Yehiel Drezner was born to a religious family in
Poland on October 13 1922. In 1933 his family returned to the
Land of Israel and in 1940 he was recruited into the Irgun. After a period of time working in the organization’s intelligence department, Drezner was transferred to the combat unit. He participated in several battles against the British and was eventually given command over the Irgun fighters in Petah Tikva.
Binyamin Kimchi, a 16 year old Irgun fighter, was arrested after an attack on the Ottoman Bank in Jaffa. In December of 1946 he was sentenced by a British court to not only 18 years imprisonment but also 18 lashes. This was the first time that a Jewish underground fighter had been given such a humiliating sentence. The Irgun General Headquarters warned the British against carrying out the flogging. “If it is implemented,” they wrote in a leaflet which was widely distributed, “the same punishment will be inflicted on British army officers. Each of them will be liable to receive 18 lashes.” The British ignored the Irgun warnings and on December 27 1946, Kimchi received 18 lashes in the Jerusalem central prison. A unit of Irgun fighters immediately sprung into action and whipped a captain from the Sixth Airborne Division in Netanya, two British sergeants in Tel Aviv and another sergeant in Rishon Letzion.
A second unit under Drezner’s command (comprised of Mordechai Alkachi, Eliezer Kashani, Haim Golovsky and Avraham Mizrahi) set out by car from Petah Tikva on a similar mission but soon encountered a British road-block and came under heavy fire. Mizrahi, the driver, was immediately shot dead. The other four were dragged out of the vehicle and taken to a nearby army camp where they were stripped, beaten and tortured for five days and then finally taken to the central prison in Jerusalem. At the time of the arrest, Drezner was carrying false papers that identified him as Dov Rosenbaum. As a result, this became the name used for him throughout the trial.
Because Golovsky was only 17, the court only sentenced him to life in prison. But the other three fighters were condemned to death by hanging. After hearing the sentence, the four rose to their feet and sang HaTikva in the courthouse. They were returned to the Jerusalem central prison, where Dov Gruner was already awaiting the gallows. From there, they sent a letter to the Jewish community saying that: “They cannot break our spirits. We will know how to die with honor, as befits Hebrews.”
On April 15 1947, the British transferred Drezner, together with the three other death row inmates, from Jerusalem to the Acre prison fortress. The move was carried out in secret and the British were careful to hide their intentions from the public. At 4am the following morning, Yehiel Drezner (still known as Dov Rosenbaum) and his three comrades were aroused from their sleep and taken to the gallows. As the condemned men walked through the halls of the fortress, all the Jewish prisoners rose to their feet and sang HaTikva. All four fighters were hanged within half an hour and each of them, as his turn arrived, sang HaTikva until he died. Each was joined in his singing by those awaiting their turn. It was only after the execution that the British authorities and general public learned of Drezner’s true identity.
Yehiel Drezner was born to a religious family in 