This Week in History: Great Britain declares war on Hitler

Premium special: A glimpse into historical moments in Israeli news from this week in 'The Jerusalem Post' front covers.

By CAROLINE FRANK
This Week in History - World War II declared (photo credit: ARCHIVE)
This Week in History - World War II declared
(photo credit: ARCHIVE)
"Stand firm and calm and unite in this time of trial." This was King George VI's message to his people of the British Empire upon declaring war on Adolf Hitler in September, 1939. On September 4, The Palestine Post reported the outbreak of the Anglo-French war against the Nazi tyranny in Germany following the German air onslaught on Poland just a few days earlier. 
A day earlier, on September 3, 1939, more than 1400 Jewish refugees landed at a Tel Aviv beach. The ship Tiger Hill ran ashore about 9:15 p.m. on September 2. Nearly 200 refugees in small boats were taken into police custody and the remainder were taken to Sarafund Detention Camp.  Three of the refugees were mortally wounded when Marine Police fired at the ship as it approached Jaffa. The ship had left Bulgaria six weeks earlier, carrying 57 passengers on board and embarked others at Constanza in the Dominican Republic. The Post reported the passengers were singing "Hatikva" as they approached Israel's coast.
On September 6, 1978, the first rounds of Egyptian peace talks between then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and then US President Jimmy Carter began. Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat arrived at the Camp David summit in the US. He stressed America's key role in peace negotiations and expressed appreciation to the US for its friendship with Egypt. After extensive negotiations, Israel achieved peace with Egypt and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty was signed in March, 1979.