Tag Archives: World War II

Jew of the Week: Henriques Dias Milao-Caceres

Sean Paul at the Western Wall

Henriques Dias Milao-Caceres (1528-1609) was born in Portugal to a Sephardic Jewish family that was exiled from Spain during the 1492 expulsion. The family had refused to convert to Christianity and fled to Portugal in the hopes of being able to practice their religion. Unfortunately, the Portuguese soon forced them to convert as well. Nonetheless, the majority of these forced converts continue to practice Judaism in secret. Henriques Dias was among them, and succeeded in amassing a large fortune through his booming businesses in Lisbon. Towards the end of his life, he was arrested on false charges, and sentenced to death by the Inquisition. He was burned at the stake at age 82, together with two other members of his family. The rest of the family was forced to watch the execution, and subsequently adopted “Henriques” as a surname in his honour. The family grew tremendously and separated into various branches, including a British, Danish, Swedish, and German branch. A large part of the British branch ultimately settled in Jamaica, where they were free to practice their religion once more, and became one of the wealthiest and most influential Sephardic Jewish families on the Caribbean island. (It should be noted that the family has also drawn some heavy criticism for once being involved in slave-holding.) Among the patrons of this family was Ronnie Henriques, who enlisted in the British Army during World War II to fight the Nazis. He went missing in action until later being freed from a Nazi prison camp, and returning to Jamaica. His grandson is Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques, better known as reggae pop star Sean Paul (who was raised Catholic, but is proud of his Jewish heritage). Other notable members of the Henriques family include Moses (Cohen) Henriques, a real ‘Pirate of the Caribbean’ who had his own pirate island off the coast of Brazil, as well as British-Jewish philanthropist and author Sir Basil Henriques, and famous Danish composer Valdemar Fini Henriques.

Words of the Week

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Mahatma Gandhi

Jew of the Week: Israel Kristal

Israel Kristal, World’s Oldest Living Man (Credit: Guinness World Records)

Izrael Icek Krysztal (b. 1903) was born near Zarnow, Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family. At the young age of three he started his studies at a religious school, and by six was already well-versed in Biblical and Talmudic knowledge. He survived the First World War as a teenager, despite the fact that his father had been drafted into the army, and his mother had passed away. After the war, he and his father reunited, and settled in Lodz where they opened up a candy shop. Kristal married and had two children. It wasn’t long before another World War broke out, and Kristal’s family was sooned moved to the Lodz ghetto, where both of his children died. Some time later, he and his wife were sent to Auschwitz, then transferred to several other labour camps. When the camps were liberated, Kristal weighed just 37 kilograms. Tragically, his wife didn’t make it, and neither did anyone else in his extended family. Starting anew once more, Kristal remarried, and made aliyah to Israel in 1950, where he has lived ever since. He continued working in his profession as a confectioner, first at a candy factory, and then from his own home. Last week, Guinness World Records confirmed Kristal as the world’s oldest living man (in addition to his previous recognition of being the oldest living Holocaust survivor). He is now nearing his 113th birthday. Still devoutly observant, Kristal says he hasn’t missed a day of laying tefillin for over 70 years, since the end of the Holocaust. He has nine grandchildren, and many more great-grandchildren. When asked what one should eat for a long life, he said: “There wasn’t always food in the camps. I ate what I was given. I eat to live, and I don’t live to eat. I don’t need too much. Anything that’s too much is no good.”

UPDATE: Sadly, Israel Kristal passed away in August of 2017.

Words of the Week

I don’t know the secret for long life. I believe that everything is determined from above and we shall never know the reasons why…
– Israel Kristal

Jew of the Week: Avigdor Ben-Gal

The Man Who Saved Israel

Avigdor Ben-Gal

Janusz Ludwig (1936-2016) was born in Lodz, Poland. At the outbreak of World War II, his family managed to escape to the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, they were soon mired in Siberia, where Ludwig’s parents disappeared. Thankfully, Ludwig and his sister made it to Israel, together with a group of other Polish children (many of whom were orphans) by way of Iran. They settled in Tel-Aviv, and were raised by their cousin. In Israel, Ludwig adopted a new name: Avigdor Ben-Gal. Though he initially aspired to be a physician, Ben-Gal enjoyed his military service with the IDF, and decided to be a career military man. He saw his first action in Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Just over a decade later, he was an operations chief during the Six-Day Way. By 1973, Ben-Gal was commander of the 7th Armored Brigade. He sensed that a war would soon break out, but was ridiculed by most others within the political and military sphere. Nonetheless, he began preparing his own brigade for war. When the Yom Kippur War did indeed break out, Ben-Gal’s brigade was the only one ready for combat. They were able to miraculously defeat the Syrians in the Golan Heights despite being heavily outnumbered (700 Syrian tanks vs. 175 Israeli tanks). Ben-Gal’s skill and heroics turned back the Syrian invasion after just 3 days of combat. He then led a brave counter-offensive that brought the IDF within 20 miles of Damascus just 4 days later. At the war’s conclusion, Ben-Gal was credited with having “saved the State of Israel” by defense minister Moshe Dayan. In 1976, Ben-Gal helped to plan the rescue operation of Israeli hostages in Entebbe. A year later, he was put in charge of Israel’s Northern Command. After retiring from the military, Ben-Gal served on the board of Israel Aerospace Industries, the state-owned aviation manufacturer (and one of Israel’s largest employers). He was also on the board of Tahal – an engineering and infrastructure company that is an important defense contractor – as well as the NSO Group, an Israeli tech start-up focusing on surveillance and security. Sadly, Ben-Gal passed away last Saturday.

Words of the Week

I will always stand with Israel. I can’t tolerate people who criticize Israel without walking in their shoes. I hate the lies they spread and their lack of knowledge. I’m proud to stand up for the Israelis.

– Adam Sandler