Out of the sky Heroism and rebirth in Nazi Europe

Jews in the anti-Nazi resistance. Journalist Friedman, author ofSpies of No Country: Israel's Secret Agents at the Birth of the Mossad (2019), turns his attention to a 1944 British operation in Nazi-occupied Europe. Beginning in 1940, when Germany occupied much of Western Europe, the British encouraged anti-Nazi resistance by dropping supplies and agents by plane. Historians still debate its contribution to victory, but no one denies that it involved courage and sacrifice. Friedman's subjects were Jewish volunteers from British-occupied Palestine. They were ideal because, having fled central Europe, they spoke German and hated Nazis. They also resented the British, who barred European Jews fleeing Nazis from entering Palestine. The author follows a group of young Jews, notably Hannah Senesh, who trained in Egypt and traveled to Italy to receive radios, codes, and money. They then boarded planes that deposited them in Central Europe to collect intelligence, guide downed Allied flyers to safety, and supported local resistance groups. The Nazis, whose spies proved incompetent, were superb at counterespionage, and resistance organizations were laced with double agents. Many volunteers landed successfully and were never heard of again. This was the fate of most of the parachutists; Senesh herself was tortured and executed. "Beyond the barest outline of the myth, it turns out that few know anything about them," Friedman writes. But the parachutists were surprisingly literate--they wrote poetry and stories and memoirs--so Friedman was able to revive their memory thanks to the words they left behind. He also notes that their mission took place "four years before a country called Israel came into existence." Today, Senesh "has not only a kibbutz named for her, but also a forest, and thirty-two streets." The parachutists are national heroes. A stirring and well-researched remembrance of a tragic but heroic mission. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.