May 23, 1420 — Archduke Orders All Austrian Jews Arrested
Archduke Albert V issues the Wiener Gesera (Viennese Decree), ordering all Austrian Jews to be imprisoned and their possessions to be confiscated. Albert is inspired by religious fanaticism sweeping through Austria. Poor Jews are sent down the Danube on boats. Children are taken from their parents and forcibly converted. Many Jews commit suicide. The next year, 200 to 300 Jews are burned at the stake.
May 24, 1895 — Artist Marcel Janco Is Born
Marcel Janco, a founder of the Dada movement and a major influence on modern Israeli art, is born in Bucharest, Romania. A multimedia artist, he begins as an illustrator of an art magazine. He moves to Zurich during World War I and helps launch the Dada movement with his costumes, sets and masks for the Cabaret Voltaire. He works as an architect in Bucharest in the 1930s, then makes aliyah in early 1941.
May 25, 1991 — Operation Solomon Rescues Ethiopian Jews
Using a brief window of permission from a new Ethiopian government, Operation Solomon flies more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours. The operation uses 34 airplanes, including a Boeing 747 that sets a record with 1,087 passengers, and carries almost twice as many members of the persecuted Beta Israel community as made aliyah during Operations Moses and Joshua in 1984 and 1985.
May 26, 1958 — U.N. Official, 4 Israelis Killed on Mount Scopus
Gunfire from the Jordanian side of the demilitarized zone on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem kills four Israeli police officers and a Canadian army officer who chairs the United Nations’ Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission. Three of the deaths occur after the United Nations tries to intervene to calm tensions and provide medical care to the wounded. Israel and Jordan each accuse the other of firing first.
May 27, 1973 — Halevi Named Tel Aviv’s Chief Rabbi
Chaim-David Halevi, who in 1964 became the youngest member of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council, is elected the Sephardi chief rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa over five other candidates. Halevi succeeds Ovadia Yosef, the new Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, and holds the position until his death in 1998. Halevi’s important rulings include declaring that smoking violates Jewish law and allowing women to study Talmud.
May 28, 1964 — PLO Is Established
A 400-delegate Palestinian National Council convened by King Hussein of Jordan in Jerusalem’s Old City establishes the Palestine Liberation Organization. Ahmad Shuqayri, a former lawyer from Acre and a one-time Syrian representative to the United Nations, is elected the chairman. The PLO’s National Covenant calls the group the “mobilizing leadership of the forces of the Palestine Arab people to wage the battle of liberation.”
May 29, 1979 — Dayan Addresses Peace Process
Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan speaks to the Knesset about the events that culminated in the peace treaty Israel and Egypt signed two months earlier. Dayan emphasizes Israel’s commitment to peace and its strong relationship with the United States. He praises Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and expresses optimism that the three-year process to achieve normalization between Israel and Egypt will succeed.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.