Grandma's army

  Finally, in March 1945, side by side with British and American forces, the Jewish Brigade held their own against the Germans.  After the war, in May 1945, the Brigade was moved to northeast Italy. It was there that it met, for the first time, with survivors of the Holocaust  in Displaced Persons  camps - bringing them Jewish and Zionist culture. Rescue committees were established in the Brigade units to care for the Jewish refugees, while maintaining secret contact with the Jewish authorities. The Brigade thus became a major contributor to the care of the Jewish survivors of the ghettos  and concentration camps. In addition, amidst the chaos of post-war Europe, and under the noses of the occupying Allied armies, young Jewish soldiers masterminded one clandestine operation after the next: forming secret vengeance squads to assassinate Nazi officers in hiding; engineering the rescue and illegal movement of Holocaust survivors to Palestine.