Nakam
Encyclopedia
The Nokmim, also referred to as The Avengers or the Jewish Avengers, were alleged groups of Jewish assassins that targeted Nazi war criminals with the aim of avenging the Holocaust.
The groups of Jews – some veterans of the Jewish brigade
, and some veterans of the Partisans
− were organized after World War II
ended. The name refers to Nakam (Dam Yehudi Nakam–"Jewish Blood Will Be Avenged"), a Jewish organization founded by Abba Kovner
in 1945.
, Robert Grossman, Dov Goren, Sheike Weinberger, Meir Zorea
, Marcel Tubias, Shimon Avidan
and others. Meir Zorea used to tell how the member of the Avengers groups used to travel around Europe in groups of three-four people. Zorea testified that the Avengers killed only people who were directly involved in killing Jews. Initially they used to shoot them in the head, and then adopted the method of strangling with their own hands. The Avengers would not reveal their targets anything before the execution – not who they were nor why they are killing them. They said the killing was like "a killing of an insect".
, Yitzhak Avidav, and Bezalel Michaeli.
Through a mutually known person, Kovner obtained from Ephraim
and Aharon Katzir
a poison to be used against the S.S. prisoners being held in POW camps. However, their real plan was to inject that poison into the water routes of a few cities within Germany and to cause the death of six million Germans, as the number of Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust. From their perspective, anyone who was German was guilty, just as the Nazis had determined that anyone who was Jewish should be killed. The Katzir brothers supplied him the poison and the Haganah
gave Kovner false documents of a supposedly Jewish Brigade soldier, and he aborded a ship in Port of Haifa
. When the ship approached Toulon
in France, the British had discovered that Kovner's papers were forged, but before he was arrested, he managed to dispose of the poison.
As a result of the failure of the mass poisoning plan, it was decided to move to Plan B. Under the command of Kovner's deputy, Yitzhak Avidav, the Hanakam group poisoned hundreds of loaves of breads that were designated for the S.S. prisoners.
The attempt at mass assassination by Nakam took place on April 14, 1946 at the Langwasser internment camp near Nuremberg. Bread for 12,000 to 15,000 German POWs (mostly SS
members) was reputedly painted with diluted arsenic. According to the New York Times in 1946, 207 of the interned soldiers fell ill and were admitted into the hospital but none died.
The public prosecutor's office within the higher regional court at Nuremberg stopped the preliminary investigation of attempted murder in May 2000 against two Nakam activists, who professed to have involvement in the incident. The public prosecutor's office cited statute of limitations
laws (In German: Verjährung) "due to unusual circumstances" as reasoning for the suspension of the investigation.
(Holocaust Memorial Day), in 2006.
's book The Avengers, that was published in 1969. Hanoch Bartov
's Novel, "Growing up Pains" of 1969, details the mulling of the Jewish Brigade veterans, who arrived in Germany after World War II ended, mulling over their desire, on one hand, to avenge over the murder of Jews, and on the other hand, how their conscience would not let them harm innocent people. Bartov describes how on the eve of their arrival in Germany, the Jewish Brigade's soldiers were warned that "The blood feud means a feud by all [of the Jewish People]; any irresponsible act might hinder all", and how their conscience got the better of them, and the soldiers as individuals were unwilling and unable to avenge individually.
The groups of Jews – some veterans of the Jewish brigade
Jewish Brigade
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy...
, and some veterans of the Partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
− were organized after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended. The name refers to Nakam (Dam Yehudi Nakam–"Jewish Blood Will Be Avenged"), a Jewish organization founded by Abba Kovner
Abba Kovner
Abba Kovner was a Lithuanian Jewish Hebrew poet, writer, and partisan leader. He became one of the great poets of modern Israel. He was a cousin of the Israeli Communist Party leader Meir Vilner.-Biography:...
in 1945.
The Avengers groups
For many Jews the end of World War II meant freedom, but some of the Jews felt a need to obtain revenge with the Nazis. The soldiers of the second brigade of the Jewish Brigade have established the "Executioners Unit". They traveled wearing British uniforms and arrested many Nazis and secretly tried them in an instant field trial. They called themselves "The Avengers". Among the Avengers groups were: Israel CarmiIsrael Carmi
Israel Carmi , born 1917 , was the founder of the Tilhas Tizig Gesheften .-Life:...
, Robert Grossman, Dov Goren, Sheike Weinberger, Meir Zorea
Meir Zorea
Meir "Zarro" Zorea MC was a general in the Israel Defense Forces and later a member of the Knesset. He earned distinction through his combat actions in World War II and in the Israeli War of Independence...
, Marcel Tubias, Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan , born Shimon Koch , was an Israeli soldier and officer, the commander of the Givati Brigade during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war....
and others. Meir Zorea used to tell how the member of the Avengers groups used to travel around Europe in groups of three-four people. Zorea testified that the Avengers killed only people who were directly involved in killing Jews. Initially they used to shoot them in the head, and then adopted the method of strangling with their own hands. The Avengers would not reveal their targets anything before the execution – not who they were nor why they are killing them. They said the killing was like "a killing of an insect".
'Hanakam' Group
The most daring group of all was the Hanakam ("vengeance") Group. They counted around 60 Jews who were former Partisans as well as other Jews who survived the Holocaust. The group arrived in Germany after the war, in order to conduct more complicated and fatal vengeance operations. Their ultimate purpose was to execute an operation that would cause a broad international response, that would be a warning to anyone who might consider trying to harm Jews again, as the Nazis had. Notables among the Hanakam group were Abba KovnerAbba Kovner
Abba Kovner was a Lithuanian Jewish Hebrew poet, writer, and partisan leader. He became one of the great poets of modern Israel. He was a cousin of the Israeli Communist Party leader Meir Vilner.-Biography:...
, Yitzhak Avidav, and Bezalel Michaeli.
Through a mutually known person, Kovner obtained from Ephraim
Ephraim Katzir
Ephraim Katzir was an Israeli biophysicist and former Israeli Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978.-Biography:...
and Aharon Katzir
Aharon Katzir
Aharon Katzir was an Israeli pioneer in the study of the electrochemistry of biopolymers. He was killed in the Lod Airport Massacre in 1972.-Biography:...
a poison to be used against the S.S. prisoners being held in POW camps. However, their real plan was to inject that poison into the water routes of a few cities within Germany and to cause the death of six million Germans, as the number of Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust. From their perspective, anyone who was German was guilty, just as the Nazis had determined that anyone who was Jewish should be killed. The Katzir brothers supplied him the poison and the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
gave Kovner false documents of a supposedly Jewish Brigade soldier, and he aborded a ship in Port of Haifa
Port of Haifa
The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern...
. When the ship approached Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
in France, the British had discovered that Kovner's papers were forged, but before he was arrested, he managed to dispose of the poison.
As a result of the failure of the mass poisoning plan, it was decided to move to Plan B. Under the command of Kovner's deputy, Yitzhak Avidav, the Hanakam group poisoned hundreds of loaves of breads that were designated for the S.S. prisoners.
The attempt at mass assassination by Nakam took place on April 14, 1946 at the Langwasser internment camp near Nuremberg. Bread for 12,000 to 15,000 German POWs (mostly SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
members) was reputedly painted with diluted arsenic. According to the New York Times in 1946, 207 of the interned soldiers fell ill and were admitted into the hospital but none died.
The public prosecutor's office within the higher regional court at Nuremberg stopped the preliminary investigation of attempted murder in May 2000 against two Nakam activists, who professed to have involvement in the incident. The public prosecutor's office cited statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
laws (In German: Verjährung) "due to unusual circumstances" as reasoning for the suspension of the investigation.
Individual Avengers
In addition to the organized avengers, there were some individuals Jews who avenged. One of them was Yehuda Meiterman, that his story was first published in Yom HaShoahYom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
(Holocaust Memorial Day), in 2006.
The Avengers in literature
The most detailed document of the Avengers appears in Michael Bar-ZoharMichael Bar-Zohar
Dr Michael Bar-Zohar is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. His World War II-era nonfiction and fiction works have been published in English, French, Hebrew, and other languages. He was also a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party during the 1980s and early...
's book The Avengers, that was published in 1969. Hanoch Bartov
Hanoch Bartov
Hanoch Bartov is an Israeli author and journalist.-Biography:Hanoch Helfgott was born in Petah Tikva in 1926, a year after his parents immigrated from Poland. He attended a religious school and then the Ahad Haam gymnasium. After working in diamond polishing and welding for two years, he enlisted...
's Novel, "Growing up Pains" of 1969, details the mulling of the Jewish Brigade veterans, who arrived in Germany after World War II ended, mulling over their desire, on one hand, to avenge over the murder of Jews, and on the other hand, how their conscience would not let them harm innocent people. Bartov describes how on the eve of their arrival in Germany, the Jewish Brigade's soldiers were warned that "The blood feud means a feud by all [of the Jewish People]; any irresponsible act might hinder all", and how their conscience got the better of them, and the soldiers as individuals were unwilling and unable to avenge individually.