Al Schwimmer
Al Schwimmer | |
---|---|
![]() Schwimmer in 1955 | |
Born | New York City, U.S. | June 10, 1917
Died | June 10, 2011 Ramat Gan, Israel | (aged 94)
Citizenship |
|
Occupation(s) | Aerospace engineer, aerospace executive |
Known for | Founder of Israel Aerospace Industries (formerly Bedek Aviation Company) |
Spouse | Rina Schwimmer |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | David Schwimmer (grandchild) |
Awards | Israel Prize (2006) |
Adolph William Schwimmer (Hebrew: אל שווימר; June 10, 1917 – June 10, 2011) was an American and later Israeli Mahal operative, engineer, and businessman. He was the founder and first CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries.
Early life
[edit]In 1917, Schwimmer was born in New York City, the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe. Schwimmer never used his given birth name of Adolph, preferring the nickname "Al".[2]
Career
[edit]In 1939, Schwimmer began his aerospace career at Lockheed Corporation as an engineer and also received his civilian pilot license. During World War II, he worked for TWA and assisted the U.S. Air Transport Command as a flight engineer.[3]
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Schwimmer became a Mahal operative, using his World War II experience and his contacts to smuggle surplus war planes to Israel in violation of a UN arms embargo.[4][5][1] Schwimmer reflected on what motivated these actions in an interview with Boaz Dvir. The alternative was described as a "Second Holocaust [...] they believed that those 600,000 Jews were going to die."[6] Using circuitous routes, he also recruited the pilots and crews to fly the planes to Israel. Many of these men became the nucleus of the Israeli Air Force.[1]
While smuggling these Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses from Czechoslovakia, the Israeli Air Force killed Egyptian civilians in its bombardment of a residential neighborhood near Qasr al-Qubba in Cairo on July 15, 1948, during the international phase of the 1948 Palestine war.[7][8][9]
In 1949, Schwimmer returned to the United States and, in 1950, he was convicted in the United States of violating the US Neutrality Acts for smuggling the planes into Israel. Schwimmer was stripped of his voting rights and veteran benefits and fined $10,000, but did not receive a prison sentence. Schwimmer refused to ask for a pardon, believing that smuggling weapons to help create Israel was the right moral decision to make. In 2001, President Bill Clinton gave Schwimmer a presidential pardon.[1]
In the early 1950s, Schwimmer, who was running an aircraft maintenance company in Burbank, California, was approached by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's then prime minister, who asked Schwimmer to return to Israel and establish an aircraft company for commercial and military purposes.[1] Schwimmer acceded to Ben Gurion's request and founded Israel Aerospace Industries, of which he became the first CEO.[3] Sam Lewis, a former codefendant, worked for him as a pilot and consultant and helped set up several airlines in Europe, Asia, and South America.[10]
Schwimmer was one of the founders of Savyon, but later moved to Tel Aviv.[11]
In the mid-1980s, Schwimmer was a special adviser for technology and industry for Israel's then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who became a close friend.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Schwimmer was married and had two children, Danny and Dafna, as well as four grandchildren, Orr, Ella, Sarah, and Avi. On June 10, 2011, Schwimmer died on his 94th birthday in a hospital in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel.[12]
In popular culture
[edit]In 2015, his exploits during 1948 Arab–Israeli War were depicted in the PBS documentary A Wing and a Prayer, written, directed, and produced by Boaz Dvir. The film contains the only public interview Schwimmer gave in light of these events.[13]
Awards
[edit]- In 1975, he was awarded the Herzl Prize for his contribution to Israel's security and economy.
- In 2006, Schwimmer was awarded the Israel Prize, for his lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State.[3][14]
- In 2018, Schwimmer was posthumously honored by the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C., as one of the 70 most valuable American contributors to the strengthening of Israel and its alliance with the United States.[15][16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Al Schwimmer, creator of Israel's Air Force, dies, JTA, 12 June 2011, archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
- ^ JTA (15 June 2011). "Al Schwimmer, Father of Air Force". The Forward. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
Schwimmer, who understandably never used his given birth name of Adolph, resisted all entreaties to write his memoirs, asking, 'Who would be interested?'
- ^ a b c "Israel Prize winner Al Schwimmer dies on 94th birthday", The Jerusalem Post, 11 June 2011.
- ^ Freeman-Maloy, Dan (2011). "Mahal and the Dispossession of the Palestinians". Journal of Palestine Studies. 40 (2): 43–61. doi:10.1525/jps.2011.xl.2.43. ISSN 0377-919X. JSTOR 10.1525/jps.2011.xl.2.43.
- ^ Kushner, David (24 March 2024). "He was an American war hero. Then he decided to smuggle arms to Israel". Business Insider. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Golan, Guy. "Putting Nazi Weapons in Jewish Hands | The Public Diplomat". Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ Freeman-Maloy, Dan (2011). "Mahal and the Dispossession of the Palestinians". Journal of Palestine Studies. 40 (2): 43–61. doi:10.1525/jps.2011.xl.2.43. ISSN 0377-919X. JSTOR 10.1525/jps.2011.xl.2.43.
- ^ "CAIRO IS BOMBED BY ISRAEL FLIER; Arab Planes Counter With Air Blows at Jerusalem, Haifa -- Land Fronts Quiet". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ^ Beinin, Joel. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998 1998. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft2290045n/
- ^ Lewis, Samuel, 1992-2009. Machal/Aliya Bet collection (I-501). Box 13, folder 13. Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. NY. NY 10011
- ^ "Al Schwimmer, NY-born Father of Israel's Aerospace Industry, Dies at 94", Ha'aretz.
- ^ Oren, Amir (6 November 2011). "Al Schwimmer, founder of Israel Aircraft Industries, dies at 94". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019. (confirmed date of death as 10 June 2011).
- ^ "Israeli Air Force, particularly its scrappy beginnings, inspires 3 films". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ^ "Judges' Rationale for Grant to Recipient". Israel Prize (official site) (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 25 June 2011.
- ^ "Adolph William 'Al' Schwimmer (1917–2011)". 26 March 2018.
- ^ "DC Embassy Holds Massive Celebration for Israel's 70th Anniversary & US Embassy Move to Jerusalem". 16 May 2018.
External links
[edit]- "Al Schwimmer", Israel Prize (CV) (in Hebrew), archived from the original on 19 June 2011.
- "'You're just right for Israel,' said Ben-Gurion", The Jerusalem Post (article), 13 June 2011.
- Al Schwimmer at LATimes.com
- Al Schwimmer at Forbes.com
- Clinton pardons listed at justice.gov Archived 2018-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
- 1917 births
- 2011 deaths
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- Aircraft designers
- American aerospace businesspeople
- American aerospace designers
- American aerospace engineers
- American aviation businesspeople
- American emigrants to Israel
- American people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
- American Zionists
- 20th-century American Jews
- American manufacturing businesspeople
- Businesspeople from New York (state)
- Israeli aerospace engineers
- Israeli Air Force personnel
- Israeli chief executives
- Israeli Jews
- Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients
- Jewish engineers
- Lockheed people
- People convicted of arms trafficking
- People from Ramat Gan
- Recipients of American presidential pardons
- Trans World Airlines people
- 21st-century American Jews