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New Museum Honors Jewish

Soldiers of WWII and their Role

in Israel’s War of Independence
Chaim Ben
Yehuda

nown to all as “Eddy,” Yedidia who served with the armed forces of
Kaplansky (1926–2005) grew the Allies and the many partisan and
up in Montreal, where he resistance movements around the
Kattended an Orthodox Jewish world who fought the Axis powers. The
school and learned to speak Hebrew. museum is intended to educate the
Only a teenager when WWII broke broader public about the important
out, he volunteered for the Canadian role that Jews all over the world played
Air Force where he completed flight in the defeat of the Nazi regime and
training and a course in advanced the establishment of the State of Israel.
navigation, developing skills that he In particular, the museum will high-
would soon put to use on behalf of the light the diverse contributions of the
Jewish people. several thousand Machal volunteers
who, like Eddy Kaplansky, played an
Though WWII ended in 1945, Eddy’s integral part in creating and defending
exploits were just beginning. He vol- the new Jewish state.
unteered to take part in Aliyah Bet, the
code name for the clandestine immi- Eddy Kaplansky Importantly, the museum will also
gration operations that “illegally” offer the opportunity for families and
brought refugees and Holocaust sur- Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, it shares the communities to commemorate their
vivors to Israel during the British Man- campus of the Yad La-Shiryon memo- loved ones who heroically served the
date. Navigating an illegal immigrant rial and museum dedicated to the Jewish people. In addition to offer-
ship to Mandatory Palestine, Eddy was fallen soldiers of the Israeli Armored ing exhibitions on Jewish soldiers of
arrested by the British and detained in Corps. WWII, the museum will serve as a
a prison in Cyprus. Upon his release, Named in memory of Chaim Herzog, research and education facility. An
Eddy immediately joined the Machal Israel’s sixth president and a WWII extensive archive is being developed
Honor a fighters, a group of overseas volunteers veteran, the Museum of the Jewish that will contain documents, records
and photos of the individual fighters.
family who fought on Israel’s behalf during Soldier in World War II will pay trib-
member who the 1948 War of Independence (Machal ute to the 1.5 million men and women
was a WWII is an acronym of ץ ֶר ָא ָל ץּוח י ֵב ְ ּ ד ַנ ְת ִמ,
Veteran: “volunteers from abroad”). He served
with distinction, participating in
many air force missions on behalf of
the fledgling State of Israel.
Following the war, Eddy married and
returned to Canada, but ultimately
returned to Israel in 1971, settling in
Haifa. He dedicated years of research
Learn more to commemorating Machal, publishing
about the a highly regarded book entitled The
heroic Jewish First Fliers: Aircrew Personnel in the War
soldiers of Independence.
of WWII:
Yedidia Kaplansky is one of many cou-
rageous soldiers to be highlighted in
Israel’s newest museum, the Museum
of the Jewish Soldier in World War II.
Located in Latrun, midway between
The Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II.
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