Product Description

A story of three soldiers who served in a Jewish fighting force against the Nazis in the autumn of 1944. Initially about vengence as the men faced the atrocities of the Nazi regime, the story is ultimately about salvation. The men went off to kill but wound up saving thousands of lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #724843 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
In November 1944, the war in Europe is in its final days. The British government has agreed to send a brigade of 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine to Europe to combat the German army. Israel Carmi is one of these soldiers, a veteran of the Haganah underground. Another is Johanan Peltz, brought up on a massive estate in Poland, longing to return home as an officer in the British army. And there is ex-student Arie Pinchuk, whose return to Europe conceals his own secret plans: he is determined to rescue his little sister, the last remaining member of his family. At the Senio river, Peltz leads his troops in a dangerous bayonet charge at the heart of the German line. The Brigade survives and triumphs in the bloody hand-to-hand combat, and even as the Jewish race is suffering appalling victimization, these soldiers (with the Star of David on their uniform sleeves) demonstrate that a persecuted race can fight back. But after the war, when the total horrors of the Holocaust become clear, the soldiers vow to inaugurate a savage campaign of vengeance - one that may change the course of history. This is powerful, vividly written stuff: an epic tale of the fighting of war and the forging of a nation. As a thriller writer, Blum is in the highest echelons - and the verisimilitude of the detail here adds a whole new level to this impressive novel. Writers such as Joseph Heller, Mary Higgins Clark and Clive Cussler have been queuing up to sing the praises of The Brigade - and it's not hard to see why. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author
As a reporter for the New York Times, Howard Blum has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Currently he is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and author of five acclaimed non-fiction books, most recently The Gold of Exodus.

Excerpted from The Brigade by Howard Blum. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One

The troops were singing. The Hebrew songs had broken out spontaneously when the trucks approached the docks in Alexandria and the men saw the cargo ships that would take them across the Mediterranean to Italy. As they marched up the gangplanks, their voices grew louder and more spirited. It was a bright Tuesday morning, the final day of October 1944, and at last the Jews from Palestine were going to war.
For the past three years, the volunteers in the three battalions that made up the British Palestine Infantry Regiment had spent their days doing monotonous guard duty in North Africa, chasing after goats stolen by mischievous Arab youths, and training in the hills north of Tel Aviv with outdated weapons. A world away the war in Europe had raged on. But just five weeks ago the three battalions had been ordered to Burg-el-Arab, a flat brushless stretch of desert between El Alamein and Alexandria, and had been swiftly re-formed and outfitted into the combat-ready Jewish Brigade Group.
The historical significance of these soldiers preparing to go off to Europe with a golden Star of David on their blue shoulder patches was appreciated by the Brigade's new British commander. Brig. Ernest Frank Benjamin announced to his officers that "this is the first official Jewish fighting force since the fall of Judea to the Roman legions."
But as the boats left the harbor, the men standing on the quarterdeck watched the Egyptian shore disappear and were excited by another knowledge. An army of Jews was finally on its way to confront an enemy that had set out to annihilate their people.
Sgt. Israel Carmi did not go on deck with the others as the SS Stafford went to sea. He remained on guard by the bunks.
He had been ordered by the Haganah to smuggle two men to Europe along with the troops. Days ago he had stolen two uniforms, and his wife had tailored them at the kibbutz so that the impostors could march up the gangplank unnoticed with the rest of the soldiers.
But Carmi knew the two would never be able to fool a British officer. So he stayed with them as they lay on their bunks. He would try to intervene before anyone could become suspicious. He was prepared, though, to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the two stowaways arrived in Europe. Carmi was a sergeant in the British army, but his allegiance was to the Haganah and the land, the eretz, he was leaving behind.
That night, Capt. Johanan Peltz could not sleep. He went up to the deck and walked over to the rail. The moon was high in the sky and illuminated the sea with a silver sheen. The shoreline had receded from sight, and he was full of anticipation. He had spent seven years in this primitive, overbearingly hot part of the world, and he was glad to be leaving.
It felt blasphemous to be happy in these grim times, but he could not help being filled with a sense of joy as he imagined returning to Zabiec, his family's estate in Poland, once the war was over. In his mind it was all very clear. He would ride in a carriage through the alle of chestnut trees to the front door of the big brick house. It would be the dinner hour, everyone certain to be home. He would walk up the wide stone steps and when the maid answered the door he would tell her not to announce him. Then he would stride across the checkerboard floor of the main hall, tall and erect in his British officer's uniform, and into the dining room, while his parents and grandfather, proud and elated, rushed from the table to greet the returning hero.
Lt. Arie Pinchuk was in the radio room playing bridge. He, too, could not sleep. His stomach bubbled nervously. He was an officer in the Jewish Brigade, but he was traveling to Europe on his own private, and very vital, mission.
He could not concentrate on the cards, either. He was thinking about what he would need to do, all the obstacles he would face. And from the depths of his own internal hell, he was silently demanding, Mama, Papa, Leah, what has become of you?
It was nearly three a.m. when Pinchuk returned to his bunk, and by then the Stafford was rolling violently. The ship had headed into a storm. Waves crashed against the bow, and the swells surged over the deck. The winds were shearing. Yet the convoy continued on. All the men could do was hope the rough weather would soon improve.

Customer Reviews

Am Israel Chai
This a compelling true story in which anyone who reads it will be swept up.
It is about three men , Israel Carmi , Jochanan Pelz and Arie Pinchuk, who form the Jewish Brigade , a division of Jewish soldiers from Israel, in the British army-"the first official Jewish fighting force since the fall of the Judea to the Roman legions". At the time when Jews are being victimized and lead like sheep to the slaughter , the Jewish Brigade , with a yellow Star of David emblazoned to their uniform , fighting for the Jewish people , and their homeland of Israel, shows the world that Jews can fight back and win.
It also tells the remarkable story of Arie Pichuk's sister Leah , and her escape from the Nazis , surviving as a fugitive in the Ukraine , before joining the anti-Nazi Partisans.
After the war , the men witness first hand what the Nazis have done to their people, and set off on a course of identifying , finding and killing Nazi officers who have participated in the holocaust.
Their hatred and ferocity threatens to overwhelm them , until a chance encounter with an orphaned Jewish girl sets them on a more constructive course-smuggling Jewish boys and girls into Israel, despite the British blockade which tires to prevent Jews from entering the ancient homelnd from which they where forced out by the Romans two thousand years before.
It is therefore a true narrative about the re-establishment of the State of Israel , where Jewish children can grow up insafety and live as free men and women , in a free homeland of their own.
That is Zionism , which has been so maligned by evil forces , who want the Jews to fall pray to genocide again.
Every descent person , Jew or Gentile , needs to dedicate themselves to ensuring that Israel survives as a Jewish State in which Jews can live freely and safely.
Anything else will guarantee another holocaust.
Israel and the Jewish people are faced with the same genocidal hate today , that the Jews where faced with during World War II
Our heroes play a role in defending Israel after the fledgling state is attacked by five Arab armies , hellbent on genocide.
Am Israel Chai.
The People of Israel live!