My Life: The Iron Lady of Israel, Golda Meir - XI

The situation in the Second World War

By 1939, Golda wrote that it was clear that the British gave in to the pressure of Arabs and almost stopped the immigration of Jews to Palestine. The solution presented by the Peel Commission of dividing the country into two parts Jews to occupy 2000 square miles and the rest to be given to Arabs was not acceptable to Golda. Ben-Gurion thought any state was better than no state. Of course, the proposal did not materialise, Arabs refused to accept it.

The question of immigration was a matter of life and death for Jews but they were not masters of their destiny.
At the international conference Refugees called by Franklin Roosevelt, she was sitting in the audience as an observer, she experienced the agony when refugees were referred to in numbers, for her they were human beings. She wrote that she learnt her first lesson that it is not sufficient just to demonstrate the justice of the demands of weak people. One could not depend on the permission of anyone in the world to be alive. There had to be a state to be able to be heard. She stated in the press conference that Jews should not need sympathy from any more.

Despite the deteriorating situation, the British decided to shut the doors of Palestine to immigrants. This in a way was giving way to the Nazis, wrote Golda. Jewish immigration was restricted to a maximum of 75,000 for the next 5 years, if Arabs accepted them, they could be accommodated beyond that. She wrote an article for the magazine of ' Women's Labour Council ', in which she expressed mother's feelings on it, many mothers asked to take their children away to be saved from hell. She expressed the resolve of Jews to save as many as possible.

The plight Jews had to face

Of course, she could not imagine the horrific things done to Jews then. It was decided to let immigration happen even if it meant armed clashes with the British. The white paper was not accepted, and all decided to 'fight White Paper as if there were no Hitler, fight Hitler as if there were no White Paper'.

Golda stated that she could not understand why did the British ( who fought with valour and resolve against Nazis ) not allow Jewish refugees to come to Palestine. The British government stood like a wall and would not permit Jews to come to Palestine. This compelled Jews to think of governing themselves and think of the state of Israel. Jews wanted to take as many Jews as they could be saved from Nazis. In Palestine, they had a little, but they wanted to share it with all those who were fortunate to have survived. All the requests were turned down giving invalid reasons. But the gates remained closed, this made Jews learn the lesson that no foreign government can feel their pain or attach value to jews' lives as they did. British remained immovable, though they fought with great determination against Germany, Italy and Japan. They could have saved millions of lives. The Jews had to go alone in their endeavours. She was in touch with the delegates of European labour organisations in Geneva in 1939 but had no idea what awaited them at their homes. Many of them lost their lives, but they fought against all inside the ghettos, in the death camps too till the last breath. Golda wrote that the memory of their spirit inspired all in the darkest hour and gave them strength to refuse to get wiped out.

The fierce fight against Hitler

Fighting Hitler was not easy, all desperately struggled to get Jews in Palestine. She wrote that there never was a lack of opportunities to test themselves in the hour of crisis. It taught her, she stated, to push oneself a little every day and go beyond what appeared the absolute limit of everything. She described that she was driven by ' anxiety and anguish'. When the lives of Jews were lost there was nothing that' was too much to do '. British somehow did not allow Jews from Palestine to volunteer for the army initially, but when the war reached the Middle East, they had to depend on skilled and dependable manpower throughout the war, they were not paid well though.

When the war ended there was no alternative which Jews did not explore to save the lives of Jews.

Golda wrote about some of the important personalities who were at the helm of the struggle. Many of them did not return.

She always was expected to answer the question, how did she feel about the Germans? She said that facts of life had to be faced, though they are very painful. She stated that nothing could diminish the impact of the Holocaust, the fact that six million Jews were ' murdered '. This no one could forget. Restoration of the relationship and payment for the loss, she made herself accept and set foot in Germany in 1967. It was the money used to build the state of Israel. She stated that Israel itself was a guarantee against the holocaust. Later at the opportune time, she was in favour of diplomatic relations with Germany. She wanted Germany to send an ambassador who had no war record. Though she protested against Rolf Paul, the German government did not change the decision, later he was proved to be the staunchest and best friend of Israel. Despite great resistance, he went to the memorial of six million Jews and made it a point that everyone who visited the country, visited the memorial.

She described a visit to Germany to talk to the Ivory coast president to appeal not to vote in favour of the resolution that viewed Israel as the aggressor after the six-day war. It was one of the most difficult tasks she had to do. He was in Germany.

Trial of Adolf Eichman

Then she wrote about the trial of Adolf Eichman, there were dreadful details about what was done to Jews of Europe and by whom. Despite it, they found the will to live. She had to explain why is it important to talk to people, it was a draining experience. Jews were just eradicated from the face of the earth. Jews from the entire Europe disappeared,30,000 communities were abolished, and they were the centres of 'faith, learning and scholarship '. One million children who were the future of the Jewish people and the natural reservoir of the country were destroyed. Eichmann misused the hospitality of countries. Explaining his deeds shuddered her.