This Passover Haggadah was issued for Jewish soldiers in the US Armed Forces before Passover 1944. The copy displayed here was used by them, and also by Jewish soldiers in the British Army, at a Seder organized at a British base in Bari, Italy.
Most of the paratroopers who signed their names inside the Haggadah were parachuted into Yugoslavia on military missions, and returned to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) after completing their military service.
Rehabeam Zabludovksy-Amir, a paratrooper from the Yishuv, was born in Vilna and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1935, settling in Yavneel. He served in the Special Operations Executive and parachuted into Yugoslavia several times on special missions.
Yaaqov Shapira, a paratrooper from the Yishuv, was born in Jerusalem and was a member of Kibbutz Maoz Chaim and the Haganah. He served as a paratrooper and as liaison instructor for the paratroopers and agents.
Shlomo Finzi, a paratrooper from the Yishuv, was born in Yugoslavia and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1939, becoming a member of Kibbutz Gat. He was one of the first Palmach volunteers. He parachuted into Yugoslavia on special missions, and was killed in the Ma'agan plane crash disaster in 1954.
Eli Zohar, a paratrooper from the Yishuv, was born in Yugoslavia and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1939, becoming a member of Kibbutz Gat and later on, Kibbutz Givat Brenner. In 1941, he enlisted in the Palmach. He parachuted into Yugoslavia on special missions, and escorted Aliyah Bet boats.
Peretz Rozenberg, a paratrooper from the Yishuv, was born in Hungary when his parents were on their way from Poland to Eretz Israel. Rozenberg was the first paratrooper to parachute into Yugoslavia. He served as a paratrooper and as liaison instructor for the paratroopers and agents.
Apart from the paratroopers signed in the Haggadah, the paratroopers Enzo Sereni, Yoel Palgi and Peretz Goldstein also attended the Seder in Bari.
Enzo Sereni was born in Italy. A Zionist emissary, he was a philosopher and a pioneer, active in the "Ha'avarah" Transfer Agreement and the Youth Aliyah. In World War II, he enlisted in the British Army and served in Egypt and Iraq. In May 1944, Sereni parachuted into northern Italy and fell into German hands. He was sent to Dachau and executed there in November 1944.
The day after the Seder, Palgi and Goldstein were parachuted into Yugoslavia, and from there they entered Hungary. They were caught in Budapest, interrogated and tortured, and sent to the camps. Palgi managed to escape from the deportation train, and Goldstein was sent to the Oranienburg camp, where he was murdered.
Another man whose signature appears on the inside cover of the Haggadah is Piero Foa, a Holocaust survivor and member of the Italian underground born in Genoa. In his testimony, he mentions the Seder in Bari.
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