The curious case of Major Farran’s hat saga in Israel’sstruggle against the Britishduring the Mandate period By BARRY SHAW the evening of May 6, 1947, Alexander Rubowitz lefthis home in Jerusalem. He never returned. Rubowitz livedat 22 David YellinStreetin the Mea She’arim neighborhood. He was 16 years old. Rubowitz was tallslim quiet boy, qual- itythat belied his roleas an activistin the Stern Group Lohamei HaHerut b’Yisrael also known as Lehi, the Freedom Fighters forIsrael. The Britishgovernance of pre-stateIsrael had become belligerentto the inflow of European Jewish refugees into Mandatory Palestine,many of them survivorsof Nazi death camps. Jewish politicaland action groups object- ed to the chokehold on immigration. missingperson’sposter The Britishblock on Jewish aliyah,immi- forAlexander Rubowitz in May 1947 gration, went against their own policy (WikimediaCommons) enshrined in the BalfourDeclarationto “use theirbestendeavours to facilitatethe estab- lishment in Palestineof nationalhome for Cohen ifhe did not back away from the the Jewish People.” vehicle.Cohen saw the boy in the back In Jewish eyes,itwas doing preciselythe being repeatedly hit by the second man. opposite.Britishofficialswere now prevent- The kidnapped boy shouted in Hebrew, ing the achievement of that goal. “I’m from the Rubowitz family.” So intense had the opposition to British As the car screeched away the boys who rule become that violence was applied witnessed the scene found hat on the in an effortto dislodge the British grip ground. Insidethe gray trilbywas labelin on Palestine. English with the name “Farran.” portraitof Although the Zionist movement Rubowitz had been dragged offthe street Maj. Roy Farran campaigned politicallyagainst the anti- by Maj. Roy Farran,who led Britishcovert in June 1948. Jewish British policy, an underground police squad, whose role was going after (Denis Fildes/Wikimedia movement, led by the Irgun and Stern Jewish underground operatives,even boys. Group, mounted attacks against British During this period there were four targetsthroughout Palestine. to be collaboratingwith the Hagana. This PalestineMobile Police Force, which was unsolved kidnappings, three involved teen- The Hagana, semi-officialmilitiaof the would lead to war againstthe Jews, war severelyunderstaffed.They were constantly agers.In May 1947, 14-year-oldboy was Jewish Agency, worked stealthilyto smuggle against fanaticaland cunning enemy who patrolling the streets,questioning and snatched from his hospital bed where he escaping Jews from the gripof the Nazis and would use the weapons of kidnap, murder arrestingsuspects. was being treatedforpolicegunshot wounds bring them covertlyto the Promised Land. and sabotage.” The Stern Group frequently used teenag- after he had been discovered putting up Prime minister Clement Attlee’sgovern- The outcome of Montgomery’s policy ers to be couriersand paste notices.They Stern Gang notices. ment, with the antisemiticErnest Bevin as would be thatthe Britishwould do precisely knew the Britishwould givelighterpunish- When Rubowitz had not returned home itsforeign secretary,introduced stringent that.Use the weapons of kidnap and mur- ment to teenagers than they would for by the following morning, hisparents were means to quell the risingviolence against der againstPalestinianJews. adult operators. franticwith worry. They went to the local the Britishpresence.Into the breach stepped Montgomery’s Operation AGATHA led to On that May evening, Rubowitz lefthis police stationto report him missing. They fieldmarshal Bernard Montgomery, the war the arrestof leading,Jewish Agency staffers home to pin SternGroup messages on post- were told that theirson was not in police hero of the battleof El Alamein in North and Hagana officers.Weapons were confis- er boards.He passed through the Mahaneh custody. Africawhere the BritishEighth Army defeat- cated from kibbutzim. Yehuda market to perform his night-time They contacted the Hebrew pressto have ed Rommel’s German Army. In retaliation,the Irgun struckatthe heart mission. woman, standing on her apart- them report the boy’s disappearance. On Montgomery took up hispositionaschief of the Britishadministrationby blowing up ment balcony, saw young boy running May 9, Haaretz published small piece of the Imperial General Staffin June 1946. wing of the iconicKing David Hotel hous- down the streetbeing chased by powerful headlined, “Abducted or Arrested?” He was tasked to stop the violence.He gen- ing sectionsof the civiladministration and looking man. She watched as the man Newspapers printed Rubowitz’s picture. erallyused the Britishpoliceforcestationed the officesof the BritishMiddle East forces caught the boy near the Ussishkin and Two of the boys who witnessed the scene in Palestine.He visitedPalestineand decid- in Palestine.Ninety-one people were killed Keren Kayemet Boulevard intersection.She recognized him and toldthe pressthey had ed gen. SirAlan Cunningham was not suit- in the explosion, including 16 Britishper- later identified the boy as Alexander found hat and taken itto the localsyna- ed to be the High Commissioner due to sonnel. Rubowitz. gogue. Rubowitz’s parents rushed to the being “quite unable to make up his mind Following thisattack,the BritishCabinet Two boys saw man force thirdboy into synagogue and retrievedthe hat from Ivan what to do and patheticallyanxious to Defense Committee, which now included waiting car. Another man assistedthe Kaminsky, the synagogue’s caretaker.They avoid showdown.” Montgomery, gave the order to strikeat the attackerin throwing the boy into the car took itto the Mahaneh Yehuda police sta- Montgomery’s report expressed plan of secretIrgun and Stern Group organizations before they drove off at high speed. Other tion and handed itover to policeinspec- action againstthe Jewish opposition. in an operation codenamed SHARK. onlookers noted the vehiclenumber as 993. tor,named John O’Neill. “Allranks must understand they arein for By the end of Julythey had arrestedsever- During the attack, 15-year-old Meir From tip-offthey were toldtheirson had very unpleasant job.The Army must strike almembers of the underground groups and Cohen walked up to the car to ask what not been abducted by rivalJewish groups. realblow againstthe Jews by arrestingthe uncovered huge weapons stored in places they were doing. man repliedin English Asher Levitskywas employed as the fami- heads of the illegalJewish organizationsand likeTelAviv’sGreat Synagogue. that they were police officersand were lylawyer.He was an influentialperson with those members ofthe Jewish Agency known The brunt of the operations fellon the arrestingthe boy. He threatened to shoot tiesto leading Zionists.He met with the He was stripped of his clothes and was Golda Meir, sent letterfrom the Jewish allegedlystabbed numerous times to make Agency to the Britishgovernment demand- itlook as ifthe Jewish boy had been mur- ing to know the whereabouts of Farran. dered by Arabs. They burned his clothing Tensions were ratcheted up when four and returned to Jerusalem, their vehicle Britishsoldiersrelaxingon Tel Aviv beach logged in atthe same checkpoint. were gunned down. In Haifa,an officerand Farran gave Fergusson listof names they friend of Farran was killedand two others had found in the young boy’spocket. injured in the Astoria Restaurant. The Farran was not charged with murder. Britishadministration in Jerusalem sent Neither was he arrestedor suspended and report to London explaining the assassina- he and histeam receivedno punishment for tions as “the work of the Stern Gang as the murder of Jerusalemiteteenager. reprisalfor the death of Rubowitz, the vic- The Hebrew press published picturesof tim of the Farran case.” the missing boy, reportsfrom eye witnesses Farran heard about the violence in the and the revelationof the hat with the name wake of his disappearance.He gave himself “Farran” found at the scene of the kidnap- up atthe Allenby Barracks.The London War ping. In an attempt to defray the evidence, Office decided to bring charges against the BritishCID forensiclaboratoryreported Farran not formurder but forgoing absent itwas impossible to confirm the name of without leave. the hat was Farran. This time Farran was under heavy guard By now, however, itwas becoming impos- but the Jewish underground was angry. On sibleforthe Britishto stallthe process and July 12, the Irgun kidnapped two British Farran was ordered to make himself avail- sergeantsin Netanya. On July29, theirbod- able to stand trial.He was confined to ieswere found hanging from tree in an Fergusson’shouse pending the outcome of orange grove. the investigation.When he received tip- When news ofthismurder reached Britain offthat he was about to be arrested,Farran there was anti-Jewishriotingin Liverpool, stole CID car,changed the number plates Manchester, Glasgow, Hull, Brighton and and drove atspeed to SyriaviaTransjordan. many other citieswith synagogues and SAS members on parade foran inspection by Gen. Montgomery, following their An arrest warrant was issued for his Jewish-owned businesses. successfulparticipationin the capture, behind enemy lines,of the port of Termoli in arrest.He was tracked down to Aleppo, but Farran’strialwas set for September 24, Italy.On the leftisMaj. E. ScratchleyDSO, commanding the SAS detachment, while the Syrian Arab authoritieshad learned of 1947 at militarycourt in the Talbieh dis- on the rightisCapt. Roy Farran holding German Schmeisser submachine gun. his anti-Jewish actions and offered him trictof