Customer Reviews

Major Farran's Hat: The Untold Story of the Struggle to Establish the Jewish State

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On May 6, 1947 sixteen-year-old Alexander Rubowitz left his home in northern Jerusalem and was abducted... tortured... and murdered... by a "secret British counterterrorism squad" that was headed by Major Roy Farran a decorated World War II, veteran. Alexander's only "crime" was that he hung up posters for the Stern Gang... a very effective Jewish terrorist group... which was one of many such groups "fighting to end British rule in Palestine and establish a Jewish state." Major Farran's group was established by higher ups in the British military and government under clandestine directives. They wore civilian clothes and drove civilian cars... and tried to fit in with the landscape. They had no rules... and the British command denied they existed. When they snatched young Rubowitz off the street... they took him to a deserted area and tied him to a tree and beat him... and he still wouldn't talk. Then Farran smashed Alex multiple times in the head with a rock and he died. The British squad then stabbed the body multiple times to make it seem like he was attacked by bandits or militant Palestinian Arabs. They burned the clothing and scattered the remains in the hopes the blood would attract jackals... and left the scene.

Unfortunately for Farran's squad... a couple of kids witnessed the abduction... and also found a hat that fell on the ground during the initial struggle to get Rubowitz in the car. The grey felt hat "had a name written in ink on the sweatband. Even though it was worn and smudged they could make out FAR-AN." The hat was eventually turned over to the police who were intertwined with the secret squad... and they denied that it belonged to anyone they knew. The missing... and eventually... believed to have been murdered Rubowitz... became a rallying point for not only all the Palestinian Jews... but Jews throughout the world. The author then flashes back in excruciating detail... through Farran's entire military history... leaving not one detail unreported. Concurrently the history of Jewish "terrorism" against the unwanted... and at times... anti-Semitic British rule... is meticulously presented with in depth analysis of Irgun and the official Jewish militia, the Hagana... along with the Stern Gang and other "dissidents". The early part of the story recounting Farran's military history drags at times... but from the time that British authorities finally acquiesce... that yes... a crime has been committed... the reader will be dumbfounded... as to the charges... that are... and are not filed. There are multiple escapes... when Farran is "guarded" by his peers... asylum in Syria... and legal snafu's... that will make you glad you persevered. Without giving too much away... it is despicable at times... who the world considers heroes.

The author should have very few doubters... as he has included one of the most in depth... professionally verified documentation... that an everyday reader could ask for. The story is two-hundred-eighteen-FULL-pages long... and the NOTES... SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY... PICTURE CREDITS... ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... and INDEX are seventy-two pages long.

Occasionally a work of history comes along that elucidates across interests and disciplines. David Cesarani's "Major Farran's Hat" is surely such a book, offering insights into areas ranging from the birth of Israel, the decline of the British Empire, and the history of modern counter insurgency. Indeed, I often found myself regretting that Cesarani wrote this after the US war in Iraq, as it might have served as a warning to not repeat a number of the British mistakes, which the American army did, with little thought given to the consequences.

Cesarani writes well and does a fine job maintaining the drama inherent in the story of Major Farran's crime and the trial that followed. Perhaps the works only short coming is that it expects readers to come to the table with a fair background in the subject. Thus, someone unfamiliar with British politics post-WWII, not to mention the years leading up to the Israeli War of Independence, may at times become confused and will almost certainly miss some of the story's nuance. Nonetheless, this is a must read for anybody with a serious interest in the topic.

My friend, for whom I bought this book, read it almost in one sitting. He enjoyed it very much. He then lent it to me to read. I will read it after I get my new glasses(cautionary tale: make sure your Ophthalmologist will prescribe glasses!!).