Shalom everyone! Sorry I have not written earlier, this trip has been a whirlwind so far...
My first morning I woke up in Israel made me so appreciative and feel so lucky to be here again. I headed out form Hana's apartment in the morning and met her on the campus of Tel Aviv University. On her campus is the Diaspora Museum that houses a history of worldwide Jewish life outside of Israel spanning thousands of years.
Interestingly, there was a temporary exhibit detailing the Mossad's (Israeli CIA) operation in 1960 to capture Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann was a Nazi responsible for all of the logistical planning of the Holocaust and fled to Argentina after the war , living there for 20 years until Mossad agents abducted him from his home, held him in a safe house for 9 days, and then by disguising him as a crew member on El Al airlines as he was drugged, smuggled him out of Argentina to Israel where he stood trial and was executed for his crimes in 1961. It was the first public record and account of Holocaust survivors testifying specifically about the horrors of the ghettos, concentration camps, and murders of Jews during this time and marked a launching point for this information to be shared for future generations. I was so glad I went to this exhibit because it gave me the perspective of both the sentiment that the Holocaust still remains an Israeli national tragedy as well as the pride they take in the capture and trial of Eichmann .
Briefcase where camera was hidden that took the first pictures of Eichmann in Argentina. The three pictures, camera, and original film are seen in the case.
Powerful words from the Prosecution's Opening Statement for Eichmann.
The actual bulletproof room made that held Eichmann during the trial.
In the afternoon, Hana and I went to the Palmach museum. The Palmach were the original fighting force of Israel. They began as small units assembled by the British in WWII to help fight the Nazis in North Africa. After the Allies defeated the Nazis in North Africa and the Middle East, the group was disbanded , but the Israelis kept developing their fighting units as a method of becoming an underground resistance force against the British, who ruled the area at the time.
The museum was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The entire museum was interactive and as you went room to room, you followed the story of 8 individuals training in the Palmach and eventually fighting in the 1948 War of Independence. Each room was fully designed to simulate a different time and place, from the streets of Tel Aviv in 1941, to the forest and Negev desert where the group trained, to a ship of Holocaust survivors attempting to come to Israel, to a theater depicting a battle field in the War of Independence. Each room played movies and you were completely surrounded by moving images on screens, giving you a 360 degree feel of being right in the middle of the action. There were no cameras allowed so I couldn't provide any pictures here, but it was an amazing experience.
My time in the Palmach museum gave me such an incredible perspective of the incredible courage and sacrifice it took for Israel to become what it is today. Bands of Jewish fighters fought off massive Arab armies from many different countries to finally establish a State of Israel, and over 1100 Palmach fighters died in the struggle to do so.
My museum day gave me incredible insight into the Israeli mentality of self-defense, preservation, and national pride and spirit. This idea has really hit me on a deep level in experiencing Israel as a young adult, and has given me a tremendous foundation as I explore more and more of Israel.
Up next, my day with my Israeli cousins touring the ancient Roman city of Caesarea as well as the beautiful port city of Haifa......
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