Haaretz - Israel News - They came, they fought - and some of them stayed

has gathered over 4,500 Machal-related photos and runs the Machal museum in Latrun. "The world must not forget what world Jewry did in 1948," he said.

As veterans and their families wandered among the boards of photographs, seeking out black-and-white images of their former selves, many of them were keen to reminisce about their experiences coming to Israel in 1948.

"It took us three days to get here [Israel] from South Africa," said Elhanan Rosenblum, who is originally from Boxburg, South Africa. He, like many of the Machalniks, never returned there after the 1948 war and now lives in Ra'anana. "We had to leave under the cover that we were students on a trip to Europe, as it wasn't allowed to come and fight. We landed in Italy, where we trained for 10 days before coming to Israel.

"I thought they ate herring and danced the hora all night in Israel; it wasn't quite like that but I have no regrets about coming here," added Rosenblum, who served in an anti-tank unit in 1948.

Like many of his fellow veterans, Rosenblum spoke about the rampant anti-Semitism in South Africa at that time, which was a key factor in his motivation to come and fight in Israel. "I felt I couldn't take it [the anti-Semitism] anymore," he said. "I had always dreamed about a place where all the Jews could go and be safe, and coming to Israel to fight was my chance to achieve that."

Other veterans at the event spoke about the sense of duty that pulled them toward risking their lives for the nascent Jewish state, even though some of them had already fought in World War II.

"Smoky" Simon, a Machalnik who was one of the first members of the Israel Air Force, had already served five years in the South African Air Force before volunteering to fight in Israel. "After reading about the horrors of the Holocaust, the deportation of refugees from Palestine by the British and the threat of extermination by the Arab nations, I felt it my duty to come [to Israel] and fight, " he said, adding, "during a crisis, the Jews must unify."

And unity remains important to the Machalniks, even 57 years on. The group holds reunions every year at a memorial site on the "Burma Road," the alternative route built to reach besieged Jerusalem in 1948. Throughout the evening, the veterans were slapping each other on the back, teasing, heckling, calling each other by nicknames and comparing Machal ties, like a group of fresh recruits.

"It's important the connection be maintained," said Stanley Medicks, chairman of Machal, London who came to Israel especially for the event. Medicks, who served as an infantry officer, said, "Coming to Israel to help build the homeland of the Jewish people is the most important and significant thing I have done in my life. Without Machal, Israel, with no tanks, no fighter planes and very little expertise, would not have survived in its present form."

From further afield was Barney Meyerson, chairman of Machal Australia, and his wife Bertha. Barney, who fought in the Palmach in `48, agreed such evenings were important, and also "very enjoyable." "It's nice to see so many of the old faces, " he said, "the very old faces."

In the more formal part of the evening's events, the guest speakers included Telfed chairman Itz Kalmanowitz and the former mayor of Tel Aviv, Shlomo Lahat, who denounced the "sin" of Israeli society in not sufficiently expressing its gratitude to the Machalniks. He called for more education about Machal in schools, in the army and in society in general.

Re'uma Weizman also attended the event. Her late husband, former president Ezer Weizman, was one of the few Israelis who flew fighter planes in the War of Independence, in an air force that was made up of 95 percent Machalnikim. Sid Cohen, who was also at this week's event and actually commanded Weizman in Squadron 101, was one of Israel's first fighter pilots and the father of the IAF fighter squadron - and does he have some stories to tell.

`When we needed you most'

Some 3,500 volunteers from overseas - men and women, Jews and non-Jews from 44 countries - came to fight in Israel in 1948 after the state's declaration of independence, bringing their much-needed experience and expertise to the fledgling Israel Defense Forces. Some 800 of these came from South Africa.

The Machal volunteers made a significant contribution toward winning the war and laying the foundation on which the IDF was built. Over 120 Machalniks were killed, many were wounded and taken prisoner.

In 1993, the Machal memorial was dedicated in Sha'ar Hagai by prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who said, "You came to us when we needed you most, during those dark and uncertain days in our War of Independence."