Academic literature on the topic 'Jewish soldiers – Spain'

Spain is more commonly known as Andalusia, the Andalusia comes from the word Vandalusia, which means the country of the Vandals, because the southern part of the Peninsula was once ruled by the Vandals before they were defeated by Western Gothia in the fifth century. This area was ruled by Islam after the rulers of The Umayyah seized the peninsula's land from the West Gothies during the time of the Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abdul Malik. Islam entered Spain (Cordoba) in 93 AH (711 AD) through the North African route under the leadership of Tariq bin Ziyad who led the Islamic army to conquer Andalusia. Before the conquest of Spain, Muslims had taken control of North Africa and made it one of the provinces from the Umayyad Dynasty. Full control of North Africa took place in the days of Caliph Abdul Malik (685-705 AD). Conquest of the North African region first defeated until becoming one of the provinces of the Umayyad Caliph spent 53 years, starting from 30 H (Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan's reign) to 83 H (al-Walid's period). Before being defeated and then ruled by Islam, in this region there were sacs which became the basis of the power of the Roman Empire, namely the Gothic Kingdom. In the process of conquering Spain there were three Islamic heroes who could be said to be the most effective in leading units of troops there. They are Tharif ibn Malik, Tariq ibn Ziyad, and Musa ibn Nushair. Subsequent territorial expansion emerged during the reign of Caliph Umar ibn Abdil Aziz in the year 99 AH/717 AD, with the aim of controlling the area around the Pyrenian mountains and South France. The second largest invasion of the Muslims, whose movement began at the beginning of the 8th century AD, has reached all of Spain and reached far to Central France and important parts of Italy. The victories achieved by Muslims appear so easy. It cannot be separated from the existence of external and internal factors. During the conquest of Spain by Muslims, the social, political and economic conditions of this country were in a sad state. Politically, the Spanish region was torn apart and divided into several small countries. At the same time, the Gothic rulers were intolerant of the religious beliefs adopted by the rulers, namely the Monophysites, especially those who adhered to other religions, Jews. Adherents of Judaism, the largest part of the Spanish population, were forced to be baptized to Christianity. Those who are unwilling brutally tortured and killed. The people are divided into the class system, so that the situation is filled with poverty, oppression, and the absence of equality. In such situations, the oppressed await the arrival of the liberator and the liberator was from Muslims. Warrior figures and Islamic soldiers who were involved in the conquest of Spain are strong figures, their soldiers are compact, united, and full of confidence. They are also capable, courageous, and resilient in facing every problem. Equally important are the teachings of Islam shown by the Islamic soldiers, like tolerance, brotherhood, and help each other. The attitude of tolerance of religion and brotherhood contained in the personalities of the Muslims caused the Spanish population to welcome the presence of Islam there. Since the first time Islam entered in the land of Spain until the collapse of the last Islamic empire was about seven and half centuries, Islam played a big role, both in fields of intellectual progress (philosophy, science, fiqh, music and art, language and literature) and the splendor of physical buildings (Cordova and Granada). The long history passed by Muslims in Spain can be divided into six periods. Spanish Muslims reached the peak of progress and glory rivaled the glory of the Abbasid sovereignty in Baghdad. Abdurrahman Al-Nasir founded the Cordova University. He preceded Al-Azhar Cairo and Baghdad Nizhamiyah.

The current study attempts to investigate the impact of death-risk experience (life-threatening experiences of Israeli soldiers who served in Lebanon after the 1982 Lebanon War) and religiosity on the diverse aspects of the fear of personal death. One-hundred-thirty-four Israeli Jewish male participants were divided into religious and nonreligious groups, and were subdivided into three groups according to the encounter with a death-risk experience in the last three months. One group served in Lebanon and was involved in threatening activities; a second group served in Lebanon, but was not exposed to life-threatening experiences; and a third did not serve in Lebanon in this period. All the participants completed the Fear of Personal Death Scale. Results indicated that religious participants reported lower levels of fear of death than nonreligious participants. In addition, the exposure to death-risk experience produced elevated levels of fear of death only among nonreligious persons. The role of religiosity and the complex nature of the link between personal experiences and fear of death are discussed.

Jews arrived in Gibraltar shortly after a combined force of English and Dutch soldiers occupied the Rock in 1704, during the War of Spanish Succession. Most of them were descendants of «gerushim» who left Spain in 1492 and went to northern Morocco. The struggle of Jews to settle and establish a community in Gibraltar parallels and, indeed, is a result of the struggle of the British to control the fortress whose strategic position they had long appreciated. Initially, Jewish merchants and interpreters made themselves useful by providing commercial and diplomatic services to the garrison that no one else could provide. Just as the British occupation withstood the test of repeated Spanish assaults during the course of the eighteenth century, so too, did Jews manage to rebuff the periodic attempts of British governments to remove them. Through service and persistence, Jews finally won the right to settle in the town and establish a community. The presence of a flourishing Sephardic community within plain view of Spain's shores is surely one of the ironies of Spanish-Jewish history which makes its study a subject of continuing fascination.

Abstract Spain played an ambiguous and pragmatic role during the Second World War and its policy evolved as the war progressed. While Francoist Spain was friendly towards Nazi Germany, it never declared war on the Allies, even if it contributed Division Azul to the Reich’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Spanish neutrality allowed its territory to become a temporary safe haven for refugees fleeing the Nazi terror in Europe. Miranda de Ebro concentration camp (1937–1947) saw the internment of soldiers from the International Brigades who had fought on the Republic’s side in the Spanish Civil War, and of European refugees escaping from the Nazis. After the French, Poles represented the second biggest national group at Miranda and it is the Polish doctors on whom I focus in this paper because of Poland’s situation during and after the war. Most of the Polish doctors held in Miranda were Jews who had come to France before the war, where they had studied while keeping Polish citizenship. After release from Miranda, many joined the Allied forces fighting against the German Reich. But when the war ended, Poland – though formally independent – became a satellite country of the Soviet Union. Only one of the physicians ever returned to Poland. The rest continued their careers in Great Britain or the USA despite all the difficulties this entailed.

Defence date: 10 September 2008
Examining Board: Prof. Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (European University Institute)-supervisor ; Dr. Helen Beer (University College London)-external supervisor ; Prof. Martin van Gelderen (European University Institute) ; Prof. Nancy Green (EHESS, Paris)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
In July 1936 a major part of the Spanish army revolted against the democratically elected Popular Front government.The resulting civil war raged on from 1936 to 1939,when general Franco’s troops secured victory, resulting in the establishment of the Franco dictatorship that lasted until 1975. The Spanish Civil War did not only pit a coalition of anti-left parties and groups against the ruling Popular Front coalition. The instant support of Hitler and Mussolini for the Nationalists, headed by general Franco, and subsequent support for the republican Loyalists by the Soviet Union and Comintern turned a civil war, that was deeply rooted in internal Spanish strife, into a conflict with significant international dimensions. Before long,the first foreign volunteers could be seen fighting in different militias on the Spanish battlefields. Most of them were delegates for the Workers Olympiad that was to take place in Barcelona in July 1936 and was organised in answer and opposition to the Olympic Games in Berlin. Instead of joining a sports event they ended up in the middle of a civil war and many decided to stay, volunteering to fight the revolters and subsequently serving in the different militias, anarchist, socialist and communist, that were organised in the early stages of the conflict. In September 1936 the Communist International (Comintern) decided to recruit an international army in aid of the Republic and its member parties began the recruitment of volunteers.