A historic injustice was rectified this weekend in the coastal city of Herzliya with a moving ceremony that culminated in the dedication of a square in memory of one of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising’s unsung heroes.

The event was the first of its kind, honoring Pawel Frenkel, the commander of the Jewish Military Organization. Many associate the famous Warsaw uprising with the predominantly socialist Jewish Fighting Organization, commanded by Mordechai Anielewicz. However, according to the event’s organizers, Frenkel and his men played no less of a role than Anielewicz’s and thus deserved due credit.

Professor Moshe Arens addresses the crowd including Binyamin Netanyahu (center) and Herzilya Councilman Yaron Olami (right).

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)
Betar youth from across Israel pay homage to a fallen comrade, Betar leader Pawel Frenkel who fell in combat at the ripe age of 23.

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

The gathering was attended by some two hundred participants, including opposition leader and chairman of the Likud party, Binyamin Netanyahu, former cabinet ministers, Professor Moshe Arens and Dr Uzi Landau, veterans of pre-state Etzel and Lechi Undergrounds, representatives of the Jabotinsky Institute and young and old members of the Betar Youth Movement, including the movement’s World Chairman, Danny Danon.

Danny Danon, Chairman of World Betar addresses the crowd

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

 

Young Betar members walk towards the unveiling of the commemorative plaque.

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

. Yaron Olami, a young Herzliya councilman and mayoral candidate, made the event possible with encouragement from Former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, who was a Betar movement leader. In the ceremony, Arens explained: “The fact that Pawel Frenkel and his fighters fought the main battle of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising at Muranowski Square has been obscured for more than 60 years. A deliberate and effective effort has been made to ignore, or at the very least minimize, the participation of Frenkel's fighters in the uprising. Some historians adopted a version of events crediting the forerunners of the Labor movement with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Here today in Herzliya, we have begun to modestly put right this wrongdoing for the sake of future generations.”

Professor Arens unveils the Plaque which reads- Pawel Frenkel Square, 1920-1943, leader of the Jewish Military Organisation in the Warsaw Ghetto. Killed in combat against the Nazis, aged 23.

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

 

Councillor Olami and Betarim singing traditional songs, including Stern’s ‘Unknown Soldiers’ and Jabotinsky’s ‘Shtei Gadot Lyarden- Both Sides of the Jordan are Ours’

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

 

Moshe Arens, Uzi Landau and Yaron Olami exchange words.

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

According to a book published by David Landau, one of Frenkel's fighters who survived the uprising, Frenkel said to his group shortly before the uprising began, "Comrades! We will die before our time but we are not doomed. We will be alive as long as Jewish history lives."

A modest intersection in his name, yet Frenkel fought against all odds with hope that one day Jews would be able to drive freely in their own land.

Israel News Photo: (Avi Hyman)

The event organizers say that it is high time that Pawel Frenkel and his comrades became an integral part of Jewish history.