By prisoner Menachem Binder Gentleman The arms enumerated in the indictment were not found in our hands. If they had been in our hands they would not today be in yours. Nor would we be sitting here, for that matter. For if our hands had really held those to Bren-guns and the tommy-guns and rifles then only one of the following two things would have happened: either we should have fallen in this unequal battle, killing in the desperate battle many of your soldiers. There was no third possibility. But it is a fact which we stress not for our own sake but for that of truth and perhaps for the sake of history – that you found all those arms only after we had been captured by you, after most of us had been hit by your bullets and were bleeding from our wounds. And you found it very far away from the place where we were taken prisoners by you. (by the way, I should like to point out that the persecutor was not correct in referring in the indictment to "bearing of arms", which he should, according to his own conceptions have defined as "possession of arms". We do not think there is a great difference between these terms and we do not care which of them you use, nor do I want to interfere in the management and proceedings of this trial; but I made this remark for the sake of precision alone.) The fact that we have been captured under these conditions does not detract in the least of our honour as Jewish soldiers and fighters. At any rate, if you permit a somewhat incomplete comparison, it does resemble the fall of Tobruk or the surrender of your famous They took from us almost all that had value: money, fountain pens, watches, money bags, etc. They just "liberated" many trifles which we liked not for their financial but rather sentimental value. In general those objects were souvenirs or gifts which we had received from our relatives or friends. Is it fair to take such things from wounded people, bleeding and thirsty people who have been taken prisoners of war? Who taught His Majesty's forces to loot like this? I think that the fact that we were taken prisoners, however painful in itself, does not humiliate us, while the conditions under which this happened are a stain on the honour and uniform of the soldiers who captured us. Their behaviour was not soldierly, but reminded one of the behaviour of highwaymen. However, this matter has another aspect, too. This was the first time that you captured a Jewish military unit, forming a part of the Jewish forces fighting against you and declaring openly that they would fight against you – till the end: that is, until you hand over the Jewish people the rule over its country and homeland, or until it is destroyed completely. Such a fighting unit you bring to trial in accordance with your usual, or, rather, unusual laws, as though these people were not soldiers, members of an independent underground army but ordinary breakers of the law. Is there any logic in such an attitude? I state this problem intentionally as a problem of logic only. For though it is certainly possible to bring up the question of justice and human feeling that should compel a civilized man to take off his hat to people who could have quietly in their comfortable homes together with their beloved ones but who recognized their duty towards their brethren which demands from them to endanger and even to sacrifice their lives which they do in pure idealism, although, I repeat, one might expect from four gentlemen who probably day in day out have the words "freedom" and "democracy" on their lips that they display an attitude of respect towards men fighting for freedom even if their fate made it necessary for them to fight against one another. But I shall not discuss this aspect of the matter. Experience has taught me that such an "old fashioned" argument which was perhaps appropriate in the nineteenth century doesn't make any impression. It is therefore not worth while appealing to feelings that probably no longer exist in our times, the times of large-scale cruelty, the Epoch of Hitler and – Bevin. It is better to appeal to logic, cold reasoning, calculations of profit and loss, because if there is anything that can influence your rulers, I think that these are the only considerations. Thus, Gentlemen, let us build our logical construction on one basic assumption. Thus basic assumption is that in this country there exists an independent, adequately armed Jewish force fighting against you, i.e., against your rule. The war waged by this armed force is a war of liberation, the war of an oppressed people against its oppressors, of a people whose homeland has been stolen against those who stole it. Therefore, this is a just war and this justice must be admitted by all those people who ever stood in battle for their freedom, against oppressors in their midst or foreign oppressors. However, you do not want to recognize this force and the members of the Jewish army call "terrorists" by you, while those who carry out its military plans you regard – or pretend to regard – as criminals. Gentlemen, - this is not a novel attitude. The Nazis – the German Nazis as I must point out, because I regret that there are still many Nazis in the world who are not Germans – the German Nazis called "terrorists" the French Marquis and the partisan fighters to Tito and the fighters in Poland and the rebels in Slovakia and Greece, etc. This, then, is a very old term of abuse, used by all tyrants against the fighters for freedom, with the intention to cast a shadow on the idealism of the fighters and their struggle. However, as you know, Gentlemen, these names of abuse did not help the Nazis, who employed them against the fighters for freedom in the countries of occupied They even compelled the Germans to respect these rights of the various underground armies. If the Germans refused to do so they were threatened with retaliations. It is interesting to note that the Germans, who generally proudly trampled underfoot every international law accepted this demand and recognized, officially or practically, the belligerent rights of the European underground. On the basis of these precedents, and since from you one should be able to demand at least what was demanded from the German Nazis, the I.Z.I. demanded two years ago to recognize the fighting Jewish forces practically and theoretically as underground forces possessing the rights of belligerents. In our opinion this demand is in the interest of all concerned. It would even seem that it is to a great extent more in your interest than in our own. After all, Gentlemen, we are prepared for everything, for every sacrifice. We fight for our country and the life of our children, while you in your war against us have let yourselves in for some very unpleasant business, which complicates your international relations, staining your honour in every respect; while, on the other hand, this small country, which for us is all, is for you only a tiny part of the 40 million square kilometers at your disposal. One can, therefore, not compare our readiness to sacrifices in this war with your readiness to sacrifices. Our determination can be compared only to that of the Russians in their defense against the German invaders of their homeland, or the determination you would have displayed had the German armies succeeded in landing on the shores of your homeland. This is a particular kind of determination not to be weakened by any danger whatever. If, therefore, you do continue with your ostrich policy and prefer not to face the fact that against you stands in this country an organised force, fully aware of its national and historical mission, a force backed not only by six hundred thousand Jewish citizens in the Jewish homeland but by eleven million Jews all over the world, and, finally, or, as you say, "last but not least" – by public opinion in all free countries: (if you should like to examine this thesis you may study a few American, French or other newspapers;) if you continue in your blindness and bureaucratic obstinacy to regard the Jewish fighters and their organizations as ordinary law-breakers whom you can even hang like criminals, then, Gentlemen, I am afraid that the results of such and attitude are bound to become very grave indeed. By your very attitude towards our ever increasing struggle you are bound to liquidate all the laws commonly accepted in warfare, and which we are prepared to respect, provided, of course, that you too commit yourselves to act in accordance with them. But, Gentlemen, if these laws are indeed abandoned and if we realize that Jewish blood can be shed willfully, there can be no doubt, as we told you two years ago, that British blood too will not be spared. Then the war between us will really develop according to lines that actually neither you nor we can know at present. I ask you to remember that in the course of our war there were numerous cases when our comrades disarmed your soldiers, your police constables, capturing dozens of your soldiers and police. It is true that after your men had surrendered they were not harmed but were released after our operations had been completed. Actually, not even these facts can be considered as strictly equivalent because your soldiers were held by us for some hours only while we, once we fall in your hands, have to spend long years in your prisons and concentration camps. This inequality is due to the fact that under the particular conditions of our war we are not yet in position to hold your soldiers in captivity for a long time. Perhaps this condition will change and this inequality will be eliminated. In any case, it should be "taboo": it should be safe, he should not be abused or tortured or refused to satisfy all his needs as a civilized man. But what is going to happen if you discriminate against Jewish soldiers who fell in your hand? It is obvious that they will arrive at their conclusions from your treatment and there can be no doubt that they will do so, because you should not forget in all your calculations, Gentlemen, that under the present circumstances there is one thing of paramount importance: the soldiers of Israel fight in the profound conviction that if they do not succeed in this war there will be neither life nor future for them, their children and their people. You should not take this too lightly. This is our situation. We are the generation of Maidanok and Treblianka. We have no illusions, we know very well what fate is in store for us – all of us – if we have no state of our own, capable of protecting us in military as well as political respect. Therefore we are ready for every necessity, for every necessity. For indeed the war that we are waging is a matter of life or death, a war for the survival of the Jewish people, and no dangers can hold us back, no sacrifices frighten us. |
