This is a notice published in the Hapoel Hatza’ir newspaper on August 3, 1920, in which Berl Gorodetsky, a Philadelphian discharged soldier from the Jewish Legion, requests to inform his wife that he is safe and sound in Jaffa. This is, as he mentions in his message, a response to his wife’s inquiries in the Jewish newspaper The Tag (Yiddish for “the day”).
The Jewish Legion was established during World War I as part of the British Army in order to participate in the liberation of Israel from the Ottoman Empire. The Jewish Legion enlisted Jews living in Israel and in the Diaspora. The 38th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers was composed mostly of British Jews and the 39th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers was composed mostly of Jews from the United States. At the end of World War I, the Jewish Legion broke up and many of the fighters found themselves without work and unable to contact their families abroad. In the absence of modern means of communication, newspapers were a way of contacting family members, such as can be seen in his advertisement.
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Jewish Legion – The Jewish Legion was a group of volunteers who fought with the British Army in World War I to liberate Israel from Ottoman (Turkish) rule. In 1917, after much urging by Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Josef Trumpeldor and with the support of Chaim Weizmann, a Jewish regiment was established in the British Army. It was made up of veterans of the Zion Mule Corps and British-born or naturalised (mostly from Russia) Jews. The unit was called the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. Later, they were joined by the 39th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, who were mostly American volunteers. Americans began enlisting after the publication of the Balfour Declaration. They were mostly underage, “aliens,” or newly naturalised citizens, which disqualified them from the United States draft. David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Ben-Tzvi, and Justice Louis Brandeis were supporters of the American volunteers who made up the 39th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. After the British victory in Palestine (Israel), the name of the battalions was changed to the Judean Regiment and they wore an insignia with a menorah and the word kadimah (onward) written on it. After the war, the anti-Zionist elements in the British army wanted to demobilise the Judean Regiment. By 1920, only around 400 men remained in the unit.
Hapoel Hatza’ir –The Hapoel Hatza’ir newspaper began publishing in 1907. It belonged to the party of the same name and was designated as the newspaper of the workers who arrived in the Second Aliyah. In 1930 the newspaper became the official paper of the Mapai party, which was the ruling party in Israel for the first several decades. From 1968 until it ceased publication in 1970, Hapoel Hatza’ir was the newspaper of the Labour party.
