Mordechai Schwarcz

Who is Mordechai Schwarcz?

Mordechai Schwarcz was a 23-year-old police officer in British Palestine. He was convicted of the murder of a fellow Arab police officer, with whom he shared a tent, and was executed. The background to the incident was the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the debate in the Yishuv regarding the proper reaction and in particular the policy of Havlagah, or restraint taken by the Haganah. He was hanged on August 16th 1938 in Akko prison and was buried in Haifa's old cemetery.

Several journalists have investigated his case and the political struggle that is taking place over his acceptance as a national martyr. On March 8, 2010, an article by journalist Yossi Melman in Haaretz entitled המאבק על הנצחת עולה הגרדום הנשכח "The Battle Over the Memorialization of the Forgotten Hanged Man" reported on the attempt by veterans of the Lehi and Etzel groups to have him acknowledged as someone who had acted out of a nationalist motive and had contributed to the foundation of the State of Israel and the opposition by veterans of the Haganah.