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Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full-Scale Revenge
Nakam (Hebrew for "Vengeance") tells the story of "The Avengers" (Nokmim), a group of young Holocaust survivors led by poet and resistance fighter Abba Kovner, who undertook a mission of revenge against Germany following the crimes of the Holocaust. Motivated by both the atrocities they had endured and the realization that murderous antisemitic attacks on survivors continued long after the Nazi surrender, these fifty young men and women sought retaliation at a level commensurate with the devastation caused by the Holocaust, making clear to the world that Jewish blood would no longer be shed with impunity. If successful, they would have poisoned city water supplies and loaves of bread distributed to German POWs, with the aim of killing six million Germans.
While the Avengers' story began to come to light in the 1980s, details of the relations between the group and Zionist leadership and the motivations of its members have remained unknown. Drawing on rich archival sources and in-depth interviews with the Avengers in their later years, historian Dina Porat examines the formation of the group and the clash between the formative humanistic values held by its members and their unrealized plans for violent retaliation
While the Avengers' story began to come to light in the 1980s, details of the relations between the group and Zionist leadership and the motivations of its members have remained unknown. Drawing on rich archival sources and in-depth interviews with the Avengers in their later years, historian Dina Porat examines the formation of the group and the clash between the formative humanistic values held by its members and their unrealized plans for violent retaliation
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2022
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April 2, 2023
For a history nerd, a story of large-scale revenge in the aftermath of the Holocaust sounds like it should be a gripping, fascinating page-turner. Unfortunately Nakam is the opposite: dry and almost unbearably slow-paced. The actual execution of the revenge plots is an extremely small sliver of this hefty tome. Most of the book is essentially an exhaustive catalog of how every member of the Jewish resistance and, after the war, the Zionist movement, felt about the morality of revenge.
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August 31, 2023Nakam is the Hebrew for ‘revenge’, and the 50 men and women who planned mass poisonings of Germans in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War were the Nokmim, ‘Avengers’. They were a secretive group, survivors of the Holocaust, who refused to divulge any hard facts about their activities. Dina Porat, a professor of modern Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, has researched their story in meticulous (and, it should be said, reverential) detail. As Porat herself admits, not every question has an answer, or even lends itself to an interpretation. Even today, some of the surviving Nokmim, well into their nineties, remain tight-lipped, not from fear or regret, but because they do not think the outside world would understand.
Acts of vengeance after 1945 were certainly not uncommon, both from the Allied forces and liberated camp inmates. The bestiality of the Nazis had plumbed unfathomable depths and many could think of nothing but vengeance. Marshal Zhukov told his Red Army soldiers to take ‘a brutal revenge against the Hitlerites’. Porat records that between 150,000 and 200,000 ‘Russian babes’ were born after mass rapes.
Jewish partisans emerging from the forests and the surviving ghetto fighters discovered that there was no one left. Their families and friends were gone. On returning home, they found squatters who asked quizzically: ‘Are you still alive?’ There were pogroms in Kielce, Radom, Częstochowa and Łódź which Soviet forces did not attempt to prevent. Nor did they punish the perpetrators.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.
Colin Shindler is emeritus professor at SOAS, University of London.
Acts of vengeance after 1945 were certainly not uncommon, both from the Allied forces and liberated camp inmates. The bestiality of the Nazis had plumbed unfathomable depths and many could think of nothing but vengeance. Marshal Zhukov told his Red Army soldiers to take ‘a brutal revenge against the Hitlerites’. Porat records that between 150,000 and 200,000 ‘Russian babes’ were born after mass rapes.
Jewish partisans emerging from the forests and the surviving ghetto fighters discovered that there was no one left. Their families and friends were gone. On returning home, they found squatters who asked quizzically: ‘Are you still alive?’ There were pogroms in Kielce, Radom, Częstochowa and Łódź which Soviet forces did not attempt to prevent. Nor did they punish the perpetrators.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.
Colin Shindler is emeritus professor at SOAS, University of London.
June 1, 2025
“Let me die with the Philistines!” (Judges 16:30)
Approximately six million Jews—children, women, and men—were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Few of note will dispute this. However, if one follows Scripture in its literal meaning, then does reading Exodus 21:24 (‘an eye for an eye’) require then that approximately six million Germans—children, women, and men—be murdered to ‘even things out’? A true story about a group of revolutionary Jews who believed the answer to this was a resounding yes. A true story few (in the English-speaking world) may know about (I surely didn’t until now!). A true story that fortunately never went beyond an idea, but what an idea it was. And now many decades later, we’ve probably the most authoritative and comprehensive account of just how the Nakam got started, how it was organized, and what eventually ended up happening.
For me and possibly other English speakers, this book can kind of be considered part of the same 20th century Jewish historical universe that “Where the Jews Aren’t” by Masha Gessen is part of: an otherwise unknown and unfortunate occurrence finally seeing the limelight. There, a quirky town with a sad history that only got worse over time.
Here, “secular Zionists” (author’s words, not mine) that wanted to take revenge on a grandiose scale. Besides the time periods and the Jewish focus, both ended as failures, one tragically, one thankfully. Here as well, something unique and perhaps something that also thankfully doomed them to failure: “Another common trait among the Nokmim inconsistent with their ambitions was a lack of ability, training, and mentality required for killing human beings. The idea that extrajudicial execution was crucial completely violated the upbringing of the group’s members, who were mostly from the political left. They were educated in humanitarian values, aspiring to a solidarity between people and nations familiar with the universalist struggle for a just tomorrow across the world.” (p. 37)
At the end of the day was this a pipe dream? Are the sewer tubes on the book’s cover more of an allusion to the futility of a plan to “kill six million Germans by poisoning the water system in three or four major cities” (p. 90) or more of a callback to their leader, Abba Kovner, and his work in the United Partisan Organization, “a formidable underground that smuggled its members out into the forest through the sewer system. (p. 35) Or perhaps both?
If there’s one unifying trend both with the Nokmim and the book itself, it’s the aforementioned hyper charismatic figure who’s the leader of the group: Abba Kovner. Mentioned at least 500 (!) times in a 300 page book is commendable and his desire to see such a fraught act come into being (again, thankfully it did not) was the glue that held everything together. If Abba Kovner was reborn in the current era, he’d probably start a company that repurposes unused office spaces to rent out to freelancers and believe—truly, as without a doubt this is someone in full possession of a reality distortion field—somehow this is going to change the world. Thankfully, it didn’t.
Towards the end of the book, I began to wonder—and be warned as here be dragons: is there any relevance between the Nokmim of 1945 and the Israeli government since late 2023? The Nokmim wanted vengeance, but ultimately due to a combination of logistics and social pressure had to settle for much less. Israel’s government in our era still has to deal with the latter, but the former is of less concern. Scripture is clear revenge is best left in the hands of God, but: “Why?! Why?! Why was the operation stopped?! Father and Mother will never forgive me for not doing anything! Mama, Papa, I did nothing! They stripped them and shot them [at the Płaszów concentration camp]. I went home, and the place was empty. We were seven children. My uncle had ten. We should have tried again and again!” (Yehuda (Idek) Friedman, former Nokmim member being interviewed in 2010 / p. 226)
Nakam covers a lot of ground with most of the focus being on mid 1945 to 1946. There are many a poignant moment and instances of real pathos via the splicing in of interviews of members decades after the events in question. Nevertheless, it does get dry at times; this is less a sensationalist account of a non-starter reactionary event like no other, and one writer’s attempt at piecing everything together via archival sources, news sources, and as many interviews as possible with surviving Nokmim members whom are all now in their nineties.
The objective of Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full Scale Revenge is objectivity though given most people err on the side that goes against mass murder no matter the reason, the epilogue does get approvingly biblical and also raises a salient question: “Had it arrived and, heaven forbid, been introduced into the water systems of four or five large cities as planned, and had it brought unnatural death to some millions of people—men, women, and children—without investigation, without trial, and without distinction between the murderers of the Jewish people and those who never harmed it, what would have become of the Nokmim? And what would have become of the Jewish people as a whole? “To me belongeth vengeance and recompense,” God said (Deuteronomy 32:35). To God only.” (p. 300)
4/5
Approximately six million Jews—children, women, and men—were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Few of note will dispute this. However, if one follows Scripture in its literal meaning, then does reading Exodus 21:24 (‘an eye for an eye’) require then that approximately six million Germans—children, women, and men—be murdered to ‘even things out’? A true story about a group of revolutionary Jews who believed the answer to this was a resounding yes. A true story few (in the English-speaking world) may know about (I surely didn’t until now!). A true story that fortunately never went beyond an idea, but what an idea it was. And now many decades later, we’ve probably the most authoritative and comprehensive account of just how the Nakam got started, how it was organized, and what eventually ended up happening.
For me and possibly other English speakers, this book can kind of be considered part of the same 20th century Jewish historical universe that “Where the Jews Aren’t” by Masha Gessen is part of: an otherwise unknown and unfortunate occurrence finally seeing the limelight. There, a quirky town with a sad history that only got worse over time.
Here, “secular Zionists” (author’s words, not mine) that wanted to take revenge on a grandiose scale. Besides the time periods and the Jewish focus, both ended as failures, one tragically, one thankfully. Here as well, something unique and perhaps something that also thankfully doomed them to failure: “Another common trait among the Nokmim inconsistent with their ambitions was a lack of ability, training, and mentality required for killing human beings. The idea that extrajudicial execution was crucial completely violated the upbringing of the group’s members, who were mostly from the political left. They were educated in humanitarian values, aspiring to a solidarity between people and nations familiar with the universalist struggle for a just tomorrow across the world.” (p. 37)
At the end of the day was this a pipe dream? Are the sewer tubes on the book’s cover more of an allusion to the futility of a plan to “kill six million Germans by poisoning the water system in three or four major cities” (p. 90) or more of a callback to their leader, Abba Kovner, and his work in the United Partisan Organization, “a formidable underground that smuggled its members out into the forest through the sewer system. (p. 35) Or perhaps both?
If there’s one unifying trend both with the Nokmim and the book itself, it’s the aforementioned hyper charismatic figure who’s the leader of the group: Abba Kovner. Mentioned at least 500 (!) times in a 300 page book is commendable and his desire to see such a fraught act come into being (again, thankfully it did not) was the glue that held everything together. If Abba Kovner was reborn in the current era, he’d probably start a company that repurposes unused office spaces to rent out to freelancers and believe—truly, as without a doubt this is someone in full possession of a reality distortion field—somehow this is going to change the world. Thankfully, it didn’t.
Towards the end of the book, I began to wonder—and be warned as here be dragons: is there any relevance between the Nokmim of 1945 and the Israeli government since late 2023? The Nokmim wanted vengeance, but ultimately due to a combination of logistics and social pressure had to settle for much less. Israel’s government in our era still has to deal with the latter, but the former is of less concern. Scripture is clear revenge is best left in the hands of God, but: “Why?! Why?! Why was the operation stopped?! Father and Mother will never forgive me for not doing anything! Mama, Papa, I did nothing! They stripped them and shot them [at the Płaszów concentration camp]. I went home, and the place was empty. We were seven children. My uncle had ten. We should have tried again and again!” (Yehuda (Idek) Friedman, former Nokmim member being interviewed in 2010 / p. 226)
Nakam covers a lot of ground with most of the focus being on mid 1945 to 1946. There are many a poignant moment and instances of real pathos via the splicing in of interviews of members decades after the events in question. Nevertheless, it does get dry at times; this is less a sensationalist account of a non-starter reactionary event like no other, and one writer’s attempt at piecing everything together via archival sources, news sources, and as many interviews as possible with surviving Nokmim members whom are all now in their nineties.
The objective of Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full Scale Revenge is objectivity though given most people err on the side that goes against mass murder no matter the reason, the epilogue does get approvingly biblical and also raises a salient question: “Had it arrived and, heaven forbid, been introduced into the water systems of four or five large cities as planned, and had it brought unnatural death to some millions of people—men, women, and children—without investigation, without trial, and without distinction between the murderers of the Jewish people and those who never harmed it, what would have become of the Nokmim? And what would have become of the Jewish people as a whole? “To me belongeth vengeance and recompense,” God said (Deuteronomy 32:35). To God only.” (p. 300)
4/5
September 13, 2023
Today's nonfiction post is on Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full-Scale Revenge by Dina Porat. It is 400 pages long and is published by Stanford University Press. The cover has the title in red and pipes all around. The intended reader is someone who is interested in forgotten post World War II history. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book.
From the dust jacket- Nakam (Hebrew for "Vengeance") tells the story of "The Avengers" (Nokmim), a group of young Holocaust survivors led by poet and resistance fighter Abba Kovner, who undertook a mission of revenge against Germany following the crimes of the Holocaust. Motivated by both the atrocities they had endured and the realization that murderous antisemitic attacks on survivors continued long after the Nazi surrender, these fifty young men and women sought retaliation at a level commensurate with the devastation caused by the Holocaust, making clear to the world that Jewish blood would no longer be shed with impunity. If successful, they would have poisoned city water supplies and loaves of bread distributed to German POWs, with the aim of killing six million Germans.
While the Avengers' story began to come to light in the 1980s, details of the relations between the group and Zionist leadership and the motivations of its members have remained unknown. Drawing on rich archival sources and in-depth interviews with the Avengers in their later years, historian Dina Porat examines the formation of the group and the clash between the formative humanistic values held by its members and their unrealized plans for violent retaliation.
Review- The book is based on first hand interviews and documents from the Nakam themselves. Porat spent years interviewing, reading, and researching the 'Avengers' and their mission and it shows. Porat does a wonderful job bringing this forgotten history into the light. She helps the reader understand the feelings of the Nakam and the world that they have survived and the new world that they felt lost in. We follow the Nakam from the founding of their order to the end of their lives and the peace that they finally found in living. I will warn that this is a more academic text, so at times it is very slow, but the people the story is about is very compelling. I would recommend this book if you are interested in World War II history.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
From the dust jacket- Nakam (Hebrew for "Vengeance") tells the story of "The Avengers" (Nokmim), a group of young Holocaust survivors led by poet and resistance fighter Abba Kovner, who undertook a mission of revenge against Germany following the crimes of the Holocaust. Motivated by both the atrocities they had endured and the realization that murderous antisemitic attacks on survivors continued long after the Nazi surrender, these fifty young men and women sought retaliation at a level commensurate with the devastation caused by the Holocaust, making clear to the world that Jewish blood would no longer be shed with impunity. If successful, they would have poisoned city water supplies and loaves of bread distributed to German POWs, with the aim of killing six million Germans.
While the Avengers' story began to come to light in the 1980s, details of the relations between the group and Zionist leadership and the motivations of its members have remained unknown. Drawing on rich archival sources and in-depth interviews with the Avengers in their later years, historian Dina Porat examines the formation of the group and the clash between the formative humanistic values held by its members and their unrealized plans for violent retaliation.
Review- The book is based on first hand interviews and documents from the Nakam themselves. Porat spent years interviewing, reading, and researching the 'Avengers' and their mission and it shows. Porat does a wonderful job bringing this forgotten history into the light. She helps the reader understand the feelings of the Nakam and the world that they have survived and the new world that they felt lost in. We follow the Nakam from the founding of their order to the end of their lives and the peace that they finally found in living. I will warn that this is a more academic text, so at times it is very slow, but the people the story is about is very compelling. I would recommend this book if you are interested in World War II history.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
July 23, 2024
Many are those who should read this book, including Germans, of what could have been. Many should know of those incredible Jews who sought righteous vengence.
Truth is very few people will read this book, and fewer still will understand it.
I did on both counts.
Tremendous book, story…and a good try that fell short.
Take this as you will, as a Jew, emotionally, I will never forgive or trust Germans and Germany. They paid very little for the Shoah.
Note: to those reviewers who found the book slow, dull, and boring, I can only say, maybe you had to be there. This book was not written to entertain.
Truth is very few people will read this book, and fewer still will understand it.
I did on both counts.
Tremendous book, story…and a good try that fell short.
Take this as you will, as a Jew, emotionally, I will never forgive or trust Germans and Germany. They paid very little for the Shoah.
Note: to those reviewers who found the book slow, dull, and boring, I can only say, maybe you had to be there. This book was not written to entertain.
February 22, 2023
Well researched and would be good for someone interested in the formation of the Israel State as there are many interviews and comments from the early leaders regarding who knew what regarding the plot. For me as a casual reader of WWII history it was agonizingly confusing as it involved so many people.
December 18, 2023
Extraordinary and Powerful. I had heard about much of this years ago from my Father, but seeing it in writing along with the film Plan A just blows me away. I almost believe that if they had taken some revenge then, Israel now would not be so hated for hitting back when it is attacked.
Just food for thought
Just food for thought
dnf
February 22, 2025How is it possible to be so extremely dull? Processional, broad, and such an utter waste of a topic. As a sidenote, the audiobook is also incredibly weak—the narrator sounds like AI, so flat and lifeless. A real shame, because it feels like there's so much that could be said here and yet there's nothing.
August 2, 2023
For a story that is so fascinating, this book is unbearably tedious. Testimonies that should have been included in endnotes are instead woven throughout the text, inundating the reader with interpersonal details among the many protagonists, which dilute the principal story lines.
January 24, 2024
For such a captivating title and description, I'm horribly disappointed in this book. Rarely have I EVER not finished a book, but this one is SO dry and boring I just can't force myself to keep plodding thru.
February 20, 2024
Never heard about this or knew this. Very informative. Anti-semitism continues even now.
March 8, 2024
A must read. An emotional read. A wonderfully written, fact driven, interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews