A Gottwald dandár története. Csehszlovákia szerepe Izrael Állam megalakulásában
The History of the Gottwald Brigade: Czechoslovakia’s Role in Birth of State of Israel

Summary/Abstract: The study is focused on the assistance what Czechoslovakia gave to nascent state of Israel in 1947–1948. First of all, it was a diplomatic help: Czechoslovakia figured among the states that prepared the draft of the United Nations Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) and took part in the creation. In addition to this help Prague also began to support the Jewish Agencies in other ways, because they wanted weapons to fight against the Arabs. Despite the UN arms embargo, Czechoslovakia delivered not just small arms and ammo to Palestine, but even artillery, anti-aircraft guns and aircraft (Operation Žatec). Training soldiers for Israel can be considered another significant kind of assistance. The Czechoslovak People’s Army and Communist Party of Czechoslovakia – with the help of Israel Defense Force – organized a brigade of Jewish volunteers from Eastern Bloc countries. The so called Gottwald Brigade was trained in Czechoslovakia from August to November 1948. All 1335 members of this company went to Israel but due to political machinations and diplomatic conflicts between Israel and Eastern Bloc, just only few „Gottwaldist” fought in the first Arab–Israeli war. This study presents the main aspects of Czechoslovakia’s help, mostly focusing on the history and training of the Gottwald Brigade.

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