History events
1848 — (3 Nisan 5608) In Germany, with the exception of Bavaria, Jews were granted civil rights
1903 — (9th of Nisan, 5663) The Kishinev pogrom. It lasted for three days and was accompanied by great brutality. About 50 people were killed, hundreds were injured, thousands were left homeless, and 1,500 Jewish homes and shops were looted
1917 — (14 Nisan 5677) Jews in Jaffa, including those in its new neighbourhood Tel Aviv, received an order from the Governor of Jerusalem, Izzat Bey, to leave the city. The governor feared that the Jews would assist the advancing troops of British General Allenby.
1920 — (18 Nisan 5680) The British arrested 19 members of the Jerusalem Self‑Defence Organisation (see April 4)
1930 — (8th of Nisan, 5690) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that according to a report submitted by the Zionist Education Council to the Action Committee, “there are 21,031 pupils in the schools maintained in Palestine by the Zionist Organization. The annual budget for the schools is $637,250 which includes…a $37,975 subsidy from the Palestine Colonization Association and $60,000 from the municipality of Tel Aviv
1931 — (19 Nisan 5691) A split in the Haganah, which was responsible for the defence of Jerusalem. Part of the organisation withdrew from the command of the city’s leader, Avraham Tehomi, who was suspected of having sympathies for Revisionism. The conflict was triggered by an arms depot in the Old City area: members of the Self‑Defence loyal to the Histadrut refused to hand it over to Tehomi’s group. Shortly after, Tehomi and his supporters left the organisation and became the foundation of another — Irgun Tzva’i Leumi (the National Military Organisation), or Etzel.
1934 — (21 Nisan 5694) The second official match of the Israeli national football team. A return qualifying match for the 1934 World Cup against Egypt (1:4). The game took place on the Tamarim football field on Third Street in Tel Aviv. Before the match, the Israeli team was greeted by the city’s mayor, M. Dizengoff, and the King of Egypt sent a congratulatory telegram to all players.
1936 — (14 Nisan 5696) The “platform” unifying the Haganah and Etzel was signed. It was developed in light of the experience of the 1936 Arab revolt, when the absurdity of having two self‑defence organisations became clear. The platform implied the unification of armed forces under the authority of the Zionist Organisation and the National Committee. 1,500 people led by Tehomi returned to the Haganah. However, not all of them: another 1,500 remained loyal to Revisionism and kept the name Etzel
1941 — (9th of Nisan, 5701) The Nazis established two ghettos in Radom, Poland
1942 — (19 Nisan 5702) Shoah. A “Jewish action” took place in the vicinity of Kolomyia: 2,000 Jews from Sniatyn, 500 from Pechenyzhyn, and 400 from Zabolotiv were transported to Bełżec. Those killed on the spot included 120 Jews in Pechenyzhyn and 60 in Sniatyn. In Talne (Cherkasy Oblast), 115 Jews were shot. In Pyriatyn (Poltava Oblast), the Plath Sonderkommando executed over 1,500 Jews. At the same time, this unit carried out “Jewish actions” in Khorol (several hundred victims) and in Lubny (several hundred victims, mostly prisoners of war). Operational Unit 6 began liquidating Jews in Donetsk using a gas van. One member of the unit later recalled: “There was no selection. Men, women, and children, fully clothed, had to get into the van. I estimate that each time about 60 people got in. They had to climb up a ladder. I don’t think the Jews knew they would be gassed. After the doors were locked, we drove ahead or behind the gas van to some abandoned mine. The van couldn’t get close enough, so we had to drag the corpses out of the van, pull them 8 metres across the ground to the mine, and throw them down…” From Tlumach, 1,000 Jews were evacuated to Ivano‑Frankivsk; these Jews, as well as those brought to Ivano‑Frankivsk later, were held in a mill on Dluga Street, and every Saturday up to 500 of them were shot at the Jewish cemetery; in April, Saturdays fell on the 11th, 18th, and 25th
1947 — (16th of Nisan, 5707) As it begins its American tour, The Hapoel soccer team is scheduled to board a plane a Tel Aviv today as it makes its way to New York City
1948 — (26 Adar II 5708) War of Independence. Following the successful blockade‑breaking operation “Nahshon” in Jerusalem, a convoy carrying supplies reached the city — six vehicles with weapons, food, and reinforcements
1948 — (26th of Adar II, 5708) The Irgun raided the British Army camp at Pardes Hanna killing seven British soldiers and stealing a large quantity of weapons; Operation Nachshon was launched this evening in an attempt to open the road to Jerusalem
1951 — (29th of Adar II, 5711) The Jerusalem Post reported that for the first time since the establishment of the state, Britain announced that it was ready to sell small arms to Israel, on the same terms as had been enjoyed by Egypt
1954 — (3th of Nisan, 5714) The body of Baron Edmond de Rothschild was re-interred in Zichron Yaakov, the wine-producing village which had been established with his help
1957 — (5 Nisan 5717) The port of Eilat received the first oil tanker from the Persian Gulf
1973 — (4th of Nisan, 5733) In the aftermath of the Munich Olympic Massacre, Basil al-Kubaissi, a law professor who provided arms and logistic support for Black September was shot to death while returning home from dinner in Paris
1979 — (9th of Nisan, 5739) Thirteen people were injured by a bomb set off at a bus stop in Jerusalem
1988 — (19 Nisan 5748) A 15-year-old resident of the Elon Moreh settlement, Tirza Porat, was shot in the neighboring Arab village of Beita during an attack by the villagers on a group of Jewish children from Elon Moreh. Tirza Porat became the first victim in the West Bank during the First Intifada. Elon Moreh was established in 1980 and is located in Samaria, 5 km from Shechem on the southern slopes of Mount Kabir
1994 — (25th of Nisan, 5754) Eight people were killed in a Hamas terrorist car-bomb attack on a bus in the center of Afula. This was the first documented car bombing in Israel
1995 — (6th of Nisan, 5755) Six Israelis were killed in two suicide bombings at Kfar Darom
2002 — (24 Nisan 5762) Statistics on IDF casualties by this day in Operation Defensive Shield: 12 killed, 123 wounded.
2008 — (1 Nisan 5768) Israel’s largest-ever military exercise began, training all government services for a scenario involving the enemy’s use of conventional missiles and weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, or nuclear). Codenamed “Turning Point 2”, it lasted five days.
2021 — (24 Nisan 5781) In the Knesset, the swearing‑in ceremony of the 24th Knesset members took place. Three Arab members deviated from the oath text, replacing it with other pledges. One declared he would “fight the occupation and apartheid”, another said he “pledged to fight for the repeal of the Law of the Nation‑State”, and a third promised to fight “racism and racists”.
2023 — (15 Nisan 5783) Northern Israel came under rocket and mortar fire from Lebanon. Such intense rocket attacks from Lebanon had not occurred since August 2021.
2025 — (8 Nisan 5785) Gaza War. Day 548. Rocket attack from Gaza. One rocket exploded in Ashkelon, five were intercepted, and four landed in unpopulated areas. Twenty‑seven people were taken to Barzilai Hospital. Seven were injured by shrapnel, two were treated for bruises sustained while running to shelter, one had an eye injury, and 17 required assistance due to panic attacks
People
1812 — (24th of Nisan, 5572) Aaron Bernstein, German publicist, born
1882 — Roza Schneiderman, a trade union activist and one of the leaders of the socialist movement in the USA, was born in Poland. She died on August 11, 1972.
1886 — (1 Nisan 5646) Mordechai abi Serur, a native of Morocco, rabbi and traveller, and explorer of North Africa, died at the age of 60.
1909 — Yaakov Chernyak, a Soviet intelligence officer, GRU resident in Western Europe and Canada during the war, and Hero of Russia, was born. He died on February 19, 1995.
1925 — (12 Nisan 5685) Helga Deen, one of the Holocaust victims who left behind a diary, was born
1992 — (3rd of Nisan, 5752) Isaac Assimov died at the age of 72
2009 — David Plonski, one of the participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, died at the age of 82 after a serious illness.
2024 — (27 Adar II 5784) Gaza War. Day 183. In a battle in the south of the Gaza Strip, Captain Ido Baruch (21 years old, from Tel Mond), Sergeant Amitai Even Shoshan (20 years old, from Azriel), Sergeant Rif Harush, 20 years old, from Ramat David, Sergeant Eli Tsair, 20 years old, from Keidar