Amnon Yona was a leading player in the clandestine operations that led to the creation of The State of Israel, including the sinking of the Lino and the pirating of its armaments to Israel, acts which significantly altered the course of the War of Independence. At the same time, Amon was instrumental in saving the Jews of Europe by organizing and training self-defense units, undermining the anti-Semitic acts of the Arab emissaries entrenched in the Axis capitols of Europe, and coordinating the activities of the Jewish Brigade and other units of the British Army.
But his specialty was directing sabotage and other undercover missions on foreign soil, including Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and especially Italy.
Until now, much of what is in this book was censured. At long last, the author is permitted to talk about his exploits, the people he worked with and difficulties encountered.
Amnon Yona was born in Plonsk, Poland, in 1923. At age two, he came to what was then Palestine with his parents, Esther and Shlomo Taub. During the War of Independence, Amnon joined the Palmach (Strike Companies) under the direct command of Yitzhak Rabin. During his military service, he performed many roles including serving as military adjutant to the first President of Israel, Prof. Chaim Weizmann, commander of the Gadna in Haifa, and commander of the unit assigned to the disruption of Arab procurement in Europe.
Amnon's public activity included the initiation, management and establishment of the Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv, and the planting of a memorial forest in the Rabin Park dedicated to the memories of the Palmach fallen. He also published the first Hebrew edition of
Missions With No Traces, which reached six printings.
Today, Amnon is busy establishing a museum in the Borochov Quarter of Givatayim, where he began his adventure 80 years ago.
A TRIBUTE TO MISSIONS WITH NO TRACES
by Shimon Peres Amnon Yona's book
Missions With No Traces is not one of those predictable run-of-the-mill books, for he engages in an unexpected journey into the world of the Jewish people. It is a journey that starts from the confused postwar world to a country which had not yet become an official State, whose army had not yet become an institutionalized military, and whose people were seeking answers to the burning issues of the day.
This was a land that was accustomed to enemies, deprivation, dangers and doubts; a land whose foundation was established by brave and resourceful individuals, whose existence was based on miracles and wonders that sometimes occurred when needed, and sometimes were late in arriving.
Amnon Yona has described this twilight time, a situation in which it was impossible to build on precedents and where there was nothing concrete to hang onto. It was a time when every person was an institution unto himself, every decision changed the fate of the nation, and every occurrence became a decisive event.
This book describes a time that will never repeat itself. But it is precisely this one-time nature of events that reveals a most important secret that lies at the heart of the establishment of the State of Israel: It is the secret of remarkable individuals, the secret of richly imaginative deeds.
The events belong to the past. Their lessons are the gift for the future.
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