In 1961, Haaretz correspondent Naphtali Lavie wrote a series of exposés critical of the Zionist leadership’s failure to save Jews from the Holocaust. Fearing the repercussions, Lavie shelved the pieces. Haaretz just published the pieces for the first time, a half-century later.
While every attempt to sustain life in Nazi-occupied Europe was being quashed, the “partners” in the Yishuv silenced what was happening “there” and blocked any possibility for assistance…
The Jews in the Yishuv, who were fearful for their own fate during the period of the military campaign on the Egyptian border, wanted to put aside thoughts of such atrocities and rejected the rumors. The leadership was concerned. The chairman of the Jewish Agency, David Ben-Gurion, who was capable of demonstrating resourcefulness at decisive moments, did not address the problem. The No. 2 person in the hierarchy at the time, Moshe Sharett, made efforts to ensure that the contractual partnership with the Allies in the war against the enemy was realized in practice. His aim was to ensure that the Yishuv was an equal partner in the war. Hence, it was not possible for the Holocaust to occupy the top place in his ranking of priorities. Problems between the Yishuv and the “partners” were to be deferred until after the victory, and the rescue of European Jewry was only one of these problems.
