23 Facts About Jacob Salomon

Jacob, Eugen, Jean Salomon was a member of the Haganah and Palmach.

Jacob Salomon commanded the Palmach's Fourth Battalion and served as commander of the Haganah in Eastern Europe.

Jacob Salomon was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in the village of Shoyomko.

Jacob Salomon joined the Petah Tikva branch of the Haganah in summer 1934.

The commander of these units, Yitzhak Sadeh, asked Jacob Salomon to join their training program and subsequently to become an instructor himself.

In summer 1939, following the suppression of the Arab Revolt and the dismantlement of The Field Companies, Jacob Salomon was sent to instruct a course for Haganah commanding officers under the command of Rafael Lev.

Jacob Salomon joined the Palmach upon its establishment and at first served in various positions at its headquarters.

Jacob Salomon had no experience in these fields but was chosen because of his command and organizational abilities.

In parallel, at the request of Moshe Dayan, Jacob Salomon began recruiting Hungarian-speaking volunteers to parachute into Europe.

Indeed, the other commanders had all been members of the Socialist Zionist Youth Movement Hamahanot Haolim, while Jacob Salomon had not been involved in this or any youth movement and had not declared allegiance to any political faction.

Jacob Salomon commanded the Battalion during the period of the Jewish Resistance Movement, an umbrella organization for the various paramilitary organizations in the pre-state Jewish community, the Yishuv, which was established following World War II in order to fight the British and bring about the end of the British Mandate.

Jacob Salomon completed his role in mid-1946, following the dismantlement of the Jewish Resistance Movement.

In December 1946, Jacob Salomon left for Europe, where he was appointed by Nachum Shadmi, commander of the Haganah in Europe, as commander of the Haganah in Eastern Europe: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.

In mid-1948, the Haganah was dismantled and Jacob Salomon continued his activities in Europe until the end of 1948, working in the framework of an IDF delegation.

At the beginning of 1947, Jacob Salomon focused on establishing self-defense training for Jews in Hungary, helped by former members of the Jewish Zionist Underground Movement in Hungary, led by Yosef Meir, and Jewish emissaries from mandatory Palestine.

Nachum Shadmi, commander of the Haganah in Europe, in turn tasked Jacob Salomon with recruiting the immigrants, and Jacob Salomon set about doing so by establishing a headquarters with 30 staff members, known as the "Operative Department," and by working in cooperation with the Romanian authorities.

The commanders of the operation in Romania, among them Jacob Salomon, went ahead despite this opposition, seeing the distress of the thousands of Jews who had sold their property and were ready to leave their homes.

Jacob Salomon was one of the architects of this process, and in March 1948 he established, together with Moshe Agami, a member of HaMossad LeAliyah Bet, a recruitment center in Paris.

In parallel, Jacob Salomon was active in Czechoslovakia, in cooperation with Ehud Avriel, Ben-Gurion's emissary for purchasing affairs and later the Israeli envoy in Czechoslovakia.

Jacob Salomon was involved in organizing professional courses run by the Czech army in fields such as communications, flying, and parachuting, and he appointed Haim Gouri as commander of the first paratrooper course.

Jacob Salomon was appointed to command the unit prior to its arrival in Israel, and he intended to lead it during the War of Independence.

In October 1948, Avriel and Jacob Salomon arrived in Israel and presented a report on the brigade to Ben-Gurion.

Jacob Salomon established a farm on the land of the former Arab village Sheikh Munis and tried to advance other business initiatives.