“To the People and to the Youth!” – A Fierce Irgun (Etzel) Proclamation Against the “Dissidents” Who Advocate Non-Violent Resistance Against the Arab Enemy and the British, Explaining Why Only War Can Lead to Political Gains for the Jewish People. Adar 5707 (1947).
The proclamation quotes the arguments of those opposing armed struggle and rebuts them from within: “The Greeks’ refusal to surrender to Mussolini gave him a ‘pretext’ to wage war against Greece. The partisan war against the Nazi invaders throughout Europe gave Hitler a ‘pretext’ to persecute the enslaved populations in the occupied countries…
These twisted minds still do not understand – or pretend not to understand – that we are engaged in a war of life or death, a war for the very survival of our people. And in this war, we must be prepared to make great sacrifices and endure superhuman suffering. And it is all worthwhile: for without this struggle – woe to us and woe to our children. Shall we place our fate in the hands of blind defeatists like you? Without our war, you wouldn’t even have a tangible basis to demand slightly more immigration certificates in exchange for your ‘cooperation’ with the destroyers of your own people…”.
[1] leaf, printed on both sides. Good condition.
