Meir Zorea: Encyclopedia II - Meir Zorea - Early life

Meir Zorea - Early life

Meir Zorea was born in Kishinev, Besserabia. He was a teenager at the outbreak of World War II. In 1942, Zorea, a Jew, joined the Jewish Brigade, a temporary military element of the British military. During late winter in 1945, Zorea's Brigade took part in combat against the German army at the Senio River Valley (near Bologna, Italy). After two difficult months, the brigade emerged from the engagement battered, yet victorious. Then a second lieutenant, Zorea was awarded the British Military Cross for leading his men through intense fire. Eventually, Zorea attained the rank of captain before the brigade was dissolved in 1946.

The Jewish Brigade, largely used as a front for Haganah resistance operations, provided opportunities for arms smuggling to Jewish resistance groups in the British Mandate of Palestine, directing European Jewish Holocaust survivors in emigration to Palestine, and executing Nazi officials and military officers. Zorea took part in all of these activities. Regarding emigration to Palestine, Zorea remarked:

To facilitate execution of Nazis, Jewish Brigade members would traverse post-war Europe in bands of three and four. Zorea explained:

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki