Gdud HaAvoda ( he, גדוד העבודה) was a
socialist Zionist
Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
work group in
Mandate Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
.
History
Officially known as the Yosef Trumpeldor Labor and Defense Battalion ( he, גדוד העבודה וההגנה על־שם יוסף טרומפלדור), Gdud HaAvoda was established on 8 August 1920 for the purpose of Jewish labor, settlement and defense.
[Gdud Ha'avodah]
Zionism and Israel It was named after
Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (21 November 1880 – 1 March 1920, he, יוֹסֵף טְרוּמְפֶּלְדוֹר , russian: Иосиф Владимирович (Вольфович) Трумпельдор ) was an early Zionist a ...
, who was killed at
Tel Hai
Tel Hai ( he, תֵּל חַי [] "Hill of Life") is a name of the former Jewish settlement in northern Galilee, the site of an early battle between Jews and Arabs heralding the growing civil conflict, and of a monument, tourist attraction, and a c ...
by
Lebanese Shia villagers, and was joined by many of Trumpeldor's followers who had made
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
from
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
; initial membership was around 80.
The group drained swamps, paved roads, worked in agriculture and construction, establishing several
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
im, including
Tel Yosef (14 December 1921),
Ein Harod
Ein Harod ( he, עֵין חֲרוֹד) was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Palestine's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz HaM ...
(22 September 1921),
Kfar Giladi
Kfar Giladi ( he, כְּפַר גִּלְעָדִי, ''lit.'' Giladi Village, ar, كفار جلعادي) is a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle of northern Israel. Located south of Metula on the Naftali Mountains above the Hula Valley and alon ...
and
Ramat Rachel
Ramat Rachel or Ramat Raḥel ( he, רָמַת רָחֵל, ''lit.'' Rachel's Heights) is a kibbutz located in central Israel. An enclave within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and overlooking Bethlehem and Rachel's Tomb (for which the kibbutz is ...
. Many former members left to join the
Solel Boneh construction company after learning their trade in the battalion.
In 1923 the battalion split on ideological grounds; the left-wing demanded socialism, whilst the right-wing were more interested in Zionist pioneering. Despite the split, by 1925 the group had over 650 members, including
Israel Shochat
Israel Shochat (;1886–1962) was a founder of and a key figure in Bar-Giora and Hashomer, two of the precursors of the Israel Defense Forces.
Biography Russia and Germany
Israel Shochat was born in 1886 in Lyskovo, in the Grodno Governorate of t ...
,
Manya Shochat
Manya Shochat (1880–1961) was a Russian-Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement.
Biography
Manya Wilbushewitch (also Mania, Wilbuszewicz/Wilbushewitz; later Shochat) ...
and
Yitzhak Sadeh
Yitzhak Sadeh ( he, יצחק שדה, born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. ...
.
[
In December 1926 a communist faction of the battalion was expelled. Some members of the faction returned to ]Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, where they formed a commune named Vojo Nova (Esperanto for "A New Way"), which was later liquidated during the Stalinist purges
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...
. The following year Gdud HaAvoda stopped work, and in 1929 it was dissolved after Kfar Giladi, Ramat Rachel, Tel Hai and Tel Yosef formed the HaKibbutz HaMeuhad movement.[
]
References
{{reflist
Organizations established in 1920
Zionist organizations
Jewish organizations in Mandatory Palestine
Organizations disestablished in 1929
Labor Zionism
1920 establishments in Mandatory Palestine