Israel needs films about Irgun, Lehi fighting the British - opinion

• Published date: 25 January 2023

Confronted with several successful and attempted escapes of Irgun and Lehi prisoners, the high commissioner authorized a radical solution: forced exile. A total of 251 detainees, including 12 from Acre Prison who were being held for security offenses at the Latrun Camp, were removed from their beds before dawn and then, in short order, flown out to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. The next day, they were trucked a few kilometers south from the airfield to the Sembel Camp

On January 21, 1945, three days after internees Benyamin Zeroni, Haggai Lev and Shimon Sheba escaped, only to be caught shortly after at a British checkpoint when on a bus traveling to the border, all were taken from Sembel to Massawa port, over 100 km. to the northeast. There they were put aboard an Italian vessel and under severe conditions transferred to Carthage, in Sudan. They remained there until October 9, 1945.

The camp was 600 km. from the nearest hospital at Khartoum and in a hot desert with trucked-in water supplies. Nevertheless, five prisoners escaped and made their way 160 km. to Port Sudan via Asmara. There, their plans went awry and they were rearrested while attempting to travel to Khartoum.

Two later escapes (there were eight altogether) were most probably the longest in distance in history. One was from the Gilgil Camp in Kenya. Upon exiting a tunnel, a prearranged ride took them to Uganda and from there to the Belgian Congo, where they flew to Brussels. Another was from Sembel to Asmara to Addis Ababa to Djibouti and then to France. All the remaining detainees were only repatriated to the nascent State of Israel in July 1948, although Moshe Sharett did not rule out the option of arresting them immediately upon arrival, fearing that they might subvert the government.

By all accounts, this almost four-year period was one of suffering and a great challenge to the men's physical and psychological fortitude. They overcame the harshness of the conditions and the British attitude toward severe restrictions. Three of them died, two being shot by guards during a demonstration and one due to inadequate medical attention.

They created education programs (Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar and justice minister Shmuel Tamir received their first law degree there via mail). Theater and other cultural activities were maintained and they even succeeded in having kosher food provided with a slaughterer sent from Palestine. For those who recall The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen...