The Secret Mission to Save Europe’s Jews, with Matti Friedman

Matti Friedman is an award-winning journalist and columnist at The Free Press. He joins the show to discuss his latest book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe. Whom were the Zionist Jews fighting on behalf of the British during World War II? What happened to the legendary Zionist figure Hannah Senesh? And how did a war story without battlefield success help give birth to a nation?

01:45 - The scene in British Mandate Palestine

07:30 - British MI9 unit

07:38 - Jewish military units

08:41 - Rescue missions into Europe

14:21 - Secret meeting in Tel Aviv

17:29 - Palestinian Jews’ view of European Jewry

21:51 - Hannah Senesh

24:46 - Parachuting technology in WWII

26:44 - Sword of Honour trilogy

29:48 - Discrimination against Jewish agents in Europe

32:54 - Chaos at the end of WWII

34:13 - Hannah Senesh’s doomed mission

43:10 - The escape of Hannah’s mother

47:43 - The importance of heroes and myths

49:06 - Understanding Zionism

 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

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