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ISRAELI, ZIONIST & JUDAIC
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IRGUN (IZL) HAT and TUNIC BADGES, PINS and EMBLEMS:
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Irgun/Etzel white metal pin, circa. 1948: pressed impression of the Etzel emblem (hand holding run across map of 'Greater Israel') set against an image of the walls of Jerusalem (a reference to the Jewish Quarter ), with the movement's slogan "Only Thus" ("Rak Kakh" - in Hebrew) below, and surmounted by olive leaves. The pin back is a simple safety pin soldiered and fasten on; not maker marked; weight: 1.45 grams.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, back of pin, at angle, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120030 Price: SOLD
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LECHI (FFI) HAT and TUNIC BADGES, PINS and EMBLEMS:
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Lechi/"Fighters for the Freedom of Israel" ("Stern Group") metal pin, circa. 1947: white metal pin shaped in the image of the Lechi emblem, with the movement's name in initials ("Le.Kh.i" - Lokhamei Kherut Israel) on the ribbon below. Pin back is a soldiered vertical metal pin but lacks the fastener which would go on top of it. Weight: 1.05 grams.
Scarce to see, I date the pin to the period of the "Hebrew Revolt" of 1944-47 and closer towards the end of it/start of the War of Independence 1947-49, when the underground movements (the Irgun and the Lechi) operated with less public discretion, but before the Declaration of Independence (1948), when these forces were absorbed into the new Israeli Army (IDF). The Lechi was more extreme ideologically and very active militarily, and so less common to see emblems of this formation.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, back of pin, at angle, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120029 Price: SOLD
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IRGUN UNIT MEDALLIONS, MEDALS, MOMENTOS and DECORATIONS:
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Irgun/Etzel "Prisoners Award" medal issued to members of that underground Revisionist Zionist organization who were deported and held in British detention camps in East Africa (Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan; Sembel, Gilgil camps), from 1944-48 (during the Hebrew Revolt and start of the Israeli War of Independence). Issued by the "Association of Etzel Soldiers".
A superbly manufactured decoration: thick, heavy, well detailed - and with the scarcely enountered ribbon and metal clasp, which has a safety pin back. Weight: 18.30g. Undated, but issued around 1961, when the Irgun veterans association ("Brit Khayalei Etzel"), which issued this medal, was formed.
More pictures: front of decoration, back of decoration, front of medal, back of medal, front of ribbon clasp, back of ribbon clasp, detail of medal loops, decoration at side angle, decoration measured
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Item Code: 0120040 Price: SOLD
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Irgun / Etzel Hebrew Revolt 35th anniversary and Israel's 30th Anniversary numbered commemoration medal, 1979; struck in bronze; weight: 79.3g; size: 59mm; thickness: 4.5mm. Obverse depicts emblem of the Irgun with legend around edge "35 Years to the Declaration of the Revolt [against the British Mandate] | 4 [in month of] Shvat 5704 1.2.1944 - 4 Shvat 5739 4.2.1979; on reverse the official emblem of Israel's 30th anniversary at top (with legend "Thirty to Israel's Independence") and below on left the official State emblem and on right a variant of the Revisionist-Zionist "Betar" movement's emblem, with legend below "Assembly of the Fighters of the National Military Organization [the Eztel / Irgun]". On rim is stamped the number "0185".
The revisionist-Zionist underground movement, the Irgun, ceased its cooperation with the British and launched a revolt against their authority in Palestine on the 1st of February 1944 as a result of Britain's wartime policy of preventing Jewish immigration to Palestine (i.e. the White Book of 1939 effectively prevented Jews fleeing Nazi persecution from being rescued and/or brought to safe haven in Palestine). In UNC.
More pictures: obverse of medal, reverse of medal
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Item Code: 0130123 Price: €85
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Irgun / Etzel emblem pin, circa. Late 1930's; not maker marked; weight: 2.15g; size: 14mm x 18mm. Shaped as a triangle with the emblem of the Irgun and motto "Rak Kakh" ("Only Thus").
Probably dates to the period 1937-1939, against the backdrop of the Great Arab Revolt (1936-39), when the organization split (1937) between those who wanted to return to the main "Hagana" armed force and those who wanted an independent Revisionist force, and the outbreak of the Second World War when the Irgun instituted a truce with the British; in later years the Irgun used a more uniform shield-shaped emblem embodying the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and the style used on this pin looks more like the modernist style of the 1930's. In UNC.
More pictures: obverse of pin, reverse of pin
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Item Code: 0130127 Price: €100
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LECHI UNIT MEDALLIONS, MEDALS, MOMENTOS and DECORATIONS:
IRGUN & LEHI ACCOUTREMENTS, HEADWEAR and UNIFORMS
IRGUN & LEHI DOCUMENTS and EPHEMERA:
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'Etzel' training manual: "Drill Exercises", a rudimentary, type-written booklet of drills and exercises for instilling discipline into soldiers; anonymous and undated (circa. 1946-48 - during the height of the 'Hebrew Revolt' against the British Mandate). This is a 36-page manual with thick paper covers, double-sided pages and some basic sketches of troop movements in aid of making formations.
On the surface, what makes this a fascinating publication is its corner-stone content which is intended "to instill discipline, for the purpose of developing the habit to operate instinctively, without hesitation" - it is on the basis of these procedures that the modern-day Israeli military is based. The booklet is neatly divided into 14 lessons, including instruction on various stances, turns, marches, poise during movement and movement of formations.
Though the booklet does not identify its origins, it came from a former member of the National Military Organization (also called the 'Etzel' or 'Irgun'), and unlike 'Haganah' or early IDF training manuals, it does not identify its author or parent body (other manuals in this series do quote Jabotinsky and so reveal their orientation). The significance in this regard is not only that the manual formed part of the discipline of the right-wing underground 'Irgun' organization, it is also testament to that organization's ability to have transformed from an underground force to a standing, field fighting force, whose contribution during the War of Independence included the liberation of Jaffo and Tsfat, and the struggle to protect the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Formed in 1931, and led from 1943 to 1948 by the future Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, the Eztel numbered around 3,000 men at its peak (probably 10,000 in all). The formation was highly organized and involved in smuggling illegal immigrants to Eretz Israel, clandestine weapons manufacture and acquisition, and it waged war against German, British and Arab forces. Spearheading the 'revolt' against the British Mandatory authority, the formation carried out around 200 notable operations between 1936 and the eve of Independence, the intensity of which caused the British to station over 100,000 troops in post-war Palestine. The Etzel lost 431 members in all of its existence, and was integrated into the new Israel Defense Forces in Summer 1948. A rare and remarkable document.
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Item Code: 0110008 Price: €50
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Rare Irgun/'Etzel' military training manual: "The Bren Machine Gun", a rudimentary 38-page single-sided type-written training booklet on the use of the Bren, circa. 1946-47 (during the height of the 'Hebrew Revolt' against the British Mandate). The manual is structured in 13 chapters accompanied by 19 intricate drawings on the operation and use of the Mark I and Mark II versions of the Bren, an interesting element of which is its localized content but apparently British-inspired pictures: the hand-drawn replications(?) of pictures depict men in authentically British uniforms and helmets, but the text is written from the point of view of the Irgun members themselves. "The advantage of the machine gun is that we can turn out a greater quantity of firepower with a smaller number of men." The opening introduction also left blank space open for someone to hand-write in the English letters and words for the explanation of the 'Bren' gun's name: BR - from Brno, the Czech city in which the gun was originally invented, and EN - from Enfield, the British city where the producing factory was located.
The title page of the manual bears the dedication: "To the memory of Sgt. Ehud", the Irgun "nom de guerre" of Israel Feinerman (21.5.23 - 23.4.46), one of 69 Beitar and Irgun members of the Palestine Regiment court-martialled by the British in 1943 during the "struggle for the flag and symbol" in the British army, for their refusal to wear the regiment's non-Zionist emblem, and later killed during the arms raid on the Ramat Gan police station (in which Dov Gruner, a famous Irgun personality, was wounded). The booklet's binding is loose as are several pages within it; there are some pages with mis-positioned type-setting too, but overall the materials are all intact and lovely for viewing. For a related item, please see Item 0110008.
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Item Code: 0120017 Price: SOLD
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