come to their aid and impose the division of the country by force of arms.

The rumors about huge quantities of hidden weapons, buried somewhere deep underground, pop like soap bubbles on the walls of reality. And the fairytale of the 80,000 well-trained and armed Jewish soldiers, who would appear from the underground at the command of the national institutions, also dissipates like the morning mist.

The hope of early weapons supplies was also quickly dashed. The British blockade impeded the import of weapons, and the UN prohibited its members from arming the fighting parties. So the Yishuv was faced with two bitter alternatives: either to win the battle with whatever resources it had, or to give up without a struggle. There were only a few, light, weapons. And there were only a few organized troops, in small units. Survival was hanging from a very thin thread.

* * *

On 30 November 1947, when the first shots of the war sounded, the national institutions proclaimed the mobilization of everyone between seventeen and twenty-five years of age. With great enthusi-asm the best of the youth streamed to the recruitment offices.

While small groups of the Palmach¹⁰ and the HISH¹¹ accompanied the supply convoys and defended the outer parts of the city with other volunteers, a new army was being formed all over the country. An army without a name, without insignia, ranks, or a uniform - the army of the young Hebrews. In the barracks of Tel Aviv and Sarona, which the British police had vacated on 15 December 1947, hundreds and thousands were hastily trained and instructed in the use of weapons.

The first fighting units began with reprisals, storming Arab vil-lages and blowing up houses. With only a few rifles, which were passed from hand to hand, without sufficient armored vehicles to defend the transport arteries, these young people won great victories and suffered painful defeats. On 23 February 1948, thirty-five of them fell on the road to Gush Etzion. They were on their way to an action that only a well-trained and appropriately equipped company could have carried out successfully. On 4 March, fifteen fell near Atarot. On 28 March, forty-two fell defending a supply column near Yehiam.

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