Jewish Brigade tag and identity discs belonging to Shmuel Gafni from Kibbutz Mishmarot, who enlisted to fight the Nazis

Shmuel Gafnavicius (Gafni), Jewish Brigade, British Army

Jewish Brigade tag and identity discs belonging to Shmuel Gafni from Kibbutz Mishmarot, who enlisted to fight the Nazis

Shmuel Gafni (right) with his fellow soldiers in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army Among the soldiers in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army, made up of fighters from Eretz Israel (pre-state Israel), was Shmuel Gafnavicius (later Gafni). In letters Gafni wrote to his sister in Eretz Israel at the end of the war, he describes his attempts to discover the fate of their other sister, who had remained in Kovno during the war. He had spoken to a number of people who knew a little about what happened to her during the time he spent in liberated Europe. Regarding the end of the war, he wrote: "I celebrated the 'holiday of liberation' in the 'comfort' of the wagons of a freight train, but we received suitable compensation when at each station we met trainloads of German prisoners-of-war who stared at our flags with their Stars of David as we travelled towards their country."

Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Donated by Leah Prais, Petach Tikvah, Israel