Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Why the USSR Rejected this West German Ju 52 Cover

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter , postal war

Why was this cover rejected?

The most likely reason is that the stamp was not seen in the USSR as a harmless aviation commemorative. A contemporary German newspaper article makes the issue much clearer: the 20 Pfennig Ju 52 stamp was said to show aircraft D-2201, identified in the article as the Lufthansa machine used by Hitler in his 1932 presidential election campaign. If that identification was accepted, then the stamp was not simply commemorating early airmail. It was reproducing an aircraft associated with Hitler.

That is what makes this returned cover so important. The letter itself was properly sent. It was a registered West German airmail cover addressed to Riga in the USSR. But it was struck with the Soviet cachet “NON ADMIS - ART 28 … DE LA CONVENTION UPU” and sent back. The cover also received a typed explanatory slip from Postamt Hannover 3, stating that it had been returned by the Soviet postal authorities without a reason being given, and suggesting that the return was linked to objections against valid German postage stamps.

A newspaper article helps explain what those objections probably were. Under the headline “Die alte Ju von der Bundespost”, it argued that the stamp did not depict just any Ju 52. According to the article, the aircraft number on the stamp was D-2201, and that plane was remembered as the one Hitler used during his 1932 campaign for the office of Reich President. In that reading, the stamp became politically charged. It was no longer a nostalgic aviation design, but a reminder of the Nazi past.

That distinction matters. A stamp can be fully valid in the country that issued it and still become unacceptable abroad because of the image it carries. That seems to be exactly what happened here. The issue was not the postage rate, not the registration, and not the address. The issue was the design, or more precisely, what the design was understood to represent.

This is why the cover belongs firmly in the field of Cold War postkrieg. The postal system became a place where political memory and symbolism overruled normal postal logic. West Germany had issued a valid commemorative stamp. The Soviet side appears to have treated that same stamp as ideologically objectionable. The result was exclusion and return.

For postal history, this is a particularly satisfying item because the evidence works on several levels. The Soviet NON ADMIS cachet shows the formal rejection. The Hannover slip shows that the West German postal side believed valid stamps were the cause. And the contemporary newspaper article explains why this specific stamp could provoke rejection: the Ju 52 shown was understood to be Hitler’s 1932 campaign aircraft.

So this was not simply a cover returned under Article 28. It was a piece of mail caught in the politics of memory. A valid stamp crossed a political border and became unacceptable because the image on it was read not as aviation history, but as a symbol with a Nazi association.

That is what gives this cover its real strength. It is not merely a returned letter. It is evidence of how a single stamp design could trigger political rejection in the Cold War postal system.

The “Hidden Hitler Head” on the 1964 Ellwangen Stamp

Mr. Enthusiastic

On 15 December 1964 the Deutsche Bundespost and the West Berlin postal administration each issued a 50 Pfennig stamp in the long-running definitive series “Deutsche Bauwerke aus zwölf Jahrhunderten”. The value shows Ellwangen, with the castle gate filling the center of the design and a stylized tree growing alongside the building. For most postal customers it was just another new building stamp, slightly rustic in its woodcut style but otherwise unremarkable.

With a little imagination, however, the tree on the right-hand side can be read quite differently. Some observers saw in the branches a small “head with hat”, and those inclined to see politics everywhere quickly interpreted this as a “Hitler head” hidden in the foliage. On its own this would probably have remained a collector’s curiosity, the sort of pattern our brains like to discover in clouds and wallpaper.

In East Germany, though, this perceived image did not remain a harmless joke. Postal-war literature reports that the East German postal authorities “discovered” on this 50 Pfennig Ellwangen stamp a Hitler head with bowler hat concealed in the treetops and used the story for propaganda purposes. It suited the official narrative of latent fascism in the Federal Republic and provided a convenient example that could be shown in philatelic circles and internal briefings.

Interestingly, this interpretation did not lead to a general ban on the stamp. Mail franked with the Ellwangen/Jagst value was, as a rule, accepted in the GDR, even when it appeared on the same cover as the politically sensitive “20 Jahre Vertreibung” stamp of 1965, which was routinely blacked out by the East German post. In most districts the supposed Hitler head remained untouched, which makes the surviving covers all the more instructive.

The notable exception was the Oberpostdirektion Potsdam. In its area the postal staff sometimes took the accusation literally and blacked out only the alleged head in the tree, while leaving the rest of the stamp perfectly readable. On some covers, where the Expulsion stamp had already been obliterated, the “Hitler head” in the Ellwangen tree was also covered. This treatment is recorded in postal-war catalogues under the entry “1964.3‑E Hitler Kopf geschwärzt”.

No official order has yet come to light that would explain this practice. It is therefore unclear whether the blackening was an unofficial initiative by over-zealous postal workers, or whether there was an internal directive that never reached the public record. What we can say is that the measure appears to have been restricted to this one regional administration; elsewhere in the GDR the Ellwangen stamp, Hitler head or not, passed unmolested through the postal system.

From a postal-historical point of view this turns an otherwise ordinary building definitive into a neat little Cold War document. The stamp itself was not withdrawn or surcharged, yet a tiny detail in its design was enough to provoke localised censorship in one East German district. Covers showing the carefully placed black or grey patch in the treetop – especially when they also bear an obliterated Vertreibung stamp – nicely illustrate how political interpretation, propaganda and day‑to‑day postal practice could intersect in the divided Germany of the 1960s.

The CIA's Upside-Down Stamp: How an Invert Error Embarrassed America's Most Secret Agency

Mr. Enthusiastic Errors , Newsletter

Every now and then, the post office accidentally gives collectors a small miracle. In the case of the $1 Rush Lamp and Candle Holder stamp, that miracle came in the form of a tiny upside-down printing that ended up embarrassing the CIA and delighting philatelists worldwide.

America's Light, Printed Crooked

Back in 1979, the United States issued a $1 stamp as part of the Americana definitive series. It's a rather serious design for a workhorse stamp: a colonial rush lamp and candle holder, complete with the motto "America's Light Fueled by Truth and Reason." The idea was to celebrate the American Enlightenment: light, knowledge, rational thought, all packed into a little brown, orange, yellow and tan rectangle.

But this stamp had one more story to tell, not about the Enlightenment, but about human error.

How Do You Turn a Candle Upside Down?

The stamp was produced the hard way: multiple colors, multiple passes, multiple presses at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The flame was printed lithographically, while the detailed brown elements, the holder, the lettering, all the engraved lines, were added later in a separate pass.

At some point between November 1 and 15, 1985, at least one sheet of 400 stamps went wrong. When the already-printed sheets went back to get the brown engraving, one pane of 100 somehow went through the press flipped. The result: the brown portion: holder, candle outline, and inscription, is perfectly upside down relative to the flame.

To non-collectors it might look like just a quirky little design. To us, it's a classic invert error, the kind of thing that makes your heart beat a little faster when you notice it in a pile of ordinary stamps.

Enter the CIA

The story would have been good enough if the sheet had simply gone to a random customer at a random post office. But this is the "CIA invert" for a reason.

In April 1986, an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency was sent to the McLean, Virginia, post office substation to buy stamps with government funds. He came back with a partial sheet of $1 Rush Lamp stamps. For a while, no one noticed anything odd. Only later did one sharp-eyed colleague realize that the brown parts were upside down compared to the flame.

Imagine that moment: a group of intelligence professionals, trained to spot details in satellite photos and classified documents, suddenly discovering that their own postage was more "intelligent" than they had given it credit for.

Nine CIA employees then pooled their money, quietly swapped normal $1 stamps in place of the inverts, and kept some of the error stamps for themselves. The rest were sold to a dealer, and at that point, the story stopped being an internal office curiosity and became philatelic legend.

When the Government Wants Its Stamps Back

Once word got out, the U.S. government was not amused. These stamps had been purchased with public funds, and officials argued that the employees should not profit from what was essentially government property.

Investigations followed, and there were attempts to reclaim the stamps. In the end, four employees reportedly lost their jobs for failing to cooperate, and four of the stamps were returned in exchange for saving those positions. Those four stamps are now preserved at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

From Office Stationery to Rarity

Only about 95 copies of the CIA invert are accounted for today, making it the rarest and most famous error in the entire Americana series.

Ironically, the Americana definitive series itself was never very popular with the general public and ended up being one of the shortest-lived definitive series of the twentieth century. Yet this one mistake, a single inverted brown printing on a $1 rush lamp stamp, gave the series an enduring fame among collectors that no advertising campaign could ever have achieved.

Next time you flip through a stock book and come across a rather dull brown Americana definitive, take a second look at that rush lamp. Somewhere out there, a handful are still burning, upside down.

Now I am 42 (again)

Mr. Enthusiastic Hope , Newsletter

A philatelic nod to 42

In 2002, I was 42.

I liked the number for a silly reason. It was the famous answer from the books, and I was old enough to enjoy that joke and young enough to repeat it too often. Israel was a harder place then in the way bad weather is hard. You did not like it, but you knew when to take a coat. You watched the news, checked the streets, opened your parcels at the entrance to anywhere, and still went to work, bought groceries, argued about politics, and called it life. This was a few years before the hail of rockets from Gaza.

Back then, fear had borders. It had a bus stop, a market, a cafe, a road junction. It was terrible, but it was concrete. A Jew in Israel knew that he lived with danger, yet he also knew where home was. Home was the place where no one had to explain why the holidays mattered, why history sat at the table with the soup, why one old photograph could silence a room.

I am almost 66 now. Or 42 in hexa, which is the sort of joke that proves I have not changed as much as I pretend.

The world has changed more than I have, or has it?

In 2002, when someone disliked Jews, he usually used old words. They were ugly words, but familiar. They came from the usual cupboards of history. You could point to them and say: there, that is antisemitism. It wore a face that people were still ashamed to show in daylight.

Now it often comes dressed more neatly. It arrives polished, educated, global. It speaks the language of justice while making old accusations sound new. It says "Zionist" and waits to see if anyone objects when it really means "Jew." It claims not to hate Jews while demanding that the only Jewish state behave in a way no other state is ever asked to behave. It tells me that I am imagining things, that I am too sensitive, that this time the hatred is principled.

That may be the strangest change of all. The danger no longer always feels local, or even physical, though of course it can become physical soon enough. It feels moral. It feels like standing in a room where people have decided, very calmly, that Jewish fear does not count as fear, Jewish grief does not count as grief, and Jewish self-defense is the one sin that cannot be forgiven.

In 2002, I worried about whether it was safe to stand in the wrong place.

Now I also worry about whether my child, my people, and my country are allowed to stand anywhere at all.

And yet some things have not changed.

I am still a Jew. I am still an Israeli. I still know that memory is a form of self-defense. I still know that survival is not only breathing, but insisting on living as myself, openly, stubbornly, with humor intact. I still know that our enemies always believe they are modern, while their hatred is ancient.

So yes, the world has changed. It has become faster, louder, and in many ways less honest. And yes, I think it has become less safe for Jews, because hatred now travels farther, hides better, and finds excuses more easily. Violence against Jews is brushed away. "Didn't happen," they say, or ignore it. "Fake news," they say, but it isn't!

But I have changed too.

At 42, I thought resilience meant getting through the day.

At 66, I know it also means refusing to let the world explain me out of my own story.

As a collector, I could not resist ending with a small philatelic wink: a 42-cent stamp for the number that once felt like a joke, and now feels like a marker on the road.

Superman - The Immigrant Story Behind the Cape

Mr. Enthusiastic Hope , Newsletter

Superman - The Immigrant Story

Q: Why end with the IDF?

Because the story arc moves from fantasy to responsibility: a 1938 dream of protection and a modern reality of defense.

Everyone knows Superman has a secret identity, but here is the one nobody talks about: Superman is Jewish. In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster - two Jewish kids from Cleveland whose families fled Eastern Europe - created Superman.

The timing matters. Depression-era America. News from Europe getting darker. And suddenly a character appears who is not just strong, but stubbornly decent.

Superman’s origin is the giveaway. It is not a neat “chosen one” story. It is closer to Moses. A child sent away from a dying homeland in a vessel. A last desperate act by parents who know what is coming. He grows up in a new place, safe, loved, and slightly out of place.

Clark Kent isn’t Superman hiding among humans. Clark Kent is a Jewish kid passing for white. Nervous, intellectual. Thick glasses. Bumbling. That is Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster: two kids who got picked on and dreamed of being strong. Change your name. Change your clothes. No one suspects what you really are.

Superman’s Kryptonian name pulls people into an argument. Kal-El. “El” is a real Hebrew word meaning God, found in many Hebrew names. The “Kal” part is where the internet gets overconfident. Some people insist it means “swift” or even “voice” in Hebrew. But in Hebrew, “kal” (קל) commonly means “light” (not heavy) or “easy”. So I treat the Hebrew-ness as a strong echo, not a courtroom translation.

For Superman, Krypton does not stay in the past. He keeps it. Not as a flag, but as a bruise. The Fortress of Solitude is basically a private museum of a lost world. He studies it, preserves it, mourns it. That is the immigrant story in one sentence: you cannot go back, but you also cannot let go.

The Nazis noticed, too. Their reaction to Superman was not casual irritation, it was ideological hostility. The character was created by two Jewish artists, and the Nazis knew exactly what they were looking at.

After a 1940 comic strip showed Superman ending the war by arresting Hitler, things escalated fast. In February 1940, Look magazine published a two-page feature by Siegel and Shuster. In it, Superman smashes Germany’s Westwall, flies to Berchtesgaden, grabs a protesting Hitler by the collar, scoops up Joseph Stalin from Moscow, and delivers both “power-mad scoundrels” to the League of Nations in Geneva to stand trial for “unprovoked aggression against defenseless countries.”

The Nazi response was swift and vicious. On April 25, 1940, Das Schwarze Korps, the official newspaper of the SS, published a full-page tirade titled “Jerry Siegel greift ein!” (“Jerry Siegel Intervenes!”). The author repeatedly targeted Siegel’s Jewish heritage, calling him “intellectually and physically circumcised” and an “inventive Israelite.” They even turned his name into a slur, calling him “Jerry Siegellack” (sealing wax), implying his work was a stinking mess that should be ignored.

So yes, it is funny in a bitter way: the most “American” superhero became so successfully American that many people forgot he was an immigrant story. The Man of Steel was forged in the shtetl.

And yet, here we are again.

Antisemitism is no longer something you have to hunt for in dusty newspapers. It is back in daylight. On campuses. In city streets. On social feeds. In the language people pretend is “just criticism.” The old tropes never died. They just changed fonts.

The immigrant story that Superman carried into the 20th century has become part of our 21st-century reality for too many Jewish families: looking over their shoulders, explaining their identity, pushing back against lies and hatred.

What does Superman mean now, when Jews are threatened not just in far-off lands but in broad daylight on social feeds and city streets?

Superman was invented in 1938 because two Jewish kids understood something before the world did: that Jews could not count on being protected when things turned ugly. So they imagined a man who would not wait for permission to stop annihilation.

Today, that fantasy is no longer imaginary.

There is no cape. No perfect morality. No clean victories.
Just young men and women doing something their grandparents were never allowed to do.

The Israeli Defense Forces exist for the same reason Superman was invented:
because Jews learned the hard way what happens when no one else comes.

Superman was the dream of “never again.”
The IDF is what “never again” looks like when you mean it.

So when Superman appears on a stamp today, he is no longer just a nostalgic immigrant story.
He is a reminder of the moment Jews stopped waiting to be rescued and started taking responsibility for their own existence.

FAQ

Is Kal-El “voice of God” in Hebrew?
“El” is a genuine Hebrew element meaning God, but “kal” is commonly “light” (not heavy) or “easy” in Hebrew. So it is better to treat the name as a strong echo, not a literal translation.

Why mention antisemitism today in a story about a superhero?
Because Superman was created at a moment when Jews were watching the world darken, and the themes still resonate when hatred returns in public.

Why end with the IDF?
Because the essay’s point is the movement from fantasy to responsibility: a 1938 dream of protection and a modern reality of defense.

Kishinev, Bondi, and the Erosion of Empathy

Mr. Enthusiastic Antisemitism , Nazi

The Bondi terrorist attack and calls for “death to the IDF” and “globalize the Intifada” have had an effect on me, more than I let on, making me wonder what has happened to the world. We are living in a time when facts seem optional and empathy is increasingly selective. We have watched respected voices deny or minimize atrocities committed against Jews, including the refusal by parts of the #MeToo movement to acknowledge the rape and sexual violence inflicted on Israeli women. Silence, deflection, and moral hesitation have become familiar responses whenever Jewish suffering does not fit a preferred narrative. This deafness is not new. It has a long and uncomfortable history.

From People to “Race”

To understand how this happens, it is worth stepping back to the moment when Jews were no longer discussed as individuals, a religion, or a people, but as something more dangerous and abstract. In April 1903, the Jewish community of Kishinev (today Chișinău, Moldova) was subjected to a brutal pogrom. Over two days, Jewish homes and shops were destroyed, dozens of Jews were murdered, and many more were injured, while the authorities largely stood aside. Pogroms were not new, but Kishinev became a turning point because of the language used to justify the violence.

In the weeks leading up to the pogrom, the local newspaper Bessarabets (Бессарабец) published repeated antisemitic articles accusing Jews of ritual murder and portraying them as an inherent threat. Crucially, Jews were described not simply as a religious group, but as a “race.” One of the paper’s most notorious phrases called for a “crusade against the hated race.” With that shift, Jews were no longer people who practiced a faith or belonged to a historical community. They became a biological problem.

Words, Categories, and Violence

This distinction matters. A religion is a system of belief and practice. A people is a historical and cultural community shaped by shared memory, language, and experience. A race, as defined by late nineteenth-century racial thinking, was imagined as biological, fixed, and immutable. Once Jews were redefined as a race, there was nothing they could do to change their status. Conversion, loyalty, and citizenship became irrelevant. Violence could be reframed as necessity.

Although I am not a religious person, the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ring true: first Jews were hated because of their religion, then they were hated because of their race, and now they are hated because of their nation-state. The categories change, but the underlying logic does not. It is always about finding a new language to say that Jews, in whatever form, do not belong as free and equal human beings.

Actually Jonathan Sacks used “pogrom” as one of a series of uniquely Jewish words that entered the moral vocabulary of the modern world because of antisemitic violence.

From Kishinev to Nuremberg

This framework did not begin with the Nazis, but it was perfected by them. In 1935, the Nazi regime enacted the “Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor,” one of the central Nuremberg Laws. Although presented as a general racial safeguard, its primary target was Jews: the law criminalized marriages and sexual relations between Jews and so-called “German or related blood” and formalized the idea that Jews were a biological contaminant to German society.

Reich Medical Association circular promoting ‘racial hygiene

This racial obsession was not fringe ideology. It was institutionalized. German medical and scientific bodies embraced “racial hygiene” as a central mission, recasting medicine as a tool for deciding whose lives were worth protecting and whose were disposable. Healing gave way to sorting. The postcard illustrated here, showing the memorial to the victims of the 1903 Kishinev pogrom, reminds us that this trajectory did not begin with gas chambers or camps. It began with words in newspapers, definitions repeated often enough to feel normal, and the steady erosion of empathy.

The Present

What makes this history so unsettling is how familiar it feels. Then, Jews were dismissed as a race. Today, Jews are often dismissed as an abstraction: a political symbol, a collective accusation, or an inconvenience to a moral narrative. When Jewish victims are ignored, doubted, or explained away, it follows the same logic. Once Jews are no longer seen as individuals, their suffering becomes negotiable.

The Kishinev postal stationery shown above is more than a piece of postal memorabilia. It is a fragment of a world in which neighbors watched while others were beaten, and in which incitement printed on cheap newsprint could turn into broken bodies in the street.Why is it that whenever Israel does anything, Jews far from its borders are treated as if they are responsible?

Looking at it after Bondi, the question almost asks itself: are Jews safe anymore, anywhere in the world?

Operation Diamond: How Israel Stole a Soviet MiG-21 in History's Most Daring Jet Heist

Mr. Enthusiastic Cold War Espionage , Intelligence Operations

In the early 1960s, Israel faced a growing threat from its neighbors. The MiG-21, the Soviet Union’s most advanced fighter jet, which was introduced in 1960, was the backbone of Arab air forces, particularly in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Israeli pilots had never encountered this aircraft in combat, and intelligence on its capabilities was scarce. If war broke out, Israel needed an advantage—something that would turn the tide in the skies.

The mastermind behind the operation was Meir Amit, the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. Amit was known for his audacious strategies, and he understood that acquiring a MiG-21 would give Israel a vital edge. The plan was endorsed by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Major General Mordechai “Mottie” Hod, the commander of the Israeli Air Force. style="padding-left: 10px;"

But how do you steal a top-secret fighter jet? The answer lay in Munir Redfa, an Iraqi Air Force pilot. Munir Redfa, born in 1934 in Baghdad, felt alienated due to his Christian heritage and had grown disgusted with orders to bomb Kurdish villages. Mossad operatives approached him with an offer: defect to Israel, bring the MiG-21, and secure a new life for himself and his family and of course with a million dollars.

After months of secret meetings, Redfa agreed. His family was smuggled out of Iraq before his flight to ensure their safety. Then, on August 16, 1966, Redfa took off on a routine training mission—but instead of returning to his base, he veered toward Israel.

As Redfa flew toward Israeli airspace, Jordanian radar picked up the rogue aircraft. Alarmed, Jordanian authorities issued alerts to nearby air traffic control stations, and two Jordanian Hawker Hunter jets were scrambled to intercept him. But Redfa was flying at over 9000 meters and at high speed, making it nearly impossible for them to catch him. To make matters more confusing, Iraq failed to respond to Jordan’s inquiries, and Syria falsely claimed responsibility for the aircraft, reassuring Jordan that it was part of a training mission. This miscommunication allowed Redfa to cross Jordanian airspace unchallenged.

As Redfa entered Israeli airspace, he was met by two Dassault Mirage III jets from the Israeli Air Force, which escorted him safely to Hatzor Air Base. Upon landing, Redfa was immediately taken into protective custody, and the MiG-21 was secured for examination.

For Mossad, this was a triumph. Israeli engineers and pilots wasted no time studying the aircraft, uncovering its weaknesses and strengths. The MiG-21 proved to be a goldmine of intelligence. Israeli specialists dissected its technology, learning its flight dynamics, weapon systems, and vulnerabilities. When war erupted in 1967, Israel’s newfound knowledge played a crucial role in achieving air superiority. Israeli pilots used their insights to outmaneuver and destroy dozens of enemy MiG-21s, ensuring dominance over the skies during the Six-Day War. But the significance of Operation Diamond extended beyond Israel. The United States, eager to understand Soviet aviation technology, was granted access to study the aircraft. The insights gained helped U.S. defense planners develop tactics against Soviet-built jets in future conflicts, marking a strategic victory in the Cold War.

After his defection, Redfa lived in Israel for a time before eventually settling in another Western country. He passed away in 1998 due to a heart attack. His MiG-21 remains on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim, a testament to one of Mossad’s most daring operations.

Munir Redfa's MiG-21, the subject of Operation Diamond, at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim

By Oren Rozen - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11051235

Syria’s 2024 Stamp: A Defiant Symbol of Arab Solidarity with Gaza

Mr. Enthusiastic Arab League , Arab solidarity

In late 2024, in the last days of the Assad regime, Syria issued a powerful postage stamp that resonates far beyond its borders. This stamp carries a strong political message of solidarity with Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. Prominently featured is the emblem of the Arab League, along with the words "With Gaza" in both Arabic and English. The design is deeply evocative: on the left, a close-up of a keffiyeh-clad figure gazes out with determination, while the right side depicts destruction with the Palestinian flag rising defiantly amidst the rubble.

This stamp is part of a broader initiative by Arab League countries. According to the Kuwait Times (January 13, 2024), the Arab League agreed during its 44th Session of the Arab Permanent Postal Committee to issue a joint postage stamp in honor of Gaza. The aim: to show unified Arab support for the Palestinian people. As stated by Abdullah Al-Humaida, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Kuwait’s Ministry of Communications for the postal sector, Gaza "had been subjected to a vicious war by the Zionist occupation forces since October 7, 2023, resulting in more than 23,000 deaths and around 60,000 injuries."

The political and historical weight behind this stamp cannot be ignored. While Gaza initiated the war after their barbaric invasion on October 7th, 2023, the likes of which the world has never known and hopefully will never know — this stamp firmly positions Syria and several other Arab states in solidarity with Gaza.

So far, stamps under this initiative have been issued by Syria, Qatar, Oman, Djibouti, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Jordan. Curiously absent, however, are stamps from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt—despite Egypt presiding over the meeting where the decision was made. And intriguingly, no stamp from Kuwait itself has surfaced, even though it was Kuwait’s delegation that publicly championed the initiative. I should add that these stamps are not cheap, and many were also issued in souvenir sheets giving a feel that they are intended for the collector, but I have seen the stamps on mail!

From a philatelic perspective, the Syrian stamp's production quality leaves much to be desired. The printing is coarse, with muted colors and visible pixelation that dulls the impact of the original design. This is typical of recent Syrian issues, where resource constraints and sanctions have led to lower-quality outputs compared to the sharper, more vibrant prints seen in Gulf states like Qatar or Oman.

This postage stamp is more than a collector’s item; it is a symbol of the political fault lines and alliances that continue to shape the Middle East today.

From Osirak to Stuxnet: Israel’s Silent War Against the Bomb

Mr. Enthusiastic Iran Nuclear threat , Mossad operations

In the early 1960s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser began exploring nuclear options. Egypt had a research reactor supplied by the Soviet Union in 1961, and rumors abounded that Nasser was interested in acquiring nuclear weapons to counter Israel, especially after Egypt’s defeat in the 1956 Suez Crisis.

In 1963, Israel became increasingly concerned about Egypt's rocket program, which was supported by German scientists and aimed at developing advanced missile technology. There were claims that Egypt was attempting to equip missiles with radioactive waste and potentially nuclear warheads. During this time, U.S. President John F. Kennedy also pressured Israeli leaders to allow inspections of the Dimona nuclear reactor, fearing that Israel might be developing nuclear weapons.

However, Egypt's progress stalled. The Six-Day War of 1967, in which Egypt suffered a crushing defeat, diverted military and financial resources. After Nasser’s death in 1970 and Sadat’s peace with Israel, Egyptian nuclear ambitions shifted to peaceful energy development.

But Egypt wasn’t the only nuclear concern on Israel’s radar. As one threat faded, another began to rise — this time from the east. In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, pursued nuclear technology under the pretense of civilian energy. Iraq purchased a French-made Osirak reactor with the help of France and some Italian cooperation. The reactor, officially for peaceful purposes, was not suitable for energy generation, but it was very well-suited for plutonium production—a red flag for nuclear weapons development.

So Begin and his team cook up a plan. A crazy plan. Fly thousands of kilometers into enemy territory, undetected, bomb the reactor before it goes live, and fly back home — all without starting World War III.

The pilots? Hand-picked, young, and fearless. Among them: a future astronaut named Ilan Ramon (maybe a future blog post). They trained for months, memorizing maps, practicing flying just above the desert sand to avoid radar.

And then, on June 7, 1981, they launched. Eight F-16s with F-15 escorts. Silent. Low. Fast. Like shadows across the sand.

They reached the reactor. A few seconds of dive bombing. Boom. The Osirak reactor is reduced to rubble. One direct hit after another. No one even had time to blink.

Jordan's stamp for Israel's destruction of Iraq's reactor

Iraq's stamp for Israel's destruction of Iraq's reactor

The pilots turned around and headed home. Mission accomplished. Not a single Israeli aircraft was lost.

Back in Israel? Celebrations. Relief. History made.

Around the world? Not so much. Even the United States condemned it, publicly. But behind the scenes, many would later admit: it probably stopped Saddam from becoming a nuclear-armed tyrant.

When the Gulf War rolled around in 1991, Saddam was launching Scud missiles at Israel — but without nuclear warheads. Operation Opera wasn’t just a surgical strike. It was a message. Don’t mess with us. We’ll stop you before you even start.

Is that the end of the story? Nope.

Iran’s nuclear program began under the Shah in the 1970s, with Western support. But after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the new regime under Ayatollah Khomeini temporarily halted the program, viewing it as a "Western disease." That attitude changed during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88).

In the 1990s and 2000s, Iran resumed its nuclear program with Russian and Chinese help. Western intelligence concluded that Iran had covert weapons-related ambitions, especially after revelations about Natanz and Fordow enrichment sites.

As Iraq faded into the history books, a new shadow began to loom over Israel — Iran. Not just any threat, but one wrapped in religious ideology, fiery speeches, and long-range ambitions. Iran's leaders weren't shy. They talked openly — and often — about wiping Israel off the map. And they weren’t just talking. They were backing groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — bitter enemies sworn to Israel’s destruction.

But this time, the threat wasn’t just words or rockets. It was uranium enrichment, underground bunkers, and missile silos. Iran was playing a long game — and Israel knew it. If Iran got the bomb, it wouldn’t just tip the balance of power. It could endanger Israel’s very existence.

So, what did Israel do? They got creative. Quiet. Surgical.

In 2010, computers at Iran’s Natanz facility started acting… strange. Centrifuges spinning out of control. Equipment crashing. It was like the machines had been possessed. But it wasn’t a ghost — it was Stuxnet, a powerful cyberweapon, reportedly built by Israeli and American intelligence. It was the first time a virus acted like a guided missile, and it set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back by years.

But the digital war wasn’t the only front.

Across Tehran and other cities, Iranian nuclear scientists began having very bad luck. Car bombs. Mysterious motorcycle assassins. Silenced pistols in the early morning. No one claimed responsibility, but everyone had a pretty good idea who was behind it. Mossad had sent a message: "We’re watching, and we’ll act before it’s too late."

On the diplomatic stage, things were heating up too. When the world powers signed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Israel was furious. Prime Minister Netanyahu even went to the U.S. Congress to protest, saying: This deal doesn’t stop Iran — it paves their path to the bomb. Israel kept up the pressure, even after the U.S. pulled out of the deal, and worked behind the scenes to keep Iran’s nuclear ambitions in check.

The story of nuclear ambitions in the Middle East isn’t over. But if history has shown anything, it’s this: Israel won’t wait for the threat to arrive. It will meet it — in the skies, in cyberspace, and in the shadows.

Edited

American B52 Stealth Bomber like the one that destroyed the reactors

On 13th June 2025, after years of threats and actions from the Iranian regime against Israel, Israel finally retaliated and in a 12 day war, Israel totally obliterated the Iranian missile program.

Realizing that Israel had destroyed all Iran's air defense, this pave the way for the United States to use their bunker buster bombs and destroy the nuclear reactors. The world was saved! For now! China and others may try to replenish supplies, but it has been pushed back.

The Secret Behind Israel’s Kfir Fighter: Espionage, Innovation, and Survival

Mr. Enthusiastic Dassault Mirage , Israeli Air Force

The year was 1968, and Israel was facing an urgent crisis. The victory in the Six-Day War had come at a cost, as you remember from the previous newsletter, France, once a key arms supplier, had turned its back on Israel. President Charles de Gaulle, condemning Israel’s preemptive strike, imposed a strict arms embargo, cutting off access to the powerful Dassault Mirage 5 fighters that Israel had already paid for.

Israel needed a solution.

Somewhere in Switzerland, in the quiet offices of Sulzer, a company licensed to produce components for the Mirage III’s SNECMA Atar 9C engine, an unassuming Swiss engineer named Alfred Frauenknecht went about his work. He was not a spy, nor a man with strong political beliefs—just an engineer in need of money. And money, as it turned out, was something Israel was willing to provide. An operation was put in motion to acquire the Mirage blueprints by any means necessary.

Israeli intelligence, known for its daring operations, identified Frauenknecht’s financial troubles and made an offer: a large sum of money in exchange for technical documents. Frauenknecht hesitated, but the lure of wealth proved too strong. Slowly, methodically, he began to collect thousands of classified blueprints—detailed schematics of the Mirage’s airframe, avionics, and most importantly, the Atar 9C engine.

For the next few years (1968-1969), Frauenknecht smuggled out documents in secret, passing them into the hands of Israeli intelligence. The blueprints, once in Israeli possession, were studied by engineers at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). With these stolen plans, Israel reverse-engineered the Mirage 5, producing an almost identical aircraft—the IAI Nesher.

But Israel didn’t stop there. Armed with this knowledge, their engineers went further, replacing the Atar 9C engine with the more powerful General Electric J79, the same engine used in the American F-4 Phantom II. This modification required significant engineering changes, including structural reinforcements to handle the increased thrust and upgraded avionics to integrate both Israeli and American weaponry

And then came one of the biggest aerodynamic improvements, the addition of canards, small forward wings placed near the cockpit. These were introduced in the Kfir C2 and later models, drastically improving:

Maneuverability – The aircraft could turn tighter, making it deadlier in dogfights.
Takeoff and landing performance – Shorter takeoff distances and better control at low speeds.
Stability – Compensating for the heavier engine and increasing overall control.

The result? A new aircraft—the IAI Kfir—a fighter even deadlier than the Mirage it was based on.

Meanwhile, Frauenknecht’s activities did not go unnoticed. By 1971, Swiss authorities uncovered the breach. Frauenknecht was arrested, charged with espionage, and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The case caused an international scandal, but by then, the damage was done. Israel had what it needed.

By 1975, the first IAI Kfirs rolled off the production line and entered service with the Israeli Air Force. Later, the fighter was exported to Colombia, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, and even the United States (as the F-21, for training).

The Mirage had been born in France. But its Israeli descendant, the Kfir, was something entirely different—the product of necessity, espionage, and engineering ingenuity, proving once again that Israel could not be outmatched, even by an arms embargo.

How Israel Outsmarted France and Sailed Away with Its Own Warships

Mr. Enthusiastic Cherbourg boats , mossad

The Cherbourg boats incident was a significant event that occurred in December 1969, involving Israel's acquisition of naval vessels under unusual circumstances.

Relationship between France and Israel had been relatively good, with France being a major supplier of Israeli military equipment. We all know about the relationship which led to the 1956 Sinai Campaign as well as our first atomic reactor. In the mid-1960s, Israel ordered 12 missile boats from France. These were Sa'ar-class vessels, to be built at the Cherbourg shipyards in France.

However, after the 1967 Six-Day War, French policy toward Israel changed dramatically under President Charles de Gaulle. In December 1968, France imposed an arms embargo on Israel. Despite the embargo, five of the boats had already been delivered, but the remaining seven were stuck in Cherbourg, paid for but not released. The embargo was a severe blow to Israel, as the missile boats were a crucial part of its naval defense strategy.

Admiral Mordechai "Mokka" Limon was the head of Israel’s arms procurement delegation in France at the time. He understood that we needed these ships and devised an elaborate plan to obtain these vessels. He had played a crucial role in negotiating the original missile boat deal and together with Shimon Peres, Director-General of the Defense Ministry at the time, they planned an elaborate plan to get the boats to Israel. Peres secured the necessary government approval and funding for the covert operation.

So what was the plan, you ask? Well, Limon created a fictitious Norwegian oil company called "Starboat," which supposedly purchased the boats for oil exploration in the North Sea, helping circumvent French authorities. This ruse allowed Israeli personnel to continue working on the boats in Cherbourg without raising suspicion.

He personally recruited a team of Israeli naval officers and sailors who quietly traveled to Cherbourg and prepared for the operation. Actually they were almost caught by immigration into France but a friendly Moroccan-born Jew let them through.

Limon meticulously planned the logistics of the escape, choosing Christmas Eve when French surveillance would be minimal and officials would be on holiday. He coordinated with Israeli intelligence to ensure the success of the operation, planning everything from false documentation to refueling arrangements.

On Christmas Eve 1969, the sea conditions in Cherbourg port were quite dramatic. A Force 9 gale was blowing, which is a strong gale with wind speeds between 41-47 knots (47-54 mph or 75-88 km/h). This kind of weather would have created very rough sea conditions, with high waves and challenging navigation. It was on this night, when most port workers and French authorities were celebrating the holiday, that the Israeli crews, disguised as civilians, boarded the boats. Without clearance from the French authorities, showing almost no lights, the missile boats quietly slipped out of Cherbourg harbor into the teeth of the Force 9 gale which kept even large freighters from venturing out.

They sailed through the stormy Atlantic Ocean, avoiding detection. The boats traveled a secretly pre-planned route, refueling at sea from Israeli commercial ships. By the time French authorities realized what had happened, the vessels were already in international waters. This operation became known as "Operation Noa," named after the daughter of Admiral Mordechai Limon who orchestrated the plan.

After a long journey of more than 3,000 nautical miles, they reached the Israeli port of Haifa on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1969.

The escape was an embarrassment for France, as it demonstrated Israel's ability to outmaneuver a major Western power. Though French authorities were angered, they did not take serious action beyond diplomatic protests.

The incident caused diplomatic tension between France and Israel but ultimately led to no serious consequences. The boats later became an important part of the Israeli Navy fleet and were used in various operations. The Israeli Navy was able to revise our strategy in favor of smaller missile boats, rather than the larger, slower destroyers. The French-built Saar class boats which were "liberated" from Cherbourg were the first fast attack vessels to meet the new needs.

The missile boats later played a key role in developing Israel’s missile boat fleet, which would prove crucial during the Yom Kippur War (1973), particularly in naval battles against Egypt and Syria.

During the South Africa apartheid era, Israel and South Africa maintained discreet military cooperation, and South Africa became interested in the Sa'ar / Reshef-class vessels due to their impressive performance. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, South Africa acquired modified versions of these missile boats, known as the "Minister" class or sometimes "Reshef" class in South Africa. South Africa ultimately operated nine vessels based on the Israeli Sa'ar design, built with Israeli assistance. I was told that these were named the Minister class, with vessels bearing names like SAS Minister of Defense, SAS Minister of Transport, etc. Not sure if that is true.

The operation was a brilliant combination of naval expertise, strategic deception, and intelligence work. I am hoping for more stories like these.

Hamas Declares War on Israel

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter ,

All of us know what Hamas did on that fateful day on October 7, 2023, which was far worse than the American 11th September, but for those who have forgotten:

Hamas launched a land, sea, and air assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, which resulted in more than 1,200 deaths, primarily Israeli citizens, marking it as the deadliest day for Israel since its independence. More than 240 people were kidnapped by Hamas during this invasion. This was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a true act of genocide/

Israel declared itself in a state of war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and conducted air strikes on the Gaza Strip, followed by the incursion of ground troops and armored vehicles. The intent was to destroy the Hamas tunnels and to rescue the hostages.

Hamas' military wing and other Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the assault. I will spare the details here of Hamas' rapes and heinous acts because this is a blog about stamps. I will state something that many people have ignored, Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and Gaza was a 100% Palestinian entity.

The support for Hamas through the philatelic community was very quick, stamps being introduced already in 2023, barely two months after the invasion.

Jordan

On the 7th November 2023, Jordan Post was quick to enter the philatelic support announcing that they were going to overprint some issues with the phrase (Gaza the Steadfast). They claimed:

* The first issue, consisting of one stamp, which bore the name of the Intifada and was issued in 1991 with a value of 20 fils, was a new issue for this year, decorated with a new value of one Jordanian dinar, bearing the phrase (Gaza the Steadfast), where the decoration came in blue. Strangely this was issued in only 1000 copies and prices reach in the hundreds. The intent here is probably for philatelist.

* The second issue, consisting of one stamp, which bore a drawing of the Arch of Triumph (Hadrian’s Arch) in the ancient city of Jerash, issued in 2003, with a value of 50 fils, was a new issue for this year, decorated with a new value of one Jordanian dinar, bearing the phrase (Gaza the Steadfast), with the decoration in black.

Libya

Libya soon followed with an overprint of its own with words "Gaza Struggle"

Syria

Syria issued a stamp with the words "Occupation Resistance". This must not be confused with the stamp that they issued in October for the 50th Anniversary of the October War. It seems strange that they would issue another stamp so quickly, less than two months after the invasion. Stamps take preparation.

Iraq

Iraq also jumped on the bandwagon and issued a stamp and a souvenir sheet, showing the Dome of the Rock but with the words Tawafan Al-Aksa, a common error. No, I don't accept the current woke whitewash that the Arabs refer to the entire Temple Mount as Al Aksa seeing as how they use a different term, Haram al Sharif. However the word Tawafan means a storm, meaning a storm on the Temple Mount (using the proper terminology)

The souvenir sheet shows this quite well, where paratroopers are dropping on to the Temple Mount and the Israeli flag is shown to be fallen to be replaced by the Palestinian flag.

Malaysia

January 2024, Malaysia Post had an issue "Palestin Merdeka" in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle. Although this stamp doesn't specifically mention the Gaza war, I feel that the timing ties it in.

Tunisia

Tunisia joined in on 29th February, 2024 with an issue for "Freedom for Palestine" depicting the Dome of the Rock on the left, but on the right, an image of the Gaza War.

Strange that from 2005 until Gaza invaded, Gaza was free.

I am sure there will be others. I had heard of a Djibouti stamp, but haven't seen one for sale

The 1987 South African Stamp Recall: A Religious Controversy

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter ,

Today we are going to show a case of religious reasons for withdrawing an issue.

November 19, 1987, South Africa Postal Authorities intended to issue a four-stamp set to commemorate the Bible Society of South Africa, which was founded in 1820.

However, one of the stamps, the 40c stamp contained two lines of script, one in Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, and one in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. Both of the lines contained the word “God”.

The Orthodox Jewish community protested that the stamps were a serious transgression of Judaic law, which says that God’s name may appear only in the Torah and prayer books. It was not permissable for God's name to be torn, cancelled or defaced in any way, especially during mail handling process.

o offense had been intended by the Postal Authorities and they quickly recalled the 40c stamps from the Post Offices across South Africa, before the initial release date.

The stamps were prepared to be destroyed in the interests of religious harmony. However, they were informed this was equally unacceptable to the Jewish community and were told that the stamps should be buried.

The Postal Authorities decided that was a step too far and the stamps were duly destroyed.

It is understood that some of the smaller Post Offices were running short of 40c stamps and opened their parcels before the official release date. They were sold over the counter with many being used for postage. It is believed that less than 1300 stamps exist.

The Joint issue with India that never was

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter , unissued

Israel and India established full diplomatic relations on January 29, 1992. However, even before that, Israel had a Consulate in Mumbai from 1953. Ties between the two countries flourished and currently include agricultural cooperation, water management collaboration, thriving trade, increasing tourism and much more. Over the last 32 years, Israelis have developed a special relationship with the people of India, and many people go to India in post army trips.

An announcement was made that on the 23rd February 2024, there would be a joint stamp issue with India depicting two colorful festivals, Purim and Holi, representing our close cultural links and similarities between our festivals.

The Purim Festival relates to the miracle the work of Queen Esther, who arrived at the royal court of the Persian Empire at a time of need for the Jewish people.

The Holi Festival also marks a story of miraculous rescue. Tradition tells of an evil king who demanded that his subjects worship only him and abandon all other gods.

A short while before the day of issue, India Post withdrew its permission and neither issue was released. This was presumed to be a direct result of Gaza's invasion of Israel. India did not want to be seen to take sides although any sane person would have sided with Israel, just as people side with Ukraine.

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter , Oops

In 1975, the United Arab Emirates planned to issue a set of stamps to commemorate the Second Long Distance Swimming Championship, an event that underscored the country’s growing interest in promoting sports and physical fitness. The UAE, which had only recently been formed in 1971, was keen to establish a national identity and highlight its participation in international events.

The stamps were designed with a focus on the theme of swimming and the championship. They featured vibrant illustrations of swimmers and related aquatic imagery. The designs were completed, and the stamps were printed and prepared for release. One of the flags for the participating entities was the flag of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The compering countries were UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the PLO.

For reasons that remain somewhat unclear, the decision was made to withhold the release of these stamps. Scott Stamp catalog had a notation that noted that the stamps were withdrawn at the last moment because not enough supplies had been received from the printer. Initially the set was to be released in June 1975 but because the stamps had not arrived from the Crown Printers in England, the issue was postponed to August. However when not enough arrived even by then, it was cancelled.

Despite not being released, these stamps have become quite rare and sought after by collectors and prices range from $400 upwards, if you can find them.

Gibraltar cancels a joint issue with Israel

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter ,

Israel announced a joint issue with the British Territory of Gibraltar to be issued in 2011 celebrating the easternmost (Israel) and westernmost (Gibraltar) extent of the Mediterranean Sea. The designed stamp depicted the rock overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar on the left side along with the flag with the coat of arms of the territory. The right side included the equally iconic Tower of David in the Old City of Jerusalem with the flag of Israel flying above.

Agreements between the two postal authorities were finalized and all was good.

But after the stamps were printed, the issue was canceled by the British Foreign Office. Although Gibraltar is supposed to be independent of Britain in most of its affairs, its foreign affairs are subordinate to the British authorities.

The stamp was ready for distribution before the Foreign Office intervened. The Foreign Office had no problem with the appearance of the Rock of Gibraltar on an Israel-Gibraltar “friendship stamp”. But the inclusion of the Israeli landmark, “situated on disputed territory in Jerusalem” as the Foreign Office put it, led it to demand a redesign, and for Israel Post to cancel the stamp.

An Israeli source said: “If 3000 years of Jewish residence in Jerusalem is considered controversial, the mere 300 years that Britain has been in Gibraltar would certainly be a problem".

Officials in the British territory compensated Israel Post for the cost of printing the stamps, but what an insult!

In 2022 a joint stamp was issued. What do you think?

Audrey Hepburn stamp raises smoke

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter ,

Image Courtesy: Ulrich Felzmann

In 2001, the German Ministry of Finance planned a special series of stamps to commemorate famous film stars. Audrey Hepburn was one of the selected icons. For more personally, her role in "My Fair Lady" was the best but my wife will never agree with me. Isn't that what wives do anyway?

The design of her stamp featured a well-known photograph of her from the 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's," where she is seen with a cigarette holder.

However, before the stamps could be issued, Audrey Hepburn's son, Sean Ferrer, objected to the design. He found the image inappropriate because it showed his mother with a cigarette holder, which he felt was not a fitting tribute considering Hepburn's later work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and her advocacy for children's welfare. Ferrer suggested using an alternative image, but an agreement could not be reached with the postal authorities.

Due to the objections and the inability to resolve the issue, the stamps were ordered to be destroyed. Out of the 14 million stamps printed, nearly all were incinerated. However, a small number of these stamps somehow escaped destruction and found their way into the hands of collectors.

In 2005, five of these rare stamps surfaced and were sold at auctions, fetching high prices due to their rarity and the intriguing story behind them. One of these stamps sold in 2018 for €53,000 in an auction in Berlin and in 2021 Gaertner sold one for $176,000. The proceeds from some of these auctions were donated to charity, including causes supported by Hepburn during her lifetime.

The Audrey Hepburn stamp saga remains a notable example of how philately intersects with popular culture and personal legacy, highlighting the sensitive nature of representing public figures on postage stamps.

Palestinians fought the Nazis in World War II, meaning Jews

Mr. Enthusiastic Newsletter ,

We all know how the rise of Nazism during the 1930s was not only a threat to the world, but also a threat to exterminate Jews, starting with Europe.

So, during the early 1940s, as the world was engulfed in the flames of World War II, many Jews in British Mandate Palestine felt a powerful urge to contribute to the fight against the Axis powers. Motivated by a mix of reasons—ranging from a deep desire to combat Nazism and protect their homeland to gaining military experience for the future defense of their community—these brave individuals enlisted in the British Army.

Their decision to enlist was profoundly influenced by David Ben Gurion's declaration in 1939: "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper." The British White Paper of 1939 had severely restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine and land purchases by Jews, a move that was deeply resented by the Jewish community and it was also against the mandate that the British had received from the League Of Nations. Ben Gurion's statement encapsulated a dual commitment: resisting British policies that undermined Jewish aspirations in Palestine while simultaneously supporting the Allied war effort against the Nazis.

Among those Jews who volunteered, some were captured by the Nazis during various campaigns in Europe, particularly in Libya, Greece and Crete in 1941 and early 1942. These soldiers, now prisoners of war, were sent to different POW camps across Nazi-occupied Europe. However most Palestinian Jews were sent to camp Stalag VIII-B, later renamed Stalag-344, located near Lamsdorf, now Łambinowice, Poland. The conditions in this camp were brutal, with severe shortages of food, inadequate shelter, forced labor, and the constant threat of disease.

Despite these hardships, the Jewish POWs made efforts to maintain their morale and cultural identity. They organized religious services, educational activities, and cultural performances whenever possible. However, their situation was particularly dire due to the Nazis' awareness of their Jewish identity, which led to increased brutality and harsher treatment.

Meanwhile, the idea of forming a distinct Jewish military unit within the British Army had been proposed since the early years of the war. Jewish leaders and organizations lobbied persistently, and their efforts finally bore fruit. In September 1944, the British government announced the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group. This unit was composed of volunteers from Palestine and stood as the only independent, national Jewish military formation to serve in World War II. The British demanded that this be comprised of both Arabs and Jews and called it the Palestine Regiment. No Arabs volunteered.

After undergoing rigorous training in Egypt, the Jewish Brigade was deployed to the Italian front in early 1945. There, they participated in several battles, distinguishing themselves through their bravery and skill, contributing significantly to the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

Following the war, members of the Jewish Brigade turned their focus to the rescue and rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors in Europe. They played a crucial role in smuggling Jewish refugees to Palestine, often working against British immigration restrictions. The experience and training these soldiers gained were instrumental in the formation of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which would later become the military backbone of the nascent State of Israel.

The story of these Palestinian Jews in the British Army, their ordeals as POWs, and the eventual creation of the Jewish Brigade is a testament to their bravery, resilience, and unwavering dedication to their people. Their contributions during and after the war left an indelible mark on history and significantly influenced the establishment of the State of Israel. Ben Gurion's call to fight on two fronts—against the White Paper and the Axis powers—served as a guiding principle that bolstered their resolve and shaped their legacy.

Unfortunately today we see how the rise of Islam is not only a threat to the world, but also a threat to exterminate Jews. We are back to the 1930s.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Why was this cover rejected?

Monday, April 13, 2026

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

America's Light, Printed Crooked

How Do You Turn a Candle Upside Down?

Enter the CIA

When the Government Wants Its Stamps Back

From Office Stationery to Rarity

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Monday, January 19, 2026

Superman - The Immigrant Story

FAQ

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

From People to “Race”

Words, Categories, and Violence

From Kishinev to Nuremberg

The Present

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Monday, May 5, 2025

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Edited

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Monday, July 29, 2024

Jordan

Libya

Syria

Iraq

Malaysia

Tunisia

Sunday, July 28, 2024

Monday, July 22, 2024

Sunday, July 21, 2024

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