200 days of dread

History

During World War II, the Jewish community in Palestine, known as the Yishuv, faced two distinct moments when a German invasion seemed possible. The first came from the north, with the pro-Nazi Vichy regime holding Syria and Lebanon. This threat ended when Allied forces invaded those territories on 8 June 1941, freeing them from Vichy control. A more serious danger arose in 1942, when Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps appeared poised to seize British-held areas in the Middle East. The period known as the "200 days of dread" concluded after the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein.

Historians Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Martin Cüppers, drawing on archival evidence, argue that a unit called Einsatzgruppe Egypt was prepared to carry out mass killings of Jews in both Palestine and Egypt. Although the word "Palestine" does not appear in the surviving documents, the researchers believe the unit's mission was to travel there and systematically murder Jews. This group, consisting of only 24 men, was stationed in Athens and ready to sail for Palestine in the summer of 1942, attached to the Afrika Korps. Because of its small size, Mallmann and Cüppers suggest it would have relied on local collaborators and support from the Afrika Korps to complete its task.

A different view comes from historian Haim Saadon, who directs the Center of Research on North African Jewry in World War II. He contends there was no extermination plan. According to Saadon, documents from SS commander Walter Rauff in Tunisia show his main priority was aiding the German army, and his approach involved forcing Jews into labor camps. In relative terms, Saadon notes, North African Jews were spared the full force of the Final Solution.

The phrase "200 days of dread" was not used at the time. It was coined later by journalist Haviv Canaan, who used it as the title of his 1974 book about this period. During 1941 and 1942, the Haganah, the Jewish underground militia, prepared for a last stand in case the British withdrew as far as Syria and Iraq. Their plan, known as the "Plan of the North," was also called "Masada on the Carmel" and "Haifa–Masada–Musa Dagh." This strategy was based on a British scheme named the Palestine Final Fortress.