Our next stop was Acco. Acco was originally built during the Crusader time period when they ruled over Israel. It was a large fortress built to protect the Crusaders from the Muslims. We lifted a cannon ball from this time period. They are quite heavy. Under the British Mandate the fortress was turned into a prison for Jews that the British felt were dangerous.
Many of the Jews that were arrested were young men who had escaped Nazi Germany with one desire - to live in a Jewish homeland. The pictures we saw of the prisoners showed the average age was 18-22. Under the British Mandate there were three groups resisting the British. The Hagana was the main group who cooperated the most with the British and showed the most restraint. The 2nd group was Esel, who were middle of the road. Esel was clear that they would fight the enemy, but not with Jews in other political groups. Rivkah Kulek spoke about her grandfather, ob”m, who was a member of Esel and fought for Israel. He spent time in jail at Latrun. The 3rd group, Lechi never cooperated with the British. These 3 groups at times did not cooperate with one another. The British handed out sentences based on which group one was attached to.
We saw the horrible prison conditions that the British had for all prisoners. They slept in small cells and were only allowed very little sun light. The outside was allowed to send in food and provisions. The 3 resistant groups did work together to mastermind a breakout of the jail. They were able to get explosives in to the prison. In all 27 prisoners escaped.
We ended our tour in the execution room. There we heard the story of Dov Gruner, a Hungarian born Jew who escaped to Israel in 1940 and was executed by hanging at Acco. Dov was arrested while trying to steal much needed ammunition from the British. He was sentenced to hang. As the noose was around his neck, his last request was to sing the national anthem. Dov began the song in a loud voice, but was not given the chance to finish it as the executioner pulled the lever while he was in the middle of singing. The rest of the prisoners in the cells finished the song.
Yoni continued to tell us that once he was here with a group and the bus driver joined the tour. After Yoni finished telling Dov Gruner’s story, the bus driver said that Yoni told it very well, but was missing one piece. You see that day when the Jews were stealing the ammunition, Dov almost got away. Everyone was running to the trucks when the British approached and the Jewish fighters were jumping to get on. Dov never reached the truck. When asked how the bus driver knew this, he replied, “It was me who had my hand outreached for Dov to grab onto.”
Rabbi Kosofsky led us through “Kel Malai” for the Jews who lost their lives. It was a truly moving moment, one we will never forget.