Daily Podcasts Video Research

The Jewish Volunteers Who Returned to Nazi Europe

JL;DR SUMMARY Matti Friedman explores a lesser-known aspect of Jewish history during World War II in his book, "Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Jewish HistoryWorld War IiMatti FriedmanNazi EuropeBritish Mandatory PalestineJewish VolunteersAllied ForcesRescue MissionsHaim HermeshResistance Forces

Places mentioned

Israel
"When there is war in the Middle East, not a day passes without Israel dominating the headlines."
Palestinian Territories
"Jews who fled Europe for British Mandatory Palestine, then returned to fight in World War II."
Bari, Italy
"In 1944, when Haim climbs the ladder into the Royal Air Force bomber at Bari, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, hes 25."
Croatia
"On his silk scarf is a printed map of Yugoslaviaa country that in 1944 is occupied by the Nazis."
This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 78608
Cairo Source ID 51
Retrieved 2026-03-27 05:30:42 UTC
Curated 2026-03-27 08:30:34 UTC