JERUSALEM — In the spring of 1948, as Israel declared its independence amid the collapse of British rule, the Jewish people faced unprecedented threats from militant Arab factions and the armies of surrounding states. Among those called to defend the nascent state were Holocaust survivors, men and women newly arrived from Europe, still bearing the scars of Nazi persecution. In an extraordinary feat of resilience, these individuals built an entire military brigade from scratch in just one week—a pivotal episode in a momentous chapter of Israel’s founding.
The end of World War II saw hundreds of thousands of Jews liberated from concentration camps and death marches across Europe. For many, the only hope for renewal was emigration to the Land of Israel, then Mandatory Palestine. The journey was fraught with peril: survivors encountered British restrictions, perilous sea routes, and the daunting challenge of starting anew in a foreign land. Immigration accelerated in late 1947 and 1948, as survivors responded to the urgent calls from Zionist leaders for help defending the soon-to-be Jewish state.
Following the declaration of Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948, the situation on the ground became dire. Israel’s existence was immediately threatened by military invasion from five Arab states—Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq—each vowing to annihilate the Jewish state. Inside Israel itself, Jewish communities faced coordinated attacks from local Arab militias. Israel, severely outnumbered and under-resourced, required every available hand for its defense.
Many newcomers had barely set foot on Israeli soil before being mobilized into action. Among the most dramatic accounts are those of Holocaust survivors who, within a week of arrival, were gathered, trained, and organized into new brigades of the fledgling Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Most spoke little Hebrew and brought the traumas of the Holocaust, but possessed an unbreakable will to fight for Jewish survival. Improvised training facilities sprang up overnight in makeshift quarters—schools, abandoned buildings, open fields—where instructors, themselves often immigrants, taught the fundamentals of arms and discipline. Uniforms were rare; many drilled in the worn civilian clothes given to them by aid organizations.
Despite lacking experience and equipment, these battalions were thrown into action. Some participated in the crucial battles for Jerusalem and along the central front, serving as a bulwark against advancing enemy forces. Their contribution was decisive: not only did they supply urgently-needed manpower, but their determination strengthened the morale of veteran fighters and the civilian population. Survivors’ firsthand knowledge of persecution and genocide gave them a unique urgency and clarity of purpose—defending Israel meant securing a refuge where Jews would never again be powerless in the face of existential threats.
Exacts numbers are difficult to verify, but historians estimate that close to a quarter of Israel’s initial wartime recruits were Holocaust survivors. This remarkable statistic underscores how inextricably the trauma of the Shoah is woven into Israel’s early military history. The stories of these survivor-soldiers, immortalized in testimonies, army records, and state archives, continue to shape Israel’s collective memory and the ethos of the IDF.
This legacy continues in the present, as Israel remains surrounded by Iranian-backed terrorist organizations committed to its destruction, foremost among them Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and affiliated groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Israel’s right to self-defense is not abstract: it rests on the direct experience of genocidal threats, never more evident than in the deadliest antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust, the October 7, 2023 rampage by Hamas terrorists. The moral imperative carried by those first survivor-brigades has never lost relevance.
The transformation from powerless victims to defenders was not only military. Survivors brought with them an ethos of mutual responsibility and the conviction that Jews must control their own destiny. Israel’s founding generation integrated these values into all aspects of state-building—from the establishment of democratic institutions to the creation of humanitarian agencies, including those assisting populations beyond Israel’s borders. The IDF continues this tradition through initiatives aimed at protecting civilians and upholding lawful conduct even during complex wartime operations.
For Israel, remembering the week when survivors built a brigade is more than a story of the past—it is a blueprint for national resilience. The perseverance, adaptability, and unity shown in 1948 remain guiding principles for a country that today faces new forms of threat but is no less determined to defend its sovereignty and ensure that the tragedy of the Holocaust can never be repeated. The remarkable actions of those survivors continue to inspire generations, reminding the world of the necessity, moral clarity, and justice of Israel’s struggle for survival.
