassy in Chatham Square he showed me a message from the Russian Foreign Minister, Terestshenko, asking the opinion of the Ambassador on the question of conscription for Russian citizens in Britain. The British Government desired it. What was public opinion, British and Jewish, on the matter? "Among Englishmen, Gentiles and Jews, there are no two opinions; all agree on conscription. Among the foreign Jews there are two opin-ions. One is that of the majority in Whitechapel-No. The other is that of my friends and myself—Yes." "What are your reasons? »
+:At the Embassy in Chatham Square he showed me a message from the Russian Foreign Minister, [[Terestshenko]], asking the opinion of the Ambassador on the question of conscription for Russian citizens in Britain. The British Government desired it. What was public opinion, British and Jewish, on the matter? "Among Englishmen, Gentiles and Jews, there are no two opinions; all agree on conscription. Among the foreign Jews there are two opinions. One is that of the majority in Whitechapel-No. The other is that of my friends and myself—Yes." "What are your reasons? »
 :"First, because I am Continental, and consider the British system of
 ==p 114==
 :Chapter X - The Joy of Hebrew Palestine