History events
1402 — (12rd of Iyar, 5162) Pope Boniface IX granted «liberal privileges» to the Jews of Rome – “reducing their taxes, ordering their Sabbath to be protected, placing them under the jurisdiction of the Curia, protecting them from oppression by officials; all Jews and Jewesses dwelling in the city to be regarded and treated as Roman citizens.”
1677 — (23rd of Nisan, 5437) Today the City Council of Lubeck decreed that no Jew should be permitted to stay in the city overnight without the express permission of the senate, which was rarely given
1840 — (12rd of Nisan, 5600) In London, a split took place between the liberal Reform Jews and the Orthodox: the West London Synagogue of British Jews, a Reform Jewish congregation of London was established today
1875 — (10rd of Nisan, 5635) The «Jewish Exponent» (Philadelphia) was first issued for the first time. R. Charles Hoffman, Ephraim Lederer, and Felix Gerson served as the editors
1881 — (16 Nisan 5641) The pogrom in Elizavetgrad marked the first in a series of pogroms in Russia in 1881-1882.
1925 — (21 Nisan 5685) At a meeting of Yiddishists in Vilna, a decision was made to organize the «Jewish Scientific Institute.»
1930 — (17 Nisan 5690) The Jewish National and University Library moved to the new building of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus.
1933 — (19 Nisan 5693) A united committee to combat the persecution of Jews in Germany was established in Vilna. Its task was to provide material assistance to refugees from Germany and to boycott German goods. It was headed by Dr. Vygodsky (see August 24, 1941). Those who violated the boycott were fined, with the proceeds going to the needs of refugees
1936 — (23rd of Nisan, 5696) On the day after Pesach, Arabs in Palestine renewed their riots which quickly grew into a full-scale uprising. The uprising began with an attack today on a convoy of trucks on the Nablus to Tulkarm road during which the assailants shot and murdered two Jewish drivers, Israel Khazan, who was killed instantly, and Zvi Dannenberg, who died five days later
1936 — (23 Nisan 5696) Arabs fired on Jewish vehicles traveling to Shechem. One person was killed, and two were injured. This event was a prologue to the Arab unrest that lasted for three years. On the same day, one of the commanders of the «Haganah» approached Ezra Danin, who had extensive connections among Arabs, to find out who was responsible. At that time, Ezra Danin recruited his first agent — an Arab who agreed to report everything he learned about the plans of militants to attack Jewish settlements. Danin approached the political department of the «Jewish Agency» with a proposal to establish an intelligence network among the Arabs. Six British pounds per month were allocated for this purpose. As a result, while recruiting agents, Danin paid them out of his own pocket. This is how the first intelligence service of the future Jewish state, SHAI, was established
1938 — (14th of Nisan, 5698) Jews are killed and injured during an anti-Semitic pogrom at Dabrowa Tarnowska, Poland
1941 — (18rd of Nisan, 5701) Construction was completed today on The Jadovno concentration camp, the first of twenty six concentration and extermination camp located in the Independent State of Croatia
1942 — (28 Nisan 5702) Shoah. About 170 Jews were relocated from Galich to Ivano-Frankivsk. 450 Jews were taken from Sudova Vyshnya (Lviv region) to the Janov camp in Lviv. In Kolomyia, 31 Jews from the village of Velyka Kamenka in the Korchevsky district were shot. A ghetto was created in Sarny (Rivne region), which housed 6-7 thousand people. Likely on the same day, about 450 Jews were shot in Bolekhiv (Ivano-Frankivsk region).
1946 — (14 Nisan 5706) An operation by the «Avenging Angel» organization took place in a camp for captured fascists near Nuremberg — the poisoning of about fourteen thousand loaves of bread. Many captives were poisoned, but there were no fatalities
1948 — (6rd of Nisan, 5708) The performance of Massenet’s «Thaïs» marked the beginning of the Israel Opera’s activities
1948 — (6rd of Nisan, 5708) This evening, “a company composed of Golani, Palmach and irregulars” traveling “in two armed cars and two Egged buses made an unsuccessful attack on the Nabi Yusha police fortress which cost the lives of four Jewish fighters; Jewish forces seized Meggido, the sight of the Biblical Battle of Armageddon and one of Lord Allenby’s great victories during World War I; Jewish forces defeated Arab fighters at Tel Litvinsky, six miles from Tel Aviv. The camp had served as a base for the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II; The Harel Brigade captured the village of Saris the “strategic hilltop position” “overlooking the highway to Jerusalem” which the Arabs had used to fire on Jewish vehicles thus helping to blockade the city; The Haganah won a costly victory at Mishmar Ha-Emek fighting against overwhelming odds. This was part of the famous «battle for the Jerusalem Road.»; Soldiers from Iraq and Jews fought for control of the Wadi Sara camp fifteen miles south of Tel Aviv. Iraqi forces were reported have reached the camp first but after encountering attacking Jewish forces fled because they feared encirclement and capture
1948 — (6 Nisan 5708) The War of Independence. The 32nd and 33rd battalions of the Alexandroni Brigade captured most of the English military base on Litvinski Hill. Control of the Litvinski Hill base (now Tel ha-Shomer) ensured the security of Jewish settlements east of Tel Aviv. Eight Alexandroni fighters were killed during the battles for the base: Meir Kozlovsky, Menachem Ben-Tsion Idelson, Moshe Itzikovich, Aminadav (Halperin), Meir Benyamin, Tzvi Mogendorf, Yakov Frankovich, and Yona Schwartz
1953 — (30rd of Nisan, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that «Yemin Orde,» a Youth Aliya village at Nir Etzion on the Carmel Hills was opened by Lorna Wingate in memory of her husband, Capt. Charles Orde Wingate, who formed the Jewish «night squads» and helped settlers to defend themselves
1953 — (30 Nisan 5713) The official opening of the Coastal Railway took place. It significantly reduced travel time between Tel Aviv and Haifa
1956 — (4 Iyar 5716) New taxes and fees were introduced in Israel: for owning a radio receiver, telephone, personal car, using electricity, domestic gas, and for movie tickets.
1958 — (25 Nisan 5718) In Israel, the issuance of new identity cards began. The indication of nationality as «Jewish» provoked criticism from religious parties, leading to their exit from the government and causing a governmental crisis.
1959 — (7 Nisan 5719) A terrorist attack. Arabs killed a guard in the kibbutz Ramat Rachel.
2004 — (24 Nisan 5764) In Budapest, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the mass extermination of Hungarian Jews by the Nazis, a ceremony was held to open the Holocaust Museum, the first in Central Europe and the fifth of its kind in the world (Jerusalem, London, Washington, Berlin).
2010 — (1 Iyar 5770) A solemn ceremony took place in Paris to name one of the Seine embankments after David Ben-Gurion. Israeli President Shimon Peres attended.
People
1806 — (27th of Nisan) Rabbi Isaac Ashkenazi of Lemberg, author of “Taharot ha-Kodesh” passed away
1815 — (5 Nisan 5575) The Jewish writer and publicist Eliezer Zweig was born in Mogilev. He died on February 18, 1888
1858 — (1rd of Iyar, 5618) Birthdate of Emile Durkheim French the sociologist who is regarded as one of the most important founders of the modern field of sociology
1880 — M. Wertheimer was born — a psychologist and one of the founders of Gestalt psychology. He died on October 12, 1943
1900 — (16rd of Nisan, 5660) Dankmar Adler, American architect, died
1910 — (6 Nisan 5670) M. Naidorf, a chess grandmaster, was born in Warsaw. He died on July 4, 1997.
1925 — Boris Strugatsky, a science fiction writer, was born. He died on November 19, 2012.
1948 — Yitzhak Rabin was appointed commander of the «Harel» brigade at the age of 26.
1967 — Dara Torres, a swimmer and participant in five Olympics, was born in Florida. She won four Olympic gold medals (plus 4 silver and 4 bronze medals). At her last Games in Beijing, she competed at the age of 41.
1976 — (15 Nisan 5736) The outstanding Israeli military leader David Elazar died of a heart attack.
2003 — (13 Nisan 5763) Senior lieutenant of the Israel Defense Forces D. Mendel was killed in Shechem.
2006 — (17 Nisan 5766) Aryeh Dayan, a brigadier general, veteran of the IDF, and participant in all wars of Israel, passed away