Nakam by Dina Porat

Author:Dina Porat
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

However, the top echelon of the Haganah did not meet to discuss the question comprehensively—or at least there is no evidence that they did. Kovner was aware that they were consumed by “heavy, daily, fateful worries for the Yishuv and for the Zionist cause.”59 In addition, he was dependent on the members of the Haganah to arrange for his papers and his escort, and he was obliged to wait for a clear answer regarding how and when he would return to Europe. It is not evident whether the high command delayed his departure intentionally on the assumption that time was working against the plans of vengeance, whether its resources of time and attention were insufficient for the matter among the continual day-to-day happenings in Palestine, or whether the departure of other people for Europe—such as the agents of clandestine immigration—was considered more urgent. It must be remembered that arranging passage abroad for someone who had arrived illegally using forged military documents, and who would be returning the same way, was by no means a simple task.

The Nokmim who had remained in Europe were unable, all that time, to understand what was delaying Kovner, and suspicions arose. The rumor mill began to churn, possibly because Yaʿari had written to Europe that Kovner had “reformed,” meaning he’d returned to the mainstream of the movement and would not be continuing with the vision of the Hativa; in fact, Yaʿari wrote, Kovner had founded the Hativa in order to draw the politically uncommitted toward Hashomer Hatzair. If so, then it could be that he had abandoned the idea of vengeance too. The rumors reached the ears of the Nokmim in Europe, and Kovner was shocked. Vitka, who felt that with each passing day the fissure between him and his comrades grew, sent him a harsh letter. In it, she scolded Kovner for not writing to the rest of the group, and she reported an atmosphere of isolation and a complete focus on the original objective. She was witness to the angry disputes that broke out in the wake of Kovner’s instruction to concentrate first on Plan B. That instruction could have been another source of suspicion about a change in Kovner’s stance. In her letter, she told him that work had started around the prisoners’ camps despite the bitter arguments. The correspondence also reflects disagreements about relations with the Jewish Brigade. Vitka maintained friendly ties with the Hashomer Hatzair soldiers there, whereas Kovner opposed the ties between Pasha and Ben-Gal. He urged Pasha to reduce them to the necessary minimum in order not to cause palpable damage.60

Ruzka tried to defend Kovner against the anger of his comrades, explaining in letters to Europe that his return had been arranged and cancelled several times; in contrast to her normally restrained nature, she became upset with those who had begun to doubt his loyalty to the vision of revenge. Despite knowing him for years and having “believed in him as in God,” they now looked on him as, heaven forbid, a traitor.

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