Haviva Reik

Haviva Reik (Chaviva Reich, Havivah Reich) (1914–1944) was one of thirty-two (or thirty-three) Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from Palestine on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Life

She was born as Marta Reick in the Slovakian village of Nadabula, and grew up in Banská Bystrica in the Carpathian Mountains. She joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement there. In 1939 she came on aliyah -that is, she emigrated- to Palestine, where she joined kibbutz Ma'anit and later enlisted in the Palmach, the elite strike force branch of the Haganah underground military organization.

The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) asked the Palmach if they could supply people with the right qualities for special operations and with a prior knowledge of Central Europe. The call was open to women as well as men. Reik was oe of the young women accepted. She joned the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), serving as 2992503 ACW.2 'Ada Robinson'. She then joined SOE for specialist training, including a parachuting course. She now assumed another new name, one that would be more appropriate for mission, becoming 'Martha Martinovic' and was promoted to Sergeant.

In her native Slovakia, an uprising was in progress against the puppet government (see Slovak National Uprising). The center of this uprising was the in the Banská Bystrica area. The revolt had begun in the spring of 1944, initiated by the Czechoslovak Agrarian party, part of the Social Democratic party, the Communist party, sectors of the Slovak nationalists, and army officers.

In late December 1943 these groups aligned with the Slovak National Council. The uprising aimed to overthrow the Axis puppet "Hlinkova Slovenska Ludova Strana" (Slovak People's Party of Hlinka; HSLS) and detach Slovakia from the Axis.

There were armed underground Jewish cells in each of the three Slovak labor camps before the SNR was established. Early in 1944 they established contact with the SNR, and became part of the movement. The uprising was to coincide with Allied advances, particularly that of the Soviet Army. However, the Red Army held back. The partisans made considerable gains, and on August 28 the Nazis decided to occupy Slovakia and eliminate the uprising.

After their training, Reik and three others, Stephan Rafael Reisz (serving as: 769472 Sgt. S. Rice, RAFVR), Zvi Ben-Yaakov, and 'Haim Hermesh (Kassaf) waited in Bari, Italy to be parachuted into Slovakia. However, the British authorities refused to send a woman behind enemy lines for a military operation. In September 1944, Reik hitched a ride with a group of American pilots who were flying to Banská Bystrica and joined the others on September 21. At the end of the month, a fifth parachutist, Abba Berdiczew, joined them, bringing radio equipment.

In Banská Bystrica, Haviva and the others engaged in relief and rescue activities. They organized a soup kitchen and community centre for refugees, and facilitated the escape of Jewish children to Hungary and thence to Palestine. Through their connections with partisan and resistance groups, they helped rescue allied POWs. Late in September, SS Obergruppenfuhrer Gottlob Berger, the chief commander of the German forces, was replaced by the Obergruppenfuhrer of the Hoherer SS and the Polizeifuhrer SS, Hermann Hofle. They used Ukrainian Waffen SS troops, among them apparently John (Ivan) Demjanjuk, to suppress the rebellion.

On 27 October 1944, the Germans occupied Banská Bystrica. Haviva and the other parachutists escaped with about 40 Jewish partisans. They built a camp in the mountains, but they were captured after a few days by Ukrainian Waffen SS troops of the Galicia division.

On 20 November the Germans shot most of the captive Jews, including Reik, Ben-Yaakov and Reiss. Abba Berdiczew was deported to Mauthausen death camp and later killed. Haim Chermesh escaped, fought with the partisans, and later returned to Palestine.

On 10 September 1952, Haviva Reik's remains were buried in Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem along with those of Szenes and Reiss. Kibbutz Lahavot Haviva, the Givat Haviva institute, an Aliyah Bet ship, [ [http://www.paulsilverstone.com/immigration/Primary/Aliyah/ShowShip2.php?shipno=104&pic=ShipPix/resized_104.Haviva%20Reik%20at%20Haifa.jpg&shipname=Haviva%20Reik Haviva Reik] Paul Silverstone] and numerous streets are named after her.

External references

* [http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Parachutists.htm Zionist Parachutists in World War II]
* [http://www.zionism-israel.com Zionism and Israel Information Center] by permission.

References