Joe Woolf, 94, Connected Fellow Veterans Of Israel’s 1948 War Of Independence

Wolff flew from South Africa to Italy, then took a ship to Israel. “The first time I met so many Holocaust survivors was on this boat,” he told JNS. “They were mostly Romanians.”

After the war, Woolf kept Machal’s legacy alive by coordinating communication between fellow members and contributing vital information to the World Machal website. Colleagues credit his extensive research, testimonies and connections, which he brokered with fellow veterans of the 1948 War of Independence, with helping preserve an important part of Israeli and world Jewish history.

‘So full of energy and positivity’

Joseph “Joe” Wolff was born in Šėta, in central Lithuania, and moved with his family to South Africa at the age of 3. The South African Jewish community was “very aware” of what was happening in Europe, as an estimated 95% of Lithuanian Jews were killed in the Holocaust—one of the highest per capita of any country under Nazi occupation. Just one out of 350 Jews in Seta survived, said Woolf, who lost many of his family members.

Of 120,000 South African Jews at the time, 806 joined Machal. Only the United States sent more volunteers to aid forces in the war, which is why English became the main language of Machal members.

“Joe was always so full of energy and positivity even then,” Hyman Josman, 94, who was on the voyage with Woolf from Italy to Israel, told JNS. They landed in Haifa on Aug. 24, 1948. Woolf saw action in the 72nd Infantry Battalion, in the English-speaking “B” company.

“Many fighters and commanders had World War II experience,” he told JNS. He recalled fighting alongside Jews from across the Diaspora. “The Arab armies were ‘pretty useless,’ unless they outnumbered you,” he added.