THERE WAS TO B A FILM, STARRING COLIN FIRTH AS STERN…BUT. TO DATE THERE IS NO MORE NEWS ON THAT….RSK
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Abraham-Stern-Israels-own-revolutionary-339431’Stern: The Man and His Gang’ Photo: Courtesy
The first year or two, they snuck into the cemetery at night, one or two at a time, and laid a stone on the grave or whispered a prayer before darting out.
In the years that followed they came in the hundreds, in broad daylight, hugging each other and singing songs at the grave. The years have passed, and this Sunday, the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, the remnants of the Stern Gang will gather in a Tel Aviv cemetery to pay their respects to their slain leader, Abraham Stern, just as they have for the past 72 years.
Describing Abraham Stern is not easy. “Stern was a bank robber” – yes, and a smuggler, too. “Stern wanted to talk to the Nazis” – yes, but when and about what? “Stern’s bombs killed British – and Jewish – policemen” – yes, they did. Stern was also a poet, a songwriter, and Hebrew University’s most promising Classics student.
For good measure, with only a couple of hundred followers in his “gang,” he declared war on England. He may not be easy to define, but with such a resumé, it is no wonder the veterans of his organization hold him in awe.
Abraham Stern was born in Poland in 1907. He survived World War I as an overworked, preteen refugee in Siberia, eventually moved with an uncle to St. Petersburg, and at 13 walked home to Poland. He completed his journey at 18 when he sailed for Eretz Israel. He studied Greek and Latin at Hebrew University, was the life of every party he attended, dreamed of becoming an actor, and enlisted in the newly created Irgun. He used the code name “Yair,” after Masada commander Elazar Ben- Yair.