Olei Hagardom

Zionist fighters

The Olei Hagardom refers to “those hanged at the gallows” (or, more precisely, “those who ascended the gallows”): twelve pre-state Irgun and Lehi fighters who were executed by the British in 1947. One fighter, Shlomo Ben Yosef, was executed in 1938. Hailed as national heroes in Israel, especially by the right-wing Revisionist Zionists and Menachem Begin, who requested to be buried next to two of them. The olei hagardom mentioned in this podcast include:

Shlomo Ben Yosef: first Jew executed by the British, 1938

Eliyahu Hakim: one of Lord Moyne’s assassins

Eliyahu Bet-Zuri: one of Lord Moyne’s assassins

Meir Feinstein: along with Barzani, committed suicide by grenade in Jerusalem prison just before his execution

Moshe Barzani: along with Feinstein, committed suicide by grenade in Jerusalem prison just before his execution

Dov Gruner: Irgun fighter executed at Acco prison before the breakout

Avshalom Haviv: execution led to the Sergeants Affair

Meir Nakar: execution led to the Sergeants Affair

Yaakov Weiss: execution led to the Sergeants Affair