Hillel Kook (Hebrew: הלל קוק, born 24 July 1915, died 18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a Revisionist Zionist activist, politician, and prominent member of the Irgun. He was the nephew of Abraham Isaac Kook, Israel's first Ashkenazi chief rabbi. “Hebrew” redirects here. ... July 24 is the 205th day (206th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 160 days remaining. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Palestine (comprising todays Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip) and Transjordan (todays Kingdom of Jordan) were all part of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Etzel emblem Irgun (ארגון), shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leumi (ארגון צבאי לאומי, also spelled Irgun Zvai Leumi), Hebrew for National Military Organization, was a clandestine militant Zionist group, considered Terrorist by the British, that operated in Palestine from 1931 to 1948. ... Abraham Isaac Kook (1864 - 1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the (now) Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, and a renowned Torah scholar. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... // Chief rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognised religious leader of that countrys Jewish community. ...

Early life

Hillel Kook was born in Lithuania in 1915, the son of Rabbi Dov Kook, Abraham Isaac Kook's younger brother. In 1924, his family immigrated to Palestine, where his father became the first Chief Rabbi of Afula. Hillel Kook received a religious education in Afula and Jerusalem and went on to receive a degree in Jewish Studies at Hebrew University. While there, he became a member of Sohba, or "Comradeship", a group of students who would later become prominent in the Revisionist movement, including David Raziel and Avraham Stern. 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Abraham Isaac Kook (1864 - 1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the (now) Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, and a renowned Torah scholar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Holy Land or Palestine Showing not only the Old Kingdoms of Judea and Israel but also the 12 Tribes Distinctly, and Confirming Even the Diversity of the Locations of their Ancient Positions and Doing So as the Holy Scriptures Indicate, a geographic map from the studio of Tobiae Conradi... Afula (עפולה; Hebrew: ; ; Arabic: ‎ ) is a city in the North District of Israel, often known as the Capital of the Valley, Jezreel Valley. ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Jerusalem (Hebrew:  , Yerushaláyim or Yerushalaim; Arabic:  , al-Quds, the Holiness)[2... The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים) is one of Israels biggest and most important institutes of higher learning and research. ... David Raziel (December 19, 1910 - May 17, 1941) was a Jewish freedom fighter during the British Mandate of Palestine, and one of the founders of the Irgun. ... Avraham Stern Avraham Stern (Hebrew: אברהם שטרן Avraham Shtern), alias Yair (Hebrew: יאיר) (December 23, 1907 - February 12, 1942) was the founder and leader of the Zionist underground organization later known as Lehi and also known as the Stern Gang. Stern was born in Suwalki, Poland, immigrated to Israel in 1925, and studied...

Kook joined the pre-state Haganah militia in 1930 following widespread Arab riots. In 1931, Kook helped found the Irgun, a group of militant Haganah dissidents. He fought with the Irgun through the 1940s, serving as a post commander in 1936, and eventually became a member of the Irgun General Headquarters. Haganah Poster (1940s) The Haganah (Hebrew: The Defense, ההגנה) was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate for Palestine from 1920 to 1948. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... In the summer of 1929, a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem became steadily more violent, erupting in a week of riots in late August. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Etzel emblem Irgun (ארגון), shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leumi (ארגון צבאי לאומי, also spelled Irgun Zvai Leumi), Hebrew for National Military Organization, was a clandestine militant Zionist group, considered Terrorist by the British, that operated in Palestine from 1931 to 1948. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

World War Two

In 1937 Kook began his career as an international spokesperson for the Irgun and Revisionist Zionism. He first went to Poland, where he was involved in fundraising and establishing Irgun cells in Eastern Europe. It was there that he met the founder of the Revisionist movement, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and became friends with his son Eri. In 1940, at the elder Jabotinsky's suggestion, Kook travelled to the United States, where he served as the head of the Irgun mission in America. This assignment was clandestine, and, many times during his time in America, Kook publicly denied he was affiliated with the Irgun. Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Palestine (comprising todays Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip) and Transjordan (todays Kingdom of Jordan) were all part of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Zeev Jabotinsky Zeev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky MBE (Hebrew: זאב זבוטינסקי, Russian: Зеэв (Владимир Евгеньевич) Жаботинский, also known as Zeev Zhabotinski, 18 October 1880 – 4 August 1940) was a Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Legion in World War I. // Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Russian Empire, he was raised in a... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

Bergson Group

While in America, Kook led a group of Irgun activists under the pseudonym "Peter Bergson", supposedly to avoid embarrassing his family (particularly his famous uncle Abraham Isaac) with his political activities. The name "Bergson Group" or "Bergsonites" eventually became used to refer to all the members of Kook's immediate circle. The Bergson Group was composed of a hard-core cadre of ten Irgun activists from Europe, America and Palestine, including Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, Yitzhak Ben-Ami, Alexander Rafaeli, Shmuel Merlin, and Eri Jabotinsky. The Bergson Group was closely involved with various Jewish and Zionist advocacy groups, such as the American Friends for a Jewish Palestine and the Organizing Committee of Illegal Immigration. The group also founded some separate initiatives of its own, specifically the Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews, whose goal was the formation of an Allied fighting force of stateless and Palestinian Jews. Some credit the later formation of the Jewish Brigade, a British unit of Palestinian Jews, with Kook's activism. Two American members of the Bergson Group were author and screenwriter Ben Hecht and cartoonist Arthur Szyk. Hillel Kook (1915-2001), also known as Peter Bergson, was a Revisionist Zionist activist, politician, and prominent member of the Irgun. ... Hillel Kook (1915-2001), also known as Peter Bergson, was a Revisionist Zionist activist, politician, and prominent member of the Irgun. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Zionism is a political movement that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, where Jewish nationhood is thought to have evolved somewhere between 1200 BCE and late Second Temple times,[1][2] and where Jewish kingdoms existed up to the 2nd century CE. Zionism is... Jewish Brigade recruitment poster: For Salvation and Vengeance! A recruitment drive poster for the Jewish Brigade: Soldiers of 1915-1918: to the flag! {Figure in background represents the Jewish Legion of World War I} The Jewish Brigade was a fighting unit in the British Army composed of volunteers from the... Ben Hecht (February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, even though he professed disdain for the motion picture industry. ... Arthur Szyk (1894 - 1951) was a Poland-born American artist, famous for his anti-Axis political illustrations and cartoons during World War II. Szyk was born in Łódź, Poland, to Jewish parents. ...

Initially the Bergson Group largely limited its activities to Irgun fundraising and various propaganda campaigns. The outbreak of World War II saw a dramatic transformation in the group's focus. As information about the Holocaust began to reach the United States, Kook and his fellow activists became more involved in trying to raise awareness about the fate of the Jews in Europe. This included putting full-page advertisements in leading newspapers, such as "Jews Fight for the Right to Fight", published in the New York Times in 1942, and "For Sale to Humanity 70,000 Jews, Guaranteed Human Beings at $50 a Piece", in response to an offer by Rumania to send their Jews to safety if the travel expenses would be provided. On March 9, 1943, the Group produced a huge pageant in Madison Square Garden written by Ben Hecht, titled "We Will Never Die", memorializing the 2,000,000 European Jews who had already been murdered. Forty thousand people saw the pageant that first night, and it went on to play in five other major cities including Washington, DC, where First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, six Supreme Court Justices, and some 300 senators and congressmen watched it. An Australian anti-conscription propaganda poster from World War One U.S. propaganda poster, which warns against civilians sharing information on troop movements (National Archives) The much-imitated 1914 Lord Kitchener Wants You! poster Swedish Anti-Euro propaganda for the referendum of 2003. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially simply as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City, United States. ... Ben Hecht (February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, even though he professed disdain for the motion picture industry. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political leader who used her stature as First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 to promote her husbands (Franklin D. Roosevelts) New Deal, as well as civil rights. ... The supreme court functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged, in some countries, provinces and states. ...

In 1943, Kook established an "Emergency Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry". The Committee, which included Jewish and non-Jewish American writers, public figures, and politicians, worked to disseminate information to the general public, and also lobbied the President and Congress to take immediate action to save the remnants of Europe's Jews. United States immigration laws at the time limited immigration to only 2% of the number of each nationality present in the United States since the census of 1890, which limited Jews from Austria and Germany to 27,370 and from Poland to 6,542; even these quotas often went unfilled, due to United States State Department pressure on US consulates to place as many obstacles as possible in the path of refugees. The proposal to admit more refugees was ratified by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and, in response to the pressure, President Roosevelt subsequently issued an administrative order for the establishment of a special national authority, the War Refugee Board (WRB) to deal with Jewish and non-Jewish war refugees. An official government emissary sent to Turkey was of considerable assistance in the rescue of Romanian Jewry. The WRB saved about 200,000 Jews. (Wyman 1984:285) Those rescued through the WRB were probably mostly in Hungary, in part through the Wallenberg mission which was sponsored by the WRB. 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The presidential seal was first used in 1880 by President Rutherford B. Hayes and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... 1870 US Census for New York City A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... The War Refugee Board, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January of 1944, was a U.S. executive agency created to aid civilian victims of the Nazi and Axis powers. ... The Wallenberg family is one of the most influential and wealthy families in Sweden, renowned as bankers and industrialists. ...

Some of the members of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe were: Hillel Kook (Peter Bergson) and Alex Hadani Rafaeli, Alex Wilf, Arieh Ben-Eliezer, Arthur Szyk, Ben Hecht, Rabbi Ben Rabinowitz (Robbins), Eri Jabotinsky, Esther Untermeyer, Gabe Wechsler, Senator Guy Gillette, Harry Selden, Johan Smertenko, Konrad Bercovici, M. Berchin, Samuel Merlin, Sigrid Unset, Stella Adler, Congressman Will Rogers Jr., Yitzchak Ben-Ami. Arthur Szyk (1894 - 1951) was a Poland-born American artist, famous for his anti-Axis political illustrations and cartoons during World War II. Szyk was born in Łódź, Poland, to Jewish parents. ... Ben Hecht (February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, even though he professed disdain for the motion picture industry. ... Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress, and for decades was regarded as Americas foremost acting teacher. ...

There were many others who actively supported the "Bergson Group", for example a number of the best known people on Broadway and Hollywood, probably due to Ben Hecht's contacts (such as Kurt Weil). Hillel Kook (1915-2001), also known as Peter Bergson, was a Revisionist Zionist activist, politician, and prominent member of the Irgun. ... Kurt Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950), born in Dessau, Germany and died in New York, was a German composer active from the 1920s until his death. ...

Opposition to Bergson

Hillel Kook had much opposition during the war and still today. Noted Israeli Holocaust historian Professor Yehuda Bauer exclaimed "Hillel Kook didn't save anyone!" (Ref. Conversation with Prof. Yehuda Bauer at Yad Vashem circa 2005.)

Kook and his followers were widely opposed by large sections of the American public, particularly by many prominent American Zionist organizations. In December 1943, the American Jewish Conference launched a public attack against the Bergsonites in an attempt to derail support for the resolution. (Wyman 1984:202)

The British embassy and several American Zionist groups, including the American Jewish Committee and other political opponents sought to have Kook deported or drafted. (Wyman 184:346) They encouraged the IRS to investigate the Bergson groups finances in an attempt to discredit them, hoping to find misapropriation, or at least careless bookkeeping, of the large amount of funds the groups handled. The IRS found no financial irregularities. (Wyman 1984:346) In fact, Kook reported to Wyman that, when he complained to the IRS supervisor about the $97 they said was due them, the supervisor told him to have the letter framed. After two weeks of intensive audits, he said, finding under $100 of owed taxes was a testament to the group's honesty. Included in those trying to stop the Bergson Group's rescue activities were Steven Wise and Nachum Goldman (see the Wyman-Medoff book in References). A State Department protocol shows Nachum Goldman telling the State Department that Hillel Kook doesn't represent organized Jewry, and suggested either deporting him or drafting him for the war effort (See documents at end of the Wyman-Medoff book). The stated Mission of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) is to safeguard the welfare and security of Jews in the United States, in Israel, and throughout the world; to strengthen the basic principles of pluralism around the world, as the best defense against anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry... Seal of the Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. ...

The Day the Rabbis Marched

One of the Committee's more memorable activities was a protest Kook organized known as the Rabbis' March. The protest took place in Washington, D.C. on October 6, 1943, three days before Yom Kippur. While the Bergson Group was largely secular, Kook successfully used his family's rabbinic heritage to convince between 400 and 500 Orthodox rabbis to attend. Among the participants were Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Eliezer Silver, president of the Va'ad Ha-Hatzala and co-president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States, Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo (sometimes recorded as Solomon Mordechai) Friedman, the Boyaner Rebbe of New York and president of the Union of Grand Rabbis of the United States, Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz, rabbinical dean of the Mir Yeshiva, Rabbi Naftali Carlebach, father of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg and his father, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Hertzberg. The Lubavitcher dynasty was conspicuously absent as was Conservative and Reform Jewry. Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D... Yom Kippur (IPA: ; Hebrew:יוֹם כִּפּוּר, IPA: ) is the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Rabbi, in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word רַב, rav, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished (in knowledge). Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word רִבִּי ribbÄ«; the modern Israeli pronunciation רַבִּי rabbÄ« is derived from a recent (18th... Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) Moshe Feinstein (1895 - 1986) was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi and scholar, who was world renowned for his expertise in halakha and was the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America. ... Rabbi Eliezer Silver in his younger years A famous picture of Rabbi Eliezer Silver Rabbi Eliezer Silver (15 February 1882 - 1968) was the President of the Agudath HaRabbonim of America and among American Jewrys foremost religious leaders. ... For the Union of Orthodox Rabbis Vaad Hatzalah, see Vaad Hatzalah. ... Home of the Boyaner Rebbe in Boyan Boyan is the name of a Hasidic dynasty, whose founder was a scion of the Ruzhiner dynasty. ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word רבי. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement. ... NY redirects here. ... Mir yeshiva (or Mirrer yeshiva) (Hebrew: ), commonly known as the Mir, is the name of two major Haredi yeshivas, one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other, in Brooklyn, New York. ... A cover of a Carlebach record Shlomo Carlebach (שלמה קרליבך) (known as Reb Shlomo to his followers) (1925 - October 22, 1994), was a Jewish religious singer, composer, and self-styled rebbe who was known as the singing rabbi in his lifetime. ... Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg (June 9, 1921-April 17, 2006) was born in Poland. ... Chabad Lubavitch, also known as Lubavitch Chabad, is a large branch of Hasidic Judaism. ...

Joined by Bergson Group activists, the Jewish War Veterans of America, and a number of prominent members of Congress including William Warren Barbour, the protesters marched on the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, and White House, pleading for U.S. intervention on behalf of the Jews in Europe. Though the delegation was reluctantly received by Vice-President Henry Wallace, Franklin Roosevelt avoided them entirely, both out of concerns regarding diplomatic neutrality, but also influenced by the advice of some of his Jewish aides and several prominent American Jewish spokespeople (including Dr. Stephen Wise), who thought the protest would stir up anti-Semitism and claimed that the marchers, many whom were both Orthodox as well as recent immigrants (or first-generation Americans) were not representative of American Jewry. Shortly before the protest reached the White House, FDR left the building through a rear exit to attend an Army ceremony, and then left for a weekend in the country. Disappointed and angered by the President's failure to meet with them, the rabbis stood in front of the White House where they were met by Barbour and others, and refused to read their petition aloud, instead handing it off to the Presidential secretary, Marvin McIntyre. The march garnered much media attention, much of it focused on what was seen as the cold and insulting dismissal of many important community leaders, as well as the people in Europe they were fighting for. One Jewish newspaper commented, "Would a similar delegation of 500 Catholic priests have been thus treated?" [1] William Warren Barbour William Warren Barbour (July 31, 1888 - November 22, 1943) was a US Senator (R) from New Jersey. ... Photo of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC, December 2003. ... The monument which is in the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial built to honor 16th President Abraham Lincoln. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... Henry Wallace may refer to: Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965), U.S. Vice President Henry Cantwell Wallace (1866–1924), U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, father of Henry A. Wallace Harry Brookings Wallace, former Chancellor of Washington University in St. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), often referred to as FDR, was the 32nd (1933–1945) President of the United States. ... Stephen Samuel Wise (1874 - 1949) was a U.S. rabbi and Zionist leader. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...

Post-War Activities

Growing Divisions

Following the end of the war, the Irgun declared an open revolt against British rule in Palestine. To assist in recruiting and propaganda efforts, Kook established the Hebrew Committee for National Liberation and the American League for a Free Land of Israel, both of which were involved in lobbying U.S. and other diplomats and in trying to attract the American public to support the Irgun's rebellion. Kook remained strongly affiliated with the Revisionist camp after the war and the creation of the state of Israel. While he was unquestionably loyal to his cause, his position as the Irgun's leading American activist was not free from conflict. In 1946 Kook received a letter from Menachem Begin, who had become chief of the Irgun in 1943. Begin admonished Kook for various positions of his that strayed from the official Irgun party-line. These included Kook focusing on the transportation of illegal immigrants to Palestine instead of his "primary" assignment, arms shipments to Irgun fighters, as well as his (rather common) usage of the term "Palestine". At the time Kook was in the habit of saying "Palestine Free State", which Begin thought left too much potential for bi-nationalism. Begin demanded that Kook instead publicly refer to the future Jewish state as the "Free State of Eretz Israel". He also criticized Kook for keeping too high a profile, angrily reminding him that the Irgun was an underground organization and that he was supposed to be using his resources to help the revolt in Palestine, not organize parades and marches. 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...   (August 16, 1913 – March 9, 1992) (Hebrew: מְנַחֵם בְּגִין) was a Polish-Jewish head of the Zionist underground group the Irgun, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Likud Prime Minister of Israel. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

Begin's letter illustrated the deep tensions that existed between the formal Irgun leadership and its independent and influential activists in the United States. It also revealed the increasing ideological schism that emerged between the camps of Begin, who inherited the political and military infrastructure of Jabotsinky, and Kook and his followers, who saw themselves as Jabotinsky's true ideological and political heirs. This tension would later come to a head when Kook and many of the Bergson Group members returned to Israel after its establishment in 1948. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

One of Hillel Kook's associates in New York (Elie Metz, summer 2007 meeting in New York) said that Hillel Kook was the senior leader in ETZEL who was not imprisoned or killed and he had Menachem Begin appointed as ETZEL's commander. This requires further research. If this is in fact the historical record then had Hillel Kook chosen to be the commander himself the post-war Israeli political scene and perhaps the dynamics of the region would have been very different.

Kook Returns to Israel

In 1947, the Bergson Group had purchased a ship originally intended to carry new immigrants to Israel, but, perhaps partially due to Begin's influence, was eventually used to ship arms. The ship was named Altalena, and would eventually be destroyed by Palmach fighters under Yitzhak Rabin's command at Ben Gurion's order off Tel Aviv's shore, near today's Dan Hotel. Begin was on the ship and fortunately escaped Palmach fire. He spoke in tears the same night on ETZEL's underground radio and asked the ETZEL fighters not to shoot back at other Jews. Interviews in a documentary called Altalena show a Palmach soldier who admits that some in the Palmach were shooting at those on the Altalena who jumped overboard. There was much hatred at the time toward ETZEL and other Zionist underground groups. This manifested itself in the (hunting) "Season", when ETZEL and other underground groups were hunted, beaten and turned over to the British. Elie Metz claims that Hillel Kook intended the weapons on the Altalena to be given to the Hagannah and that Begin changed the orders. This important claim needs to be researched. Following the Altalena Affair in 1948, Kook was arrested with four other senior Irgun commanders on Ben-Gurion's orders and held for over two months. Of the five, only Kook was a member of the Bergson Group. The five were eventually released following a series of public protests and appeals. 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... A June 1948 violent confrontation between the Israeli Defense Forces and the paramilitary Jewish group Etzel. ... The Palmach (Hebrew: פלמח, an acronym for Plugot Mahatz (Hebrew: פלוגות מחץ), Strike Companies) was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the British Mandate of Palestine. ... For other people named Rabin, see Rabin (disambiguation). ... David Ben-Gurion was the first prime minister of Israel. ... The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June of 1948 between the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun (Etzel), a paramilitary Jewish group. ...

Kook served in the first Knesset as part of the Herut party list but quit the party with his close friends and fellow MKs Ari Jabotinsky and Shmuel Merlin after two years following ongoing disagreements with their colleagues, particularly Menachem Begin, over the party's leadership and direction. Hillel Kook was also much influenced by the way the USA government was designed by skilled architects, and apparently called 1948 "1776". He is said to have had many heated discussions with Ben Gurion, in an attempt to base Israel on a Constitution, much like the USA was created. (Ref. discussions with Elie Metz) Kook, who had left Israel over ten years earlier, was now confronted with the reality that the country and movement he had fought for bore little resemblance to his ideals. Kook and his friends served as independent or "single" MKs for the remaining months of their terms, the first ever to do so. Profoundly disillusioned with the Israeli political process and future of the Revisionist movement, Kook left Israel in 1951 with his wife and daughter. In 1968, four years after his wife's death, he returned to Israel with his two daughters. He remarried in 1975 and lived near Tel Aviv until his death in 2001. The Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly-independent Israel on 25 January, 1949. ... Herut (Hebrew: חרות Freedom) was the political party of the Revisionist Zionist movement in Israel. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Philosophy

While Kook never re-entered politics, he continued to give interviews for many years, in which he continued to articulate his independent perspectives on Zionism, Jewish identity, and Israeli politics. His more controversial ideas included declaring that Jabotinsky's primary goal in creating a Jewish state was in making a country to which all Jews would want to belong, and that once Israel had been created, any Jews who refused to make aliyah had made a conscious choice to become "integrated" citizens of their naturalized countries. This distinction between Jews and Hebrews was another major sticking point between Kook and the larger Irgun leadership as early as the mid-1940s. Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה, ascent or going up) is a term widely used to mean Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel). ...

Kook had a specific body of critiques concerning what he saw as the distortion of Zionist philosophy and idealism by Israeli politics. He maintained that he had always conceived of Israel being a "Jewish state" by having a majority of Jewish citizens, not through specific associations to Jewish nationalism. Paradoxically, Kook's "theocratic" vision of Israel gave him a great deal of ideological flexibility in regards to some of Israel's more intractable problems. He supported according all non-Jewish citizens of Israel with full rights and privileges, and once, in an interview with an Israeli Druze, commented that, like Jabotinsky, he saw "no reason" why the State of Israel could not have a non-Jewish president. He was in favor of amending the Law of Return to consider prospective immigrants on an individual, and not national or religious basis, except for cases of immediate danger. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Druze star The Druze or Druz (also known as Druse; Arabic: derzī or durzī درزي, pl. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Kook was also a strong supporter of Israel's constitution, which had been stalled during its writing in 1948 and never completed. Kook claimed that a formal constitution could have solved many ongoing issues in Israeli society, such as discrimination against Israeli Arabs, by providing all of Israel's citizens with a clearly defined, and egalitarian, role in Israeli nationalism. He once remarked that the lack of a constitution was "Israel's greatest tragedy", that Ben-Gurion's decision to change the Israeli governing body from a Constituent Assembly to a Parliament had been a putsch, and that he regretted not having resigned from the Knesset immediately after the decision had been made. Kook also favored the creation of a Palestinian state, albeit one established in modern-day Jordan. He was one of the first Israelis to call for a Palestinian state shortly after the Six-Day War. For the remainder of his life, Kook adamantly claimed that his positions would have been shared by his ideological father, Jabotinsky. The Israeli Arabs, or 1948 Palestinians, are those Arabs who remained inside the borders of what would become Israel after 1948, when most Arabs fled the country in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see also Nakba). They make up roughly 20% of Israels population. ... A constituent assembly is a body elected with the purpose of drafting, and in some cases, adopting a constitution. ... A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modelled after that of the United Kingdom. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Kook repeatedly referred to himself as a post-Zionist, and was one of the first in Israeli society to voluntarily (and positively) adopt the term. Post-Zionism refers to the views of some Israeli and diaspora Jews, particularly in academia, that Zionism fulfilled its ideological mission with the creation of modern State of Israel in 1948 and that the ideology should therefore be considered to be at an end. ...

Legacy

Hillel Kook was a man with exceptional talent. His main accomplishments are as follows:

• was one of the founders of ETZEL
• was one of the most important figures in rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. Despite enormous obstruction created by the Jewish leadership his group is credited with rescue of over 200,000 people, mostly Jews in Hungary
• as an ETZEL commander he appointed Menachem Begin to be the head of ETZEL (to be verified)
• his group raised considerable resources, including weapons, for Israel's War of Independence
• he was a member of independent Israel's first Knesset
• he lobbied for Israel to be established as a constitutional state
• apparently he was also a successful businessman

Kook had been largely forgotten in the years leading up to his death, which was likely both the result of his decision to abandon his public activist persona, as well as his clashes with Begin and his loyalists, for whom it was convenient to downplay Kook's accomplishments and involvements in the Irgun and Herut Party's histories. Similarly, Kook's role in America has been given fairly minimal scholarly attention. Again, this must be seen as at least partially the result of Kook's iconoclastic personality, which made him few friends among the American Jewish establishment or its successors. Etzel is the Hebrew acronym of Irgun, an organisation considered as terrorist by many the name of Attila the Hun in the Nibelungenlied This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Since the late 1990s, some historians have attempted to restore Kook to a position of semi-prominence by re-examining and evaluating the significance and importance of his American activities during World War Two, and, in a secondary capacity, his role as a political opponent of Begin. One allegation Kook historians and supporters have made is that Kook's adversaries, both in Israel and America, have historically downplayed some of his accomplishments, as well as attempted to minimize their own role in curtailing his activities. David S. Wyman, author of a 2004 Kook biography, suggested that, had it not been for the interference of the American Jewish establishment, Kook might have become as successful (and noteworthy) a rescuer as Oskar Schindler or Raoul Wallenberg. Some have also suggested that Kook's story remains politically troubling for authority figures in Israel and America, as it illustrates that their main priorities were not in promoting awareness of the Holocaust, in trying to stop it, or in helping the survivors flee Europe. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oskar Schindler (28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a Sudeten German industrialist credited with saving almost 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust, by having them work in his enamelware and ammunitions factories located in Poland and what is now the Czech Republic. ... Raoul Gustav Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 – July 16, 1947?)[1][2][3] was a Swedish humanitarian sent to Hungary under diplomatic cover to save Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust. ...

While Kook remains relatively unknown among the general Jewish and Israeli publics, his vocal and independent activism on behalf of the dying Jews of Europe has earned him a distinguished place in Jewish history during a period largely known for passivity, silence and even obstruction of rescue.

Controversy

Not all historians agree that Hillel Kook and his rescue group had impact on rescue. Notably, Prof. Yehuda Bauer stated "Hillel Kook didn't save anyone."^[1]. Yad Vashem's modern, new museum's chamber on rescue doesn't include Hillel Kook and the rescue group he led, but does present some other Jews as rescuers, including Dr. Rudolf Kastner, whom many in Israel consider to be at best highly controversial in the Holocaust context. Since Yad Vashem is the Israeli government's Holocaust center this is one of the many indications that the State of Israel doesn't recognize Hillel Kook's rescue efforts. Apparently Hillel Kook is presented in an obscure corner of the Washington Holocaust museum situated so about 2% of the visitors see it^[2] Rudolf Kastner Rudolf (Rezső) Kastner (Kasztner), also known as Israel (Yisrael) Kastner, (1906, Cluj, Transylvania–March 3, 1957, Tel Aviv, Israel) was the de facto head of a small Jewish organization in Budapest, Hungary known as the Vaadat Ezrah Vehatzalah (Vaada), or Aid and Rescue Committee, during the Nazi...

Quotes

We, the Hebrews, descendents of the ancient Hebrew nation, who remained alive on God's earth despite that great calamity that our people have experienced, have come together in the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation. The Jews today who live in the European hell together with the Jews in the Land of Israel constitute the Hebrew nation—there isn't another nation to which they owe their allegiance but the Hebrew nation. We must state it clearly: the Jews in the United States do not belong to the Hebrew nation. These Jews are Americans of Hebrew descent. - From A Manifesto of the Hebrew Nation, 1944.

Why did we respond the way we did? The question should be, why didn't the others? We responded as a human and as a Jew should. - On his Holocaust activism, 1973.

I, who was the liaison officer of the Irgun central command with Jabotinsky, and who accompanied him almost daily for four years—remained loyal to his teachings. I also believe that the Land of Israel, on both banks of the Jordan River, is our historic homeland. But I am also certain that had Jabotinsky lived today, he would have argued that now, after we've achieved our independence, our mission is to attain peace in order to establish the Israeli people as the political heir of the Jewish people.- Interview in 1977.

There is no exile. The exile ended on May 14, 1948. - Interview in 1982.

Sources

• The Day the Rabbis Marched on Washington, from the American Jewish Historical Society
• The Day the Rabbis Marched On-line Exhibit, from the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.
• Irgun in Exile
• Bergson Bio, from USHMM
• The "Bergson Boys", from America and the Holocaust, PBS.
• Hillel Kook Knesset Bio
• http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_jewish_history/v089/89.1wyman.html The Bergson Group, America, and the Holocaust: A Previously Unpublished Interview with Hillel Kook], by David S. Wyman, from American Jewish History 89:1 (2001)
• [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/israel_studies/v010/10.3kaplan.html

A Rebel with a Cause: Hillel Kook, Begin and Jabotinsky's Ideological Legacy], by Eran Kaplan, from Israel Studies 10.3 (2005) Exterior of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a national institution located adjacent to The National Mall in Washington, DC, dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of the Holocaust. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ...

• Jewish World Review op-ed

Notes

1. ^ conversation with Prof. Bauer at Yad Vashem circa 2004. Someone said this statement was repeated in his published works. Reference needed.
2. ^ Stated at a public lecture in early 2007 at the Jerusalem Center for Pubic Affairs by Dr. Michael Berenbaum, currently Executive Editor of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, who had a central role in the museum.

Books

• Agassi, Joseph, Liberal Nationalism for Israel, Gefen Publishing House, Ltd., 1999.
• Baumel, Judith Tydor. Trans. Dena Ordan. The "Bergson Boys" And the Origins of Contemporary Zionist Militancy. Syracuse University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8156-3063-8
• Ben Hecht, Perfidy
• Medoff, Rafael. Militant Zionism in America: The Rise and Impact of the Jabotinsky Movement in the United States,. University of Alabama Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8173-1071-1
• Rapaport, Louis. Shake Heaven & Earth: Peter Bergson and the Struggle to Rescue the Jews of Europe. Gefen Publishing House, Ltd., 1999. ISBN 965-229-182-X
• Wyman, David S., Medoff, Rafael. A Race Against Death: Peter Bergson, America, and the Holocaust. New Press, 2004. ISBN 1-56584-856-X

Videos

• ALTALENA (VHS video produced in Israel)
• Larry Jarvik, Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die

Web Sites/Pages

• David Wyman Institute [2]
• eProceeding Web page [3]
• Jerusalem Working Group Web Site (in particular the downloadable JWG's White Paper): [4]
• Dr. Stephen Wise - Wikipedia article [5]