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Alex Rafaeli

Alexander Rafaeli (1910-1996) earned his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Heidelberg. He subsequently joined the Irgun and played an active role in organizing aliyah bet. Rafaeli was sent by Jabotinsky to the United States in 1940. He became part of the Bergson Group’s core leadership group, and played a central role in the group’s work, particularly in the recruiting of celebrities. Rafaeli enlisted in the United States Army in late 1943. After the war, he returned to the U.S. and resumed his work with the Bergson Group.

Alex Rafaeli in Europe in the 1930s.

Rafaeli with Zev and Johanna Jabotinsky, circa 1938.

Rafaeli addressing a Bergson Group event, circa 1941.

Rafaeli during his service in the U.S. Army, 1944.

Rafaeli meeting with members of the Bergson Group’s “Hollywood Committee” in 1946. Back row, center, are the journalist Quentin Reynolds, and to his left, Rep. Will Rogers, Jr., and Rafaeli; the woman in the front row is Frankie Spitz of Universal Studios, and to her left is George A. Jessel.

Eri Jabotinsky

Eri Jabotinsky (1910-1969) , the only son of Ze’ev and Johanna Jabotinsky, followed his father into the world of militant Zionism. During the 1930s, Eri helped organize the Irgun’s aliyah bet operations in Europe. He spent 1940-1944 in the United States as one of the senior leaders of the Bergson Group. Eri traveled to Turkey in 1944 to help facilitate the escape of Jewish refugees, but after six months was arrested by the British and jailed at Acre. Eri was elected to Israel’s first Knesset, in 1949, but after one term in office left politics and took to teaching mathematics.

Eri Jabotinsky in the 1940s.

Standing, left to right: Seldon Bard, Rabbi Jack Tauber, Eri Jabotinsky, and Mol Goldstein, in 1942. The others in the photo are unidentified. Tauber (1916-1991) was active in the Irgun and had served as personal secretary to Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Bard, who was wounded in World War II, died, along with his son, in a PLO attack on TWA Flight 841 in 1974. Photo courtesy of Laurence Tauber.

Arieh Ben-Eliezer

Arieh Ben-Eliezer in the 1940s.

Arieh Ben-Eliezer was part of the group of Irgun emissaries who came to the United States in 1940 and constitute the core Bergson Group leadership.

In early 1943, Ben-Eliezer went to Palestine to help rebuild the Irgun, but was arrested by the British. He did not return to the United States.

Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht (1893-1964) began his literary career as a Chicago news reporter and columnist, but by the 1930s emerged as one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood, with credits including Gone With the Wind, Scarface, and Wuthering Heights. In 1941, he joined the Bergson Group and was responsible for some of its most famous creations, including the pageant “We Will Never Die” (1943), the play “A Flag is Born” (1946), and its most controversial newspaper advertisements.

Ben Hecht addressing a Bergson Group event. To his right his Billy Rose; to his left are Peter Bergson and Rose Keane.