If the Nazi had served in the SS, then he would be shot

QUENTIN Tarantino's latest film, Inglourious Basterds, may be set in an alternate universe.

But for people like Cyril Pundick, there is a ring of truth to the story of elite Jewish commandos hunting down and killing Nazis.

Mr Pundick, of Manchester, was a member of the Jewish Brigade which was formed towards the end of the Second World War - to exact revenge for the Holocaust.

The brigade had the backing of Winston Churchill, who declared: "The Jews of all races have the right to strike at the Germans as a recognisable body."

And American President Franklin Roosevelt formed the Jewish Infantry Brigade, who served with the British Army in the latter stages of the Second World War.

Born in Salford, of Polish Jewish descent, Mr Pundick originally joined the Army Service Corps in 1939 and served in Libya and North Africa for almost five year.

In 1943 he transferred to a Jewish Palestinian company, which became part of the Jewish Brigade the following year.

When Mr Pundick and his pals found a Nazi, they interrogated them.
He explained: "While this was going on, I stood outside the Nazi's house making sure their girlfriends did not interfere."Most of these boys were Jews from eastern and central Europe whose families had been killed by the Nazis and they wanted their revenge," the 90-year-old told the Jewish Telegraph.

Mr Pundick's group was stationed in Tarvisio, near Italy's border with Austria.

He was a dispatch rider and searched for Nazis in the mountains around Tarvisio with two other Jews who had lost their families in the camps.

He recalled: "I went looking for Nazis with two German Jewish boys called Bobby Ackerfeld and Hans Wald.

"Bobby was an amateur boxer and very handsome and being so good-looking, it helped him gain information from the Nazi's Italian girlfriends."

Of his time in Libya, Mr Pundick recalled: "I was part of a second armoured division which relieved a seventh armour division in Tripoli, Libya.

"This was in 1944. I noticed there were a number of vehicles with Star of Davids painted on them, which I was excited about."

Mr Pundick, who is married to Irene, found out that the vehicles belonged to a Jewish company, which later became part of the newly-formed Jewish Brigade.Information regarding the whereabouts of these killers was either gathered by torturing imprisoned Nazis or from military connections.

When Mr Pundick and his pals found a Nazi, they interrogated them.

He explained: "While this was going on, I stood outside the Nazi's house making sure their girlfriends did not interfere.

"If the Nazi had served in the SS, he would be shot, but if he had been a member of the regular army, he wouldn't be."

After the war members of the Jewish Brigade formed assassination squads in order to execute former Wehrmacht and SS officers.

Information regarding the whereabouts of these killers was either gathered by torturing imprisoned Nazis or from military connections. continues here

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