This Day, August 20, In Jewish History

August 20 In Jewish History

636: Arab forces defeat the Byzantine Christians at the Battle of Yarmuk. This battle fought only four years after the death of Mohammed opened the road the road to Damascus. After seizing Syria, the Arabs under Khalid bin Walid turned south and took Jerusalem and all of the territory that is now Jordan and Israel. This area had been under control of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The victory at Yarmuk led to the first great wave of Moslem conquest that would sweep across Egypt, North Africa and across the Mediterranean to Spain. Conditions for the Jews improved compared to life under the Byzantines. The Golden Age of Spain was the ultimate high point of this change. But life under Islam was uneven for Jews and they suffered in many different areas depending upon which group of Islamists was in control.

1000: The foundation of the Hungarian state, Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of HungaryArchaeological evidence indicates the existence of Jews in Pannonia and Dacia, who came there in the wake of the Roman legions. Jewish historical tradition, however, only mentions the Jews in Hungary from the second half of the 11th century, when Jews from Germany, Bohemia, and Moravia settled there. In 1092, at the council of Szabolcs, the Church prohibited marriages between Jews and Christians, work on Christian festivals, and the purchase of slaves. King Koloman protected the Jews in his territory at the end of the 11th century,.

1684: A riotous mob attacked the ghetto of Buda (that's the half of Budapest that is on the right bank of the Danube, which was joined with Pest on the left bank in 1873). During the war between Venice and Turkey, the Jews were accused of praying for the Turks in their attack on Budapest. In actuality, it was the 9th of Av and all the Jews were in the synagogue mourning the destruction of the temple. Soon after, the attack on the Jewish ghetto began. When the gates were opened to allow for an emissary to the duke to leave, the crowd of attackers rushed in. As soon as the authorities heard about the disturbances, an order to forcibly curb them was given. That day of the order became a day of thanksgiving. In gratitude to G-d for being spared serious injury, the Jews celebrated Buda Purim on the 10th of Elul. This date became known as Purim Buda – Buda as in Budapest.

1771: Birthdate of Schonche Rothschild, first child of A.M. Rothschild.

1806: The Assembly of Notables presented their collective response to Napoleon’s questions.

1807: Rothschild writes to his son Nathan in England that he has sold all the English goods sent to him at a considerable profit.

1893: Sh'chita was banned in Switzerland. (The ban is still in place and the Jewish community gets its meat from several different countries.)

1901: The First Congress of Caucasus Zionists was held in Tbilisi. Rabbi David Baazov led Georgian Zionism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1903, Baazov attended the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel.

1903: Herzl arrives in Basel.

1915: Paul Ehrlich, the man who discovered the treatment for syphilis, passed away. . Born in Germany in 1854 Ehrlich gained famed for his work in immunology and chemotherapy. He won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1901. He received numerous honors from the German government. He was 61 at the time of his death.

1920: Israel publishes its first medical journal, "Ha-Refuah."

1935: The world Zionist leader, Dr. Nahum Sokolow, with almost the first words of his presidential speech tonight shattered reports that the nineteenth biennial Zionist congress would sidestep the situation of German Jews, out of deference to delegates from the Reich, who were among the representatives from forty-three nations

1939: General debate in the twenty-first World Zionist Congress had to be suspended today after an announcement at the morning's meeting of a decision by the court of the congress to reduce the number of mandates allotted to the Palestine delegations from 133 to 127.

1940: Leon Trotsky is attacked by an assassin in Mexico City. Trotsky is hiding from Stalin who has ordered Trotsky’s execution. Trotsky will die of his wounds the following day. According to one version of the story, had moved from a fortress like villa to a an unguarded homes because of a dispute over a woman.

1941: A low-rent United States Housing' Authority development in East St. Louis, Il, has been named in memory of Samuel Gompers, longtime president of the American Federation of Labor.

1941: For the next 48 hours about 4300 Jews are sent from Paris to Drancy, a transit camp in France. These are the first of 70,000 Jews who will be deported to Drancy and then to extermination camps, primarily Auschwitz-Birkenau

1941: Several Jews were pulled from their homes in Sabac by the Germans, then brought into the street and shot. The Germans made other Jews come carry the dead bodies through the town, and then hang them from electricity poles. This attacked was the beginning of a series of attacks which lasted for 2 months and resulted in several thousands of Jewish murders.

1942 The ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization) attempts to assassinate Joseph Szerynski, commander of the Jewish police in the Warsaw Ghetto. Later in the day, other ZOB members set fire to several Warsaw warehouses.

1942: The Jewish community from Falenica, Poland, is liquidated at the Treblinka death camp.

1942: For the next four days, nineteen thousand Jews of Kielce, Poland, are deported to the Treblinka death camp.

1942: For the next four days gas/disinfectant expert Kurt Gerstein observes gas executions at the Treblinka, one day after witnessing similar deaths at Belzec.

1943 Three thousand Jews are executed during a revolt at Glebokie, Belorussia.

1944: The United States Army Air Force bombs Auschwitz III (oil and rubber plant), three miles from Auschwitz I (main camp) and five miles from Birkenau, the Auschwitz death camp. 127 bombers escorted by 100 fighters (who face only 19 German planes) drop more than 1300 500-pound bombs. Only one bomber is shot down. This puts the lie to the claim that allied airpower could not have knocked out the rails leading to the death camps or to the crematorium. This had been the plea of many Jewish leaders. The facts of the matter are that allied leaders were not willing to risk planes or men to save Jews.

1952: Yitzhak Sadeh, the founder of the Palmach and a hero of the War of Independence passed away at the age of 62. While a name unknown to most non-Israelis. Yitzhak Sadeh was a brave man who played a key role in the founding of the state of Israel. He was the commander for the Palmach units, a soldier, a writer, an educator, and was one of the founders of Tshal. He originally lived in Russia, but he moved to Israel later in his life. Yitzhak was born in Lubin, Poland in 1890. He began his military career, by fighting for the Russian army in World War One. Later, he was honored for his bravery in the war. During 1917, 1918, and 1919, Yitzhak Sadeh, with the help of Joseph Trumpeldor, established the foundation of “Ha- Halutz”. “Ha- Halutz”, in 1920, made an aliyah to the land of Israel. He moved as soon as he heard of his friend, Joseph Trumpeldor’s death. When Yitzhak arrived in Israel, he became one of the founders of the “Gdud-Ha-Avoda”. In 1929, Sadeh joined the Hagganah. He was made commander in the Hagganah, in Jerusalem, shortly after he joined. During the 1929 riots, he took part in defending the city of Haifa. When the 1936 riots started, Sadeh established the “Nodedt” in Jerusalem. This organization was the one that confronted the enemy in their villages and in the army bases. Yitzhak introduced a policy for defending settlements by going out to attack the Arab bands, instead of staying behind the fences of their settlements to await the raids. In the summer of 1937, Sadeh founded the “Fosh”. He also commanded the kibbutz of Hanitah. One of the things that Yitzhak Sadeh is most famous for is founding the Palmach. He served as chief commander for the Palmach until 1945. During 1945, he was appointed to be Hagganah’s Chief of General staff. He was also in charge of planning operations against the British forces. Yitzhak planned many operations involving bringing Jewish immigrants to the Promised Land, Israel. In the beginning of the Independence War in 1948, Yitzhak Sadeh commanded the defense of the kibbutz, Mishmar Ha-Emek. Kibbutz Mishmar Ha-Emek was attacked by Syrian forces, which were trying to divide the country into two parts. After this, Sadeh was promoted to the job of “Aluf”. When he was promoted, he was able to establish the first armored brigade in the IDF. The Israeli Defense Forces, later, led critical battles for the state of Israel. After the War of Independence, Yitzhak participated in the operation, “Khorev”. Also, the Palmach was disconnected. Sadeh left the military services in 1949. After retiring from the army, he wrote many books, essays, and even plays. He would write with the pen name, Y. Noded. Sadeh promoted a lot of sports. He was the wrestling champion of St. Petersburg and featured in wrestling performances. He thought of sports being an important part of life and it held important cultural and educational value. He created Hapoel’s slogan, “Alafim and not Alufim”. They wanted many people to take part in sports. Thousands of sports figures and soldiers, to this day, take part in the Run around Mount Tavor, in honor of Yitzhak Sadeh. Yitzhak Sadeh died in Tel-Aviv in August 1952, and was buried in Kibbutz Givat Brenner. He was a very brave man. Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and kibbutz Mashabey Sadeh were named after Yitzhak Sadeh

1952: Work started on a number of concrete dams, expected to hold back the rainwater accumulating in the Negev wadis during the winter. This was part of the Zionist dream to make the Negev green.

1964: President Lyndon Johnson signed an anti-poverty bill that would commit almost one billion dollars to the “War on Poverty.” The measure had the support of numerous Jewish political leaders and Jewish voters. This was an era when Jewish voters were drawn to politicians who supported a society that sought to care for the “widow, the orphan and the stranger in your midst.”

1971: FBI begins covert investigation of journalist Daniel Schorr. Schorr would become a member of Richard Nixon’s infamous enemies list. Earlier in his career, Schoor had been thrown out of the Soviet Union for his news broadcasts. This makes him one of the few people to be declared an enemy by both the Soviet Communists and right-wing American Anti-Communists.

1977: Despite the initial rejection by both Israel and Jordan, US officials were still hopeful that their idea of establishing a joint Israeli-Jordanian temporary trusteeship over the West Bank could yet get off the ground.

1977: The French government appeared to be reconciled to a new period of chilly relations after Israel rejected its contention that the three new settlements in administered areas hampered peace prospects.

1977: The US Central Intelligence Agency told Congressional investigators that enriched uranium, designed to build atomic bombs, was mysteriously diverted from the privately owned American plant to Israel in the middle 1960s

1980: The UN Security Council condemns (14-0, US abstains) Israeli declaration that all of Jerusalem is its capital. The UN Security Council never said or did anything about the illegal occupation of the eastern section of Jerusalem by Jordan that lasted for almost twenty years. During that same time, the UN was equally silent when it came to the fact that Jews were not allowed to enter the Old City or that the Jordanians had systematically dismembered the physical remains of the ancient Jewish Quarter. This lack of equivalent concern is but one of a long list of reasons by why many Israelis and as well as others have lost respect for the United Nations.

1980: The New York Times features a review of Jerusalem: Rebirth of a City by Martin Gilbert, a first rate book by a first rate author and historian.

1982: During the Lebanese Civil War a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. The Lebanese Civil War was conflict between Christian and Moslem Arabs. It was part of centuries old struggle for power that flared up periodically. The PLO had come to Lebanon after having been thrown out of Jordan where it had attempted to overthrow the government. The PLO was a destabilizing force in Lebanon as its fighters took the side of the Moslems and tried to use Lebanon as a base for terrorist attacks against Israel. The PLO had to go because of its role in destroying the social fabric of Lebanon which had been an oasis of Western progress and civility in among the violent Arab dictatorships of the Middle East.

1985: Israel ships 96 TOWs to Iran on behalf of the US. The TOW missiles were shipped as part of an arms deal that became known as Iran Contra.

1985: The New York Times reviews Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert.

1988: In Chicago, The pastor of a black church told members of a Jewish congregation Friday night that the common backgrounds of the two groups should be remembered as the two communities reach toward common ground. "We forgot our histories," the Rev. George Riddick, executive vice president of Operation PUSH, told members of Congregation Kol Ami in the first-of-its-kind pulpit exchange.

1991: Lenore Strunsky Gershwin widow of Ira Gershwin passed away. She was 90 years old at the time of her death.

1993: After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, the Oslo Peace Accords were signed. A more public signing ceremony would take place in Washington in September of 1993.

2000: The New York Times book section featured reviews of Touching Peace: From the Oslo Accord to a Final Agreement by Yossi Beilin, Cruel Banquet: The Life and Loves of Frida Strindberg by Monica Strauss and Dream Stuff, a collection of nine short stories by David Malouf, the Australian author with the Lebanese Christian father and the Sephardic Jewish mother.

2002: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Hebrew University archeologist Dr. Eila Mazar's 120-page The Complete Guide to the Temple Mount Excavations has just been translated into English. The new comprehensive guide describes thesite's 3,000 years of history. Chronologically color-coded and divided into sections with a pull-out map at the end, the guide is replete with pictures of the original excavations of the site between 1968 and 1978; depictions of how the site may have looked at the time it housed the two ancient Jewish Temples, as well as modern photos of the site. The guide is meant to offer the visitor a "simple, accurate, and up-to-date synopsis" of the immense 30-dunam (7.5 acre) site in a user-friendly manner, explains Mazar. "For years we have waited for this comprehensive guide... [which] is a masterful piece of work that allows the general audience a closer look at the past the Temple Mount in all of its original glory," former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek writes in a forward. The guide, which is on sale in both English and Hebrew at the new archeological garden near the Western Wall, is not yet available outside Israel, as Mazar is still looking for an American distributor for her latest work. A third-generation archeologist and the granddaughter of famed archeologist Professor Binyamin Mazar, who headed the Temple Mount excavations between 1968-1978, Eilat Mazar, was part of the City of David excavation team from 1981-1985. She later led excavations at the Ophel archeological park in the Old City on behalf of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archeology. Recently, Mazar has been one of the most outspoken and vociferous members of the non-partisan Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, which has decried the lack of archeological supervision at the site for two years. Fearing renewed Palestinian violence, police have barred non-Muslims, including archeologists, from entering the Mount since then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon's controversial visit to the site in September 2000. Since then the site has been entirely without archeological supervision. Th23 months since that time is the longest period the site has been closed to non-Muslims since the unification of Jerusalem in 1967."The joy of seeing the guide out in both Hebrew and English, with all the information about remnants and antiquities that have been found at the Temple Mount, only reinforces the frustration over the fact that the Mount has been closed off to non-Muslim visitors for over two years," Mazar said.

2005: Abraham S. Goldstein, an influential scholar of criminal law and former dean of the Yale Law School, died of a heart attack at his home in Woodbridge, Connecticut. Goldstein taught at the Law School for almost 50 years and was, at the time of his death, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law and Professorial Lecturer in Law. He was 80.

2005: The evacuation of settlers and their supporters from Gaza halted because of the Shabbat. The evacuations which are part of a bold move by Prime Minister Sharon to bring peace to the region while improving the geo-political position of Israel is slated to end on Tuesday.

2006: The Sunday New York Times book section includes a review of I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron.

2006: The Chicago Tribune reported that Clara Ambrus-Baire, a woman whose family shielded Jews in Budapest had received a “Righteous Among the Nations Award.” The award is presented to people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. It is the highest honor bestowed on non-Jews by Israel, with 21,310 recipients as of January 2006. Ambrus-Baer was 19 when the Germans invaded Budapest in 1944. Her family turned its home into a haven for Jews hiding from the Nazis. "I never expected this," said Ambrus-Baer, 81 and living in Buffalo. "I didn't want to get praised for what I did. I took it for normal that somebody saves people's lives."

2007: “The Facebook Effect” is Newsweek Magazine’s cover story. The story describes how 23 year old “Mark Zuckerberg has already changed the way millions of us connect. How he’s facing a challenge; how to turn an online obsession into a fixture of he digital age” If the pundits and prophets are correct, Zuckerberg will join the likes of Einstein and Freud as one who has brought a sea change in the course of Western, if not world, Civilization.

2007: In an article favorably evaluating the performance of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, The New York Times included the following. “But to understand Mr. Bernanke’s worldview, one must go back to his hometown, Dillon, S.C., which sits athwart Interstate 95 about halfway between North Jersey and South Florida. Dillon is known as the home of South of the Border, the Tijuana-themed tourist stop and a Mecca of American roadside kitsch.
Mr. Bernanke, 53, grew up in Dillon in the 1950s and ’60s, the son of the local pharmacist and a member of one of the few Jewish families in the largely agricultural region. He says his home was the only kosher household in a 50-mile radius. His mother had meat delivered from a butcher in Charlotte, N.C., where his parents live now. Being a member of a minority taught him about discrimination and prejudice. “There was more than one request to see my horns,” he said years later. He also watched the struggles of small farmers, who drove mule-drawn carts down the main street of town and had trouble paying their bills even in good years. His father granted credit for purchases at the drugstore, keeping records on small cards he kept in a drawer. Many of the debts were never repaid. As Mr. Bernanke grew older, the textile mills that had supported the area closed and moved overseas in search of cheap labor. Mr. Bernanke worked construction jobs and waited on tables at South of the Border during the summer while an undergraduate at Harvard University. “I was impressed by these experiences,” Mr. Bernanke said last fall at a ceremony in his honor on the steps of the neoclassical courthouse in Dillon, “and I think they were an important reason I went into economics, which a great economist once called the study of people in the ordinary business of life.”

2007: A database with millions of documents from more than 50 concentration camps and prisons - which include books recording Jewish deaths, transportation lists and medical reports - was handed over to Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority and Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum. "These documents reflect the most despicable operations of the Nazi era and constitute an essential part of our archive," said International Tracing Service (ITS) director Reto Meister during the official handover at the Washington museum.