History events
1328 — (15th of Adar, 5088) After the death of Charles the Fair today, Pedro Olligoyen, a Franciscan friar, used the Jews as a scapegoat against French rule. Starting today, Shabbat, all the Jewish houses were pillaged and then destroyed. Approximately 6000 Jews were murdered with 20 survivors. Among the dead were parents and four younger brothers of Menachem ben Zerach, “then barely twenty years old who became a scholar of commanding influence.” He was saved by “a compassionate knight” who was a friend of the young Jew’s father
1460 — (12th of Adar-1, 5220) The states of Austria demand that no Jews be permitted to dwell there,
1563 — (10th of Adar-1, 5323) Havazzelet ha-Shaon, a commentary on the Book of Daniel by Rabbi Moses Alshekh was published for the first time today
1783 — (1th of Adar-1, 5543) King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski granted rights to Jews of Kovno
1863 — (14th of Adar, 5623) The Zion Musical Society which was formed by Rabbi and Cantor Gustave M. Cohen and which “may have been the first public Jewish singing organization established in 19th Century America” gave it first performance today at Cleveland, Ohio’s Melodeon Hall
1902 — (26th of Adar-1, 5662) Mizrachi (literally: «Eastern», but actually derived from the Hebrew acronym for «Spiritual Centre») was established by Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines as a religious Zionist organization based on the Basel Program and commitment to the Torah. Their slogan is «Eretz Israel for the people of Israel according to the Torah of Israel.» Mizrachi is a worldwide religious Zionist movement
1936 — (11th of Adar, 5696) “The largest single group of Jewish refugees to reach” the United States “from Germany, 200 men, women and children arrived” today “on the United States liner Washing as quota immigrants” which meant “they were admitted as permanent residents on the basis, in most case, of avowals given by relatives here that none would become public charges.”
1945 — (20th of Adar, 5705) While excavating the site near Crematorium II at Auschwitz, Soviet soldiers found a German canteen which contained the diaries of Salmen Gradowski. One of the entries read, “At almost each block, beside the men standing in line, bodies of three, four persons are lying. These are the victims of the night that have not lived to see the day. Even yesterday they were standing members of the roll-call and today they lie, lifeless, motionless. Life is not important at the roll-call. Numbers are important. Numbers tally…” Gradowski’s diary was published in a book entitled Amidst a Nightmare of Crime: Manuscripts of the Sonderkommando which describes life in the death camp through the eyewitness accounts of four Sonderommandos. For more about this work, Gardowski and the others who supplied the material see http://www.wce.wwu.edu/nwche/reviews/amidst.shtml
1949 — (4th of Adar, 5709) Operation Uvda, the final Israeli campaign of the War of Independence which is intended to secure portions of the Negev began oday
1953 — (18th of Adar, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that the Lower House of the Bonn Parliament passed the first reading of the West German agreement to pay reparations to Israel and World Jewry for the Nazi persecution
1979 — (6th of Adar, 5739) Twelve people were injured in Jerusalem when a terrorist bomb exploded on a bus at the Plaza Hotel; In Tel Aviv, a bomb exploded on a bus but nobody was injured
1987 — (4th of Adar, 5747) Today, in Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Yithak Rabin, read a statement in English apologizing to the American government and the American people for the Pollard sypinng operation, an operation that Foreign minister Shimon Peres had characterized as a mistake
2000 — (28th of Adar, 5760) Today, “The Israeli cabinet voted to withdraw from southern Lebanon by July” of 2000
2002 — (21st of Adar, 5762) Police officer FSM Salim Barakat (33), Yosef Habi (52), and Eli Dahan (53) were murdered today in Tel Aviv when a Fatah terrorist opened fire on diners at two restaurants
2003 — (1 Adar II, 5763) Seventeen people were killed and 53 wounded in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus No. 37 in the Carmel section of Haifa, en route to Haifa University
2009 — (9th of Adar, 5769) An Arab terrorist attacked police officers and civilians in Jerusalem with his bulldozer today
2013 — (23th of Adar, 5773) The first Hebrew language edition of Playboy magazine was launched in Tel Aviv
2014 — (3th of Adar, 5774) Today, IDF Special Forces intercepted a ship in the Red Sea carrying an Iranian arms shipment headed for the Gaza Strip in what was known as “Operation Full Disclosure.”
People
1291 — (3rd of Nisan) Sa’ad al-Da’ulah, Jewish grand vizier under the Mongol ruler of Persia Argun Kahn was assassinated today
1975 — (22nd of Adar, 5735) Thirty-eight year old Colonel Uzi Yairi who had become head of the Sayeret Matkal at the age of 31 was killed when rescuing hostages being held by Palestinian terrorists at the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv. After hearing gunfire from Tel Aviv’s Savoy Hotel, Private Moshe Deutschmann, a soldier from the Israeli army’s Golani Brigade who was on home leave, grabbed his weapon, ran to the hotel after hearing gunfire and was mortally wounded during a firefight with terrorists who were trying to escape from the Saoy. Deutschmann was posthumously awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service