Ben Dunkelman

Benjamin "Ben" Dunkelman DSO (June 26, 1913 – June 11, 1997) was a Canadian Jewish military officer and businessman. Dunkelman served in the Canadian Army in World War II and the Israel Defense Forces in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In Israel, he was called Benjamin Ben-David. He subsequently headed the retail chain Tip Top Tailors and was a real estate developer, art gallery owner, and restauranteur.

Biography

Early life Benjamin Dunkelman was born in Toronto to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant parents. His father David Dunkelman was from Makov (modern Maków Mazowiecki, Poland) in the Russian Empire, and was the founder of the Canadian men's clothing retailer Tip Top Tailors. His mother Rose Dunkelman (née Miller) was originally from Philadelphia and rose to prominence in Toronto for her charity work during World War I. His parents were committed Zionists. Dunkelman and his siblings grew up on an estate, Sunnybrook Farm (now the site of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre), northeast of Toronto, built by his wealthy father, as well as the family's summer home at Lake Simcoe. Dunkelman later recalled about growing on Sunnybrook Farm that "it was a dreamland, a children’s paradise". As a child, he met prominent Zionists who stayed at Sunnybrook Farm, including future Israeli President Chaim Weizmann. Dunkelman enlisted in the Canadian Army as a private with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in 1940, joining the unit's Second Battalion. Dunkelman later gave his reason for enlisting as an "active" (willing to fight overseas) member as "I am a Canadian, proud of Canada’s heritage and proud -- if need be -- to fight for it." During his service, Dunkelman earned numerous commendations. from General Haim Laskov to expel the Palestinian civilian population from the town, which he refused to carry out. Israeli journalist and translator Peretz Kidron, with whom Dunkelman collaborated in writing Dual Allegiance, reproduced his record of Dunkelman's account of the capture of Nazareth in a book chapter entitled "Truth Whereby Nations Live": "[less than a day later] Haim Laskov [came] to me with astounding orders: Nazareth's civilian population was to be evacuated! I was shocked and horrified. I told him I would do nothing of the sort—in view of our promises to safeguard the city's people, such a move would be both superfluous and harmful. I reminded him that scarcely a day earlier, he and I, as representatives of the Israeli army, had signed the surrender document in which we solemnly pledged to do nothing to harm the city or its population. When Haim saw that I refused to obey the order, he left."

Twelve hours after Dunkelman refused to expel the inhabitants of Nazareth, Laskov appointed another officer as military governor. "Two days after the second truce came into effect, the Seventh Brigade was ordered to withdraw from Nazareth. Avraham Yaffe, who had commanded the 13th battalion in the assault on the city, now reported to me with orders from Moshe Carmel to take over from me as its military governor. I complied with the order, but only after Avraham had given me his word of honour that he would do nothing to harm or displace the Arab population. [....] I felt sure that [the order to withdraw from Nazareth] had been given because of my defiance of the evacuation order."

Dunkelman's defiance of the evacuation order forced Laskov to attempt to obtain sanction from a higher level. However, Ben-Gurion finally vetoed the order;

After the second truce of the war went into effect on July 18, Dunkelman intensively trained the brigade. Following a return to combat operations, he led the brigade in Operation Hiram, which resulted in the capture of the Upper Galilee. Under his command, the 7th Armored Brigade achieved numerous victories while sustaining low casualties due to the fact that its attacks were executed via well-planned flanking maneuvers that passed through difficult terrain with minimal enemy forces. In his memoirs, Dunkelman later admitted to having allowed his troops to loot Palestinian property. His unit was also implicated in numerous massacres of Palestinian civilians during Operation Hiram, including the Safsaf massacre and the Sa'sa' massacre.

During the war, Dunkelman met and married Yael Lifshitz.

Dunkelman also became a real estate developer. Among his developments were the Cloverdale Mall and the Regal Constellation Hotel. Dunkelman was one of the founders of the Island Yacht Club, which he founded in 1951 after the Royal Canadian Yacht Club refused to accept him on account of his being Jewish. Dunkelman settled into retirement in Toronto in his seventies and continued to support artistic and political causes. He died in Toronto in 1997 at the age of 83.

There is a bridge on the Lebanese border called Gesher Ben in Dunkelman's honor. His story is told in the film Ben Dunkelman: The Reluctant Warrior.