History events
1160 — (23 Iyar 4920) The bishop of Béziers in Languedoc, in southern France, shocked by the custom of Jewish pogroms on Palm Sunday, issued a decree condemning the instigating priests. At that time, Béziers was one of the centres of the Albigensian movement and one of the most liberal and open cities in France
1338 — (11th of Iyar, 5098) Louis the Bavarian “informed the council of Worms that the Jews of that city were bound by agreement to pay the sum of 2,000 gulden toward the king’s contemplated expedition against France, and that, if necessary, force might be employed in collecting this sum.”
1790 — (17 Iyar 5550) This day was set as the deadline for Jews to reside in Pest (Budapest), who were to be expelled under pressure from citizens suffering from Jewish competition. However, the expulsion did not take place, as the Diet annulled the order. In response to the Diet’s intervention, the municipality took harsh measures against the Jews: all those who could not present an official permit to reside in the city were expelled; forming a community and having a special Jewish seal were prohibited; Jews were driven out of central neighbourhoods. By 1804, due to a series of restrictive measures, Jews were concentrated in a separate quarter, Theresienstadt, and a ghetto emerged de facto.
1850 — (19 Iyar 5610) In Russia, a ban was issued on Jews wearing traditional clothing: after January 1, 1851, only elderly Jews were allowed to continue wearing it, provided they paid a corresponding tax.
1851 — The international exhibition of achievements in science, industry, art and trade opened in London’s Hyde Park. There, the mechanic Israel Abraham Staffel from Warsaw received a silver medal for his invention of a calculating machine that performed the four arithmetic operations and extracted square roots.
1881 — (2 Iyar 5641) A pogrom in the city of Alexandrovsk, Yekaterinoslav Governorate.
1905 — The newspaper Russkoye Slovo reported: “On April 25, a pogrom occurred in the settlement of Yartsevo near the railway station of the same name on the Moscow–Brest railway line, in the area where the factory of the Yartsevskaya Manufactory Partnership was located. The pogrom began at 8 p.m. and ended at 12 a.m., even before the arrival of the vice‑governor with two battalions of the Sofia Regiment. Sixteen Jewish shops selling textile goods were looted. Participants in the pogrom included some factory workers, some peasants from nearby villages, and raftsmen on the Dnieper. There was no violence against Jewish persons. The area of the pogrom was limited to a single street located near the factory.”
1919 — (1th of Iyar, 5679) The rabbis of Palestine hold a first conference. Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook is asked to serve as chief rabbi
1921 — (23th of Nisan, 5681) Pogrom in Jaffa. It lasted two days. There were 43 dead and 134 wounded. It affected Jews in Jaffa living alongside Arabs, and the Jewish neighbourhoods of Jaffa — Neve Tzion and Neve Shalom. Jews tried to defend themselves but were unprepared; they trusted the British, who were slow to restore order, and the Arab police, who sided with the pogromists. Tel Aviv itself, with a population of 3 600, was saved thanks to veterans of the Jewish Legion, who took it under protection
1925 — (7 Iyar 5685) Four kilometres northeast of Petah Tikva, Jewish immigrants from Poland, members of the Zionist youth organisation HeHalutz from the town of Klosoboh, established the kibbutz Givat HaShlosha
1926 — (17th of Iyar, 5786) “The all-Jewish football (soccer) club, SC Hakoah Wien, led by Béla Guttmann played before a crowd of 46,000 people at the Polo Grounds in New York City
1927 — (29 Nisan 5687) The Kumkum (“Teapot”) theatre opened in Tel Aviv. Its repertoire was a comic portrayal of the lives of local Jews. It existed for only two years
1934 — (16 Iyar 5694) Start of construction by the Palestine Potash Company of a chemical plant in Sdom.
1935 — (28 Nisan 5695) Teva Middle East Pharmaceutical & Chemical Works Co. Ltd was registered in Jerusalem
1939 — (12th of Iyar, 5699) Shoah. Hungary passed the so‑called Second Jewish Law, which extended anti‑Jewish restrictions to 100 000 baptised Jews and their descendants, limited the political rights of Jews, and introduced a five‑percent quota for Jews in the national economy, causing about 250 000 Jews to lose their livelihood. (The First Jewish Law appeared in 1938. It defined as Jews those who had converted to Christianity after 1919 (and their descendants) and stipulated that no more than 20 percent of free professionals, civil servants, and entrepreneurs could be Jews.)
1939 — (12th of Iyar, 5699) Following a decision “made in the secretariat of Hashomer Hatzair, Kibbutz BaMa’ale and Kibbutz BaMifne “were settled in Menashe Heights” and eventually be called Kibbutz Dalia
1940 — (23 Nisan 5700) Shoah. Official opening of the Łódź Ghetto. At the time of its establishment, the list of inhabitants included 160 320 people.
1941 — (4 Iyar 5701) Shoah. Anti‑Jewish riots in Zagreb. During the pogrom, synagogues, a cemetery and businesses owned by Jews were destroyed.
1941 — (4 Iyar 5701) Shoah. Pogrom in Bucharest. 120 Jews were killed.
1942 — (14 Iyar 5702) Shoah. The Jewish Council in Lviv issued 84 000 food ration cards to the city’s Jews for the month of May. On the same day, the head of the Lviv police, SS Brigadeführer Katzmann, informed the construction commissioner in the “Polish General Government” that there were 15 Jewish labour camps in the “Galicia District” for maintaining the Lviv–Ternopil motorway. In Vcherayshe (Zhytomyr Oblast), 300 Jews were executed.
1943 — (26th of Nisan, 5703) The first of four trains carrying nearly 11,000 Jews arrive at Auschwitz from Salonika, Greece
1943 — (26 Nisan 5703) In Tehran, a symbolic gift from the Jewish community of Palestine — several ambulances — was handed over to representatives of the Red Army. The vehicles were purchased with donations
1944 — (8th of Iyar, 5704) Starting today the Nazis begin the liquidation of the Lodz (Poland) Ghetto
1948 — (22th of Nisan, 5708) War of Independence. “The Arabs opened a large scale attack on Ramot Naphtali in the northern hills near Lebanon.” The settlement was the key to a Jewish victory in the Galilee. If the Arabs could take the settlement, they would be able to keep the Palmach from sending reinforcements Safed. In the end, the settlers held and Jewish forces were able to take control of Safed after an extremely difficult battle later in the month
1948 — (22 Nisan 5708) War of Independence. Order from the Chief of the Central Command to establish armoured units of the Haganah. All tracked and patrol armoured vehicles and armoured cars scattered across various units were consolidated.
1948 — (22 Nisan 5708) War of Independence. Start of Operation Yiftah, whose objective was to clear the eastern part of Upper Galilee of Arab forces and take control of transportation routes
1952 — (6 Iyar 5712) The Anglo‑Palestine Bank, which had operated since 1902, ceased to exist. It was replaced by Bank Leumi le‑Israel (the Bank of Israel).
1956 — (20 Iyar 5716) Israeli Finance Minister Levi Eshkol approved a development plan for the city of Ashdod, to be built on the site of several agricultural settlements near the Arab village of Isdud.
1962 — (27 Nisan 5722) The first trees dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations were planted at Yad Vashem Museum
1990 — (6th of Iyar, 5750) Greece establishes full diplomatic relations with Israel
1992 — (28 Nisan 5752) Evening radio news for the first time reported details about the activities of special units of the Israel Defense Forces — Shimshon and Duvdevan. The fighters, disguised in Arab clothing, were tasked with capturing and, if necessary, eliminating terrorists. The “world community” reacted with protests, calling the special units a “gang of killers”.
2004 — (10th of Iyar, 5764) Maccabi Tel Aviv crushes Italy’s Skipper Bologna 118-74 to become European champions for the fourth time in the club’s history
2011 — (27 Nisan 5771) A public transport network began operating in settlements on the Golan Heights, where the concept of “public transport” had previously not existed
2014 — (1th of Iyar, 5774) “According to figures released today by the Central Bureau of Statistics” the population of Israel now “stands at 8.18 million people.”
2018 — (16 Iyar 5778) The Embassy of Guatemala in Israel began operations in Jerusalem
People
1572 — (18th of Iyar, 5332) Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi and code annotator, died
1799 — (26 Nisan 5559) Michael Solomon Alexander, a rabbi who converted to Christianity and became the first Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, was born. He died on November 23, 1845.
1805 — (2th of Iyar, 5565) Johann Jacoby, German statesman, born
1808 — (4th of Iyar, 5568) Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid, M.P., first English Jewish lawyer, born
1817 — (15 Iyar 5577)
Karl Isidor Beck, an Austrian poet, was born. In 1843, he converted to Protestantism. Critics found a “passionate Hungarian character” in his poems about Hungarian life. He died on April 10, 1879.
1850 — (19 Iyar 5610)
Rabbi Isaac Bernays, grandfather of Sigmund Freud and Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, died at the age of 58.
1853 — (23 Nisan 5613) Jacob Mikhailovich Gordin, a playwright who wrote over 70 plays for the Yiddish theatre, was born. He died on June 11, 1909.
1880 — A. Lasker, an American philanthropist and father of modern advertising, was born. He died on May 30, 1952.
1891 — Henry Morgenthau, an American politician and statesman, was born. He died on February 6, 1967.
1894 — (4 Iyar 5652)
Yosef Dov‑Ber (ha‑Levi) Soloveitchik, head of the Volozhin yeshiva and Chief Rabbi of Brest‑Litovsk, one of the greatest rabbis of the Lithuanian tradition, died at the age of 72.
1916 — David Not, founder of the Beitar football club (Jerusalem), was born. He died in 1977.
1917 — F. Хитрук (F. Khitruk), animation film director, was born. He died on December 3, 2012.
1923 — Joseph Heller, writer, was born in Brooklyn. He died on December 12, 1999.
1927 — Gary Bertini, Israeli conductor and composer, laureate of the Israel Prize, was born. He died in 2005.
1947 — Jacob Bekenstein, Israeli physicist and laureate of the Israel Prize, was born.
1950 — Aryeh Eldad, Israeli physician, public and state figure, was born.
1960 — Adam, Israeli singer and actor, was born
1967 — (21th of Nisan, 5727) Birthdate of Yael Arad Israel, an Israeli judoka who won a silver medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992
1967 — (21 Nisan 5727) Yael Arad, the first Israeli athlete to win an Olympic medal (in judo), was born in Tel Aviv.
1987 — Shahar Pe’er, Israeli tennis player, was born.