Polish 'Dreyfus' gets officer rank

Arieh O'Sullivan

THE JERUSALEM POST
May 16, 2005

Chaim Ben-Ya'akov, a lieutenant in the Polish Army who was stripped of his rank by Poland after the Six Day War because he was a Jew, was given back his officer's bars Monday by visiting Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski.

Szmajdzinski presented Ben-Ya'akov with the insignia during a tour of the Israel Aircraft Industries, where Ben-Ya'akov worked for 33 years.

During the Second World War, Ben-Ya'akov joined the Soviet Red Army when he was 17 to fight the Nazis. But because he was a Polish citizen he was drafted into the Polish Army being assembled in Russia and later fought his way to Berlin.

After the war, Ben-Ya'akov served in the air force for six years, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

He moved to Israel in 1950 and served in the Israeli Air Force.

When Poland joined the rest of the Communist bloc and cut diplomatic relations with Israel in the aftermath of the 1967 war, Ben-Ya'akov was informed that he was demoted. He said they told him this was done because he was a Jew.

For decades, the feisty former officer waged a campaign with the Polish Defense Ministry to return his officer rank. Finally, two years ago, he was informed that the rank would be returned.
Putting business aside during his visit to IAI, the Polish defense minister himself personally presented Ben-Ya'akov, who has since retired from IAI, with his original rank from the Polish military.

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