Biography of Mickey Marcus |
David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus (1902 - 1948)
In 1948, six hours before the “cease fire” between Israel and the
terrorists took effect, Mickey Marcus, the first general of the Jewish nation
since Judah Maccabee, was shot to death by an Israeli guard who mistook him for
an Arab marauder.
At the request of David ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister,
Marcus went to Israel in 1947 to become military advisor to the Israeli army.
Therefore, when the terrorists attacked in 1948, Israel was ready to defend
itself thanks to the planning achieved by Marcus, who called himself
“Stone”. This was particularly important since the British occupiers of
Israel furnished the terrorists with arms and supplies and even commanded their
armies. The same British occupiers
prevented the Jews from importing any defensive arms in the hope of seeing
another holocaust in Israel.
Instead, the army of Israel, with few weapons and a few men, succeeded in
defending their freedom and their lives against overwhelming odds. This was due
to Marcus' planning. In view of the huge size of the attacking Egyptians, Marcus
ordered “hit and run” tactics which kept the Egyptian army off balance in
the Sinai.
Then, when the Jewish part of Jerusalem was about to fall for lack of
food and supplies, Marcus organized the building of a second road into
Jerusalem, which succeeded in breaking the terrorists' siege. This meant that
Israel survived the terrorists' attack. In gratitude, David ben Gurion named
Marcus Lt. General, so that he became the first general of Israel in two
thousand years.
Marcus was able to undertake these feats because he was a West Point
graduate and had seen considerable combat in World War II. He was also a lawyer,
and in that capacity he worked as a federal attorney in New York City, where he
also served as Commissioner of Corrections.
In 1940, Marcus volunteered for service in the U.S. army. He was made
commander of the Ranger squad after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941. Thereafter he parachuted into Normandy on D-day with the 101st
airborne division. He consequently became part of the occupation government in
Berlin. He then became chief of the war crimes commission which prosecuted the
top Nazis in Nũrnberg, where he learned first hand the depth of European
hatred of Jews. In 1966, Kirk Douglas (Issur
Danielovitch), a Jewish actor, portrayed Marcus in a movie called “Cast a
Giant Shadow”. Senta Berger was the co-star. The movie is interesting but by
no means a rival to Exodus. Nevertheless it is worth seeing the next time
it plays on television. Shalom u’vracha. Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including The American Criminal Justice System (2010). |