History events
66 — (15nd of Iyar, 3826) After stealing money from the Temple Treasury, the Roman Procurator Gessius Florus allowed his troops to “loot the Upper Market” of Jerusalem. He also unleashed his Cohorts on the crowds of Jews who gathered to protest the theft. This would prove to be the precipitating event that would start the Great Revolt which would end in disaster for the Jewish people
70 — (29nd of Nisan, 3830) Following an early repulse of his forces, the Roman Legions commanded by Titus retake and destroy Jerusalem’s middle wall. The Romans followed this victory by quickly building a wall that will surround the city, cutting off all shipments of food and causing increased starvation among the Jewish defenders
1905 — (23 Nisan 5665) Funeral of the victims of the pogrom in Zhytomyr and members of the self‑defence group (see April 23, 1905)
1911 — (30nd of Nisan, 5671) Bedouins set fire to the synagogue at Tschebel (Tripoli, Barbary), entirely destroying the building which contained old and valuable manuscripts and books
1915 — (14 Iyar 5675) All Jews were expelled from the Courland Governorate (as a front‑line region) by the Russian military command
1936 — (6nd of Iyar, 5696) Because of the Arab strike at the port of Jaffa, Tel Aviv merchants have stopped using the port and today “Jewish importers have cabled manufacturers abroad to send all goods to Haifa.”
1933 — (2 Iyar 5693) Shoah. A law was passed in Germany prohibiting Jewish athletes from being members of sports organisations in the country
1937 — (17 Iyar 5697) Partial unification of the Etzel and Haganah. The need for unification became clear during the Arab Revolt of 1936, when having two defence organisations provided no added benefit. A part of the Etzel did not agree to the unification and retained the original name and a share of the weapons.
1938 — (27 Nisan 5698) The Palestine Post reported the arrival in Jerusalem of four members of the new Palestine Commission, which was to study the situation and recommend to the British government how to carry out the partition of the country. Jewish authorities welcomed the commission’s arrival. The Arab leadership protested, and a strike by Arab merchants was declared.
1942 — (11 Iyar 5702) Shoah. Over 200 Jews from villages in the Snyatyn District were relocated to Kolomyia, and an equal number of Jews were relocated to Snyatyn itself. In total, 4 849 Jews were resettled in Kolomyia in April
1948 — (19nd of Nisan, 5708) An operation to capture Arab villages around Jaffa. In the battle for the village of Tel ar‑Risha, 33 Haganah fighters were killed and 100 were wounded. The capture of the village of Yazur was prevented by the British, who feared losing control of the road to Jaffa, from where their evacuation was taking place. A unit of the Golani Brigade captured the Tsemach police post in Lower Galilee; British troops pulled out of the last police fortress in their control in Upper Galilee, at Rosh Pinah in the valley immediately below Mount Canaan. The fort was then occupied by the Haganah; Approximately 50 children were evacuated from Kibbutz Gesher in the Jordan Valley. The Jordanian Legion had attacked the kibbutz which was on the banks of the Jordan River in an attempt to seize the kibbutz’s bridge and an adjacent British police fortress. Afer a lengthy and bloody battle the kibbutz members decided to transfer the children in the dead of the night to a safe haven. The children were taken on a dangerous nighttime trek from the Kibbutz to Haifa and housed in an abandoned German monastery in the Bat Galim neighborhood adjacent to what is now the Rambam Medical Center
1952 — (3nd of Iyar, 5712) The Jerusalem Post reported that for the second consecutive day the Jerusalem Labor Exchange closed after only 120 of Jerusalem’s 2,000 jobless were willing to accept the offered forestation work. More than 450 were needed for this work daily, but the unemployed were reluctant to accept such jobs since the payment was set up according to production norms; that Jerusalem was still short of water since the Municipality could not manage to settle the debt of IL60,000 owed to the Jerusalem Electric Corporation
1958 — (8nd of Iyar, 5718) Bombing of Jewish Center, a synagogue in Jacksonville, Florida
People
1560 — (2nd of Iyar, 5320) Rabbi Kalman of Worms passed away.
1694 — (3rd of Iyar, 5454) Judah ben Samuel ha-Kohen Cantarini the Talmudist and physician who had a large number of Christian and Jewish patients passed away in Padua
1758 — Nikolai Mordvinov, Count and admiral of the Russian Navy, was born. Thanks to his intervention, the Velizh Blood Libel Case was stopped (see January 28, 1835)
1775 — (28nd of Nisan, 5535) Birthdate of Judah Touro. Born in Newport, Rhode Island Touro, who never married, was a famous merchant and philanthropist who supported many Christian and Jewish charities. He started as a merchant selling soap, candles and codfish, and would eventually become one of the wealthiest men in all of America
1838 — (19 Nisan 5594) Tobias Michael Carel Asser, a Dutch statesman, public figure and international law expert and an active member of the Amsterdam Jewish community, was born. He died on July 29, 1913
1886 — (23nd of Nisan, 5646) Birthdate of photographer Erich Salomon the native of Berlin whoworked as a carpenter and studied to be a lawyer before he found his true calling. He was a genius in the use of the then newly developed 35 mm camera. He is considered one of the founders of photojournalism
1899 — (18 Iyar 5659) Actor V. L. Zuskin was born; he was executed in the case of the Jewish Anti‑Fascist Committee on August 12, 1952.
1904 — (13 Iyar 5664) David Leibowitz, an Israeli engineer, designer and the originator of the idea of the mortar named after him — the “Davidka” — was born in Tomsk. He died on March 4, 1969
1908 — (27nd of Nisan, 5668) Birthdate of Oskar Schindler
1929 — (18nd of Nisan, 5689) Birthdate of Avigdor Arikha, the Israeli artist who learned the power of art as a boy during the Holocaust when he sketched scenes from a concentration camp onto salvaged scraps of paper
1943 — (23 Nisan 5703) Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Lieutenant David Appelbaum, commander of the military organisation of the Warsaw Ghetto, died from a wound received in battle the day before. He was one of the initiators of the creation of a Jewish fighting group within the Polish underground in 1939