Yad Vashem Collections - Movies

3 Results

This documentary tells of Mahal, about 3,000 volunteers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War for the new state of Israel. They were mostly World War II veterans from American and British armed forces. The largest presence of Mahal was felt in the Israeli Air Force (IAF). A total of 119 Mahalniks were killed in battle. After the end of the war in 1949, the majority of the Machal returned to their home countries. Some remained to live in Israel. Twenty two veterans recollect the conflict, including Israeli President Ezer Weizman. Other international volunteers who contribute to this...

Director : Didier Martiny

Production Year : 1998

Duration : 60

Language : English, French, Hebrew

804 - South Africans Volunteer in Israel's War of Independence

A documentary about the South African volunteers who fought in Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Told mostly through interviews with the surviving South African Machalniks, this is a unique firsthand account of a widely overlooked group's essential contribution to Israel's early survival. Many of the stories conveyed here have never before been printed, recorded or circulated. These intimate personal testimonies feature within a broader historical narrative of the time, incorporating interviews withe leading scholars of Jewish history such as professor Milton Shain and Sir Martin Gilbert.

Director : Etienne Naude

Production Year : 2011

Duration : 53

Language : English

Above and Beyond

In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. This ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride. Is their story. The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, the film brings together new interviews as well as stunning aerial...

Director : Roberta Grossman

Production Year : 2015

Duration : 90

Language : English