מחירן הכבד של הכרעות אישיות: פנחס חפץ והמתנדבים הארץ־ישראלים במלחמת האזרחים הספרדית

Scholars of the Spanish Civil War were among the pioneers in the use of oral history and in placing the individual in the center when discussing dramatic events. This article focuses on one individual, Pinchas Chefetz. Born in Jerusalem, he was an active member of the Palestine Communist Party and became one of some 200 Jewish youngsters who left Palestine to join the International Brigades. Their aim was to defend the Spanish Republic, which was facing a nationalist rebellion, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Most of the Palestinian volunteers were Jewish and Communist, although a few were Zionist, and several were Arabs. Notwithstanding their political and ideological convictions, the decision to go to Spain was a personal one and not necessarily dictated by their political parties. They all paid a dear price for this decision. Pinchas Chefetz was injured on the Iberian front, and was evacuated for medical treatment first in Paris and then in the Soviet Union. His efforts to return to Jerusalem following the end of World War II and the establishment of the state of Israel met with Soviet refusal, and Chefetz committed suicide. His trajectory sheds light on the lives and decisions of other members of the Palestine Communist Party as well