Two Hundred Days of Terror
“Two Hundred Days of Terror” refers to a critical period in the history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel during World War II. This period spanned from the spring of 1942 until November 3 of that year, when German army units under the command of General Erwin Rommel advanced eastward toward the Suez Canal from North Africa.
THE PLANS OF THE NAZIS
In April 1942, the Afrika Korps, the German army unit led by General Erwin Rommel, began advancing through North Africa toward the Suez Canal in Egypt. Terror gripped the Yishub (the Jewish community in the Land of Israel). Following the Nazis’ sweeping victories in North Africa, it seemed no force could stop their progress. If they reached the Suez Canal, the road to the Land of Israel would be open.
At that moment, the extermination of European Jews was already in full swing, and news of these atrocities began to reach the leaders of the Yishub. There was no doubt: if the Germans reached the Land of Israel, they would carry out the systematic extermination of all Jews—men, women, and children—just as they had done in Europe. And they were not mistaken.
The Germans had already established a special unit for this purpose in Egypt: Einsatzgruppe Egypt, consisting of 24 SS soldiers under the command of Walter Rauf. Rauf was the infamous inventor of the gas vans—mobile death chambers in which exhaust fumes were diverted into sealed compartments where victims, believing they were being transported, died of suffocation.
These death vans were waiting in Egypt. It was presumed that the extermination of the 500,000 Jews in the Land of Israel would be carried out using the same methods used in Europe. Lacking manpower, the Germans intended to rely on support from the local Arab population to assist in the murder of Jews under the command of this small SS unit. This plan aligned with promises made to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the antisemitic leader of the Palestinian Arabs and close ally of Hitler, who was then exiled in Berlin. Many Arabs eagerly awaited Hitler’s arrival—referring to him as Abu Ali—hoping that the Germans would defeat the British so they could help annihilate the Jews.
THE PLANS OF THE JEWS
On April 17, 1942, Moshe Sharet, head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, addressed General Claude Auchinleck, commander of the British Eighth Army, with a sobering message:
“There is no doubt that if the Nazis invade the Land of Israel, all the Jews of this land will be murdered. The extermination of the Jewish race is a basic premise of Nazi ideology. Recently published official reports show that this policy is being implemented with a cruelty beyond words. Hundreds of thousands of Jews have perished in Poland, the Balkans, Romania, and across all German-occupied Soviet territories—through mass executions, forced deportations, starvation, and disease in ghettos and concentration camps. There is reason to fear that even more rapid destruction awaits the Jews of Israel if we fall into Nazi hands.”
SURRENDER?
Some Jews, with dangerous naivety, proposed surrendering to the Nazis, as other occupied nations in Europe had done, hoping to reach some form of agreement. They believed that the Nazis would treat the Jews of the Land of Israel differently from the Jews of Poland or Germany—arguing that these were not wealthy entrepreneurs, but simple villagers and laborers. They suggested that avoiding resistance might lessen the Germans’ hostility and perhaps, through diplomacy and appeasement, they could secure better treatment.
These ideas were criticized as defeatist and dangerous, discouraging the Jews from defending themselves. Some Jewish leaders even explored diplomatic options: requesting that the British grant Jews in the Land of Israel, then under British mandate, the status of British prisoners of war if captured—thus affording them international protection. They also urged the British to threaten retaliation, suggesting that if the Nazis exterminated Jews, the British would execute German prisoners in their custody.
These ideas, however, never materialized. The British refused to grant such protections or make such threats. In fact, the British prepared for the possibility of evacuating from the Land of Israel, retreating eastward to Iraq and India—without including the Jewish population in these plans. If the Germans invaded, the Jews would be left alone to face the enemy.
At that time, the Yishub consisted of about 500,000 Jews. Yitzhak Tabenkin, who would later serve in the Israeli Knesset, declared:
“We have no choice but to fight this war with all the strength we have… We must defend this Yishub and our flag, with or without uniforms. If our spirit remains in us, we will support it with all our might—or fall with it, with all our might. We are ready to stand, and ready to sacrifice. We will not defeat the enemy with fatalism, but with great responsibility. There is no alternative.”
HIDING
As a last resort, some Jews considered hiding their children with sympathetic Arabs or in Christian monasteries, churches, and German hospices—especially in Jerusalem. They offered payment in exchange for shelter and hoped to keep their children safe until the war ended.
Meanwhile, opinions diverged on what to do if the Germans invaded. David Ben-Gurion adopted a pragmatic view: the Yishub’s improvised defense forces could not stop Hitler’s army, which had already defeated France, the Netherlands, and most of Europe. If the British withdrew, Ben-Gurion believed the leadership and forces of the Haganah should retreat with them to India, regroup with the British army, and return when the tide of war turned.
FIGHT TO THE DEATH
Others, including Yitzhak Tabenkin, took a more nationalist stance:
“We must stay here until the end—for our future, for our dignity, for the sake of our history.”
This approach proposed concentrating the Jewish population in Haifa and the Galilee. These areas, especially the Carmel mountain range, offered natural defenses against advancing armored divisions. The plan was to fortify these enclaves and resist to the last man. It was called the “Masada of Carmel,” evoking the ancient Jewish last stand against Rome. Guerrilla units would harass enemy forces while civilians took shelter.
Similarly, members of the Etzel (Irgun) military organization envisioned a symbolic stand in the Old City of Jerusalem. If the Germans invaded, they would retreat behind the walls and make their final stand there—declaring Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit) before their inevitable end.
For both plans, the outcome was understood: the Yishub would resist, but the end of the civilian population would likely be total. The name “Masada of Carmel” revealed a deep awareness of the sacrifice involved. In ancient Masada, Jewish defenders chose mass suicide over capture by the Romans.
PROVIDENTIAL VICTORY
On July 1, 1942, the British halted Rommel’s advance just 180 kilometers from the Suez Canal. They established a new defensive line and appointed General Bernard Montgomery as commander. Montgomery cancelled all evacuation plans and prepared to face the Germans head-on in Egypt. Both sides knew this battle would determine the fate of the Middle East.
Thanks to God, after months of intense fighting, on November 3, 1942, Montgomery launched a final offensive and decisively defeated Rommel’s forces at the Battle of El-Alamein in Egypt. This victory marked a major turning point in World War II and brought an end to the Two Hundred Days of Terror that had paralyzed the Jewish community in the Land of Israel during the Shoah.
