200 days of dread facts for kids
The 200 days of dread (called matayim yamei kharada in Hebrew) was a scary time for the Yishuv (the Jewish community) living in British Palestine. This period lasted for about 200 days (nearly seven months) in 1942, during World War II. It was a time of great worry because the German Afrika Korps army, led by General Erwin Rommel, was moving east. People feared they would reach the Suez Canal and then Palestine.
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A Time of Worry: World War II Threats
During World War II, the Jewish community in Palestine faced two main threats from the German army.
Threat from the North
The first big worry was a possible German attack from the north. This was because the pro-Nazi Vichy government controlled Syria and Lebanon at the time. This danger ended after Operation Exporter on June 8, 1941. This was when the Allied forces (like Britain) invaded these countries and freed them from Vichy control.
Threat from the South
In 1942, a more serious threat appeared. The German Afrika Korps, led by General Erwin Rommel, was fighting in North Africa. They were getting closer to British areas in the Middle East. The "200 days of dread" finally ended when the Allied forces won a major battle called the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942. This victory stopped the German advance.
Plans to Harm Jewish People
Historians have looked at old documents to understand what might have happened if the Germans reached Palestine.
The Einsatzgruppe Egypt Plan
Some historians, like Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Martin Cüppers, found documents about a special German unit called Einsatzgruppe Egypt. They believe this unit was meant to carry out a large-scale plan to harm the Jewish people in Palestine and Egypt. Even though the documents don't directly say "Palestine," these historians think that was the unit's goal. This small unit of only 24 men was waiting in Athens in the summer of 1942. They were ready to join the Afrika Korps in Palestine. The historians believe this unit would have needed help from local people and the Afrika Korps to complete their terrible task.
Another View on the Plans
However, another historian, Haim Saadon, has a different view. He says that documents from an SS commander in Tunisia, Walter Rauff, show no plan for widespread harm. Instead, Rauff's main goal was to help the German army. His plan for Jewish people was to make them work in forced labor camps. Compared to Jewish communities in other parts of Europe, most Jewish people in North Africa were not subjected to the same terrible fate.
Jewish Defense Plans
The Hebrew term "200 days of dread" was actually created later by a journalist named Haviv Canaan in his 1974 book. At the time, the Haganah (a Jewish defense group) was getting ready for a last stand. They thought the British might have to retreat from the German army all the way to Syria and Iraq. This defense plan was called the "Plan of the North." It was also known as "Masada on the Carmel" or "Haifa–Masada–Musah Dag." The British also had their own plan, called the Palestine Final Fortress.
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