Bar-Giora (organization)
| Bar-Giora | |
|---|---|
| בר גיורא | |
| Active | 1907–1909 |
| Country | Ottoman Empire, Yishuv |
| Type | Paramilitary |
| Role | Defense of Jewish settlements |
| Motto(s) | "In fire and blood did Judea fall; in blood and fire Judea shall rise." |
Bar-Giora (Hebrew: בר גיורא) was a Jewish militia of the Second Aliyah, the precursor of Hashomer.[1]
History
Bar Giora's founder,
British Mandate for Palestine) in 1904. He already had experience of underground militias during the Tzarist pogroms and on his arrival he came under the influence of Michael Halperin (see here), attracted by his talk of an army of Jewish fighters. Shochat established a small group of loyal followers and in 1906 launched the local branch of Poale Zion with about 60 members. In 1907 Yitzhak Ben-Zvi arrived from Poltava; as leader of Russian Poale Zion he had been on the run from the secret police for a year. Shochat and Ben-Zvi travelled together to the 8th World Zionist Congress in The Hague
and on their return established the first incarnation of Bar Giora.
On September 28, 1907, a group met in Ben-Zvi's
Yaakov Cohen's poem, Habiryonim: "In fire and blood did Judea fall; in blood and fire Judea shall rise."[2]
The group's objective was to create an underground army, preparing for armed insurrection and the creation of a
Sejera leaving Ben-Zvi in Jaffa as their man inside Poale Zion.[2]
When Hashomer was formed on April 12, 1909, the Bar-Giora was absorbed into it.
David Ben Gurion
was not included and this influenced his dealings with Hashomer.
See also
- Hashomer Museum
- Kfar Giladi Archived July 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
References
- ^ The Grandfather of the IDF - Ha'Shomer Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-395-35409-4. p. 54 this source says nine conspirators