# Judith Maro

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**Judith Maro** (Hebrew: יהודית מארו; born **Ida Yehudit Anastasia Grossman**; 24 November 1919 – 16 November 2011) was an Israeli-Welsh writer who published her works in English and Welsh. She was born in [Yekaterinoslav](/source/Dnipro) (current Dnipro, [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine)), and raised in [Haifa](/source/Haifa). She was educated at the [Hebrew Reali School](/source/Hebrew_Reali_School) and joined both the paramilitary organization [Haganah](/source/Haganah) and the political organization [Hashomer Hatzair](/source/Hashomer_Hatzair) in her youth. During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Maro joined the [Auxiliary Territorial Service](/source/Auxiliary_Territorial_Service). Maro served as an officer in the [Palmach](/source/Palmach) during the [1947–1949 Palestine war](/source/1947%E2%80%931949_Palestine_war), before moving to the United Kingdom in 1947. She moved to [Wales](/source/Wales) in 1949 and became immersed in its culture. During her career, Maro published an autobiography, wrote novels and made a compilation of a number of English and Welsh Publications. She also worked for the British printed press, and for the [BBC World Service](/source/BBC_World_Service).

## Early life

She was born Ida Yehudit Anastasia Grossman on 24 November 1919 in [Yekaterinoslav](/source/Dnipro), Ukraine.[1] She was raised in [Haifa](/source/Haifa), [Mandatory Palestine](/source/Mandatory_Palestine) and in a non-religious family;[1][2] she was encouraged to read the Bible to learn about the history of her people. Her father was professor of mathematics at [Technion – Israel Institute of Technology](/source/Technion_%E2%80%93_Israel_Institute_of_Technology). She spoke five languages and read the works of [Lion Feuchtwanger](/source/Lion_Feuchtwanger) and [Stefan Zweig](/source/Stefan_Zweig) by the age of seven.[1]

## Military service

Attending the [Hebrew Reali School](/source/Hebrew_Reali_School),[3] in the [montessori education system](/source/Montessori_education), Maro found and read documents relating to the paramilitary organisation [Haganah](/source/Haganah) and was subsequently sworn as a member of them.[1] She learnt [morse code](/source/Morse_code) during the [1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine](/source/1936%E2%80%931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine) and taught the language to others to defend themselves against the [Kaukaji](/source/Fawzi_al-Qawuqji). Maro joined the Marxist youth movement [Hashomer Hatzair](/source/Hashomer_Hatzair) at age 16 and the [Auxiliary Territorial Service](/source/Auxiliary_Territorial_Service) (ATS) during the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II). She enrolled on a law course at the [Hebrew University of Jerusalem](/source/Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem) before switching to Eastern Studies. After the War, she was dismissed from the ATS and helped to bring Jews who had fled from [Nazi camps](/source/Nazi_concentration_camps) to her homeland.[1]

At Mount Carmel College of the [British Army](/source/British_Army) Maro met the Welsh soldier and sculptor [Jonah Jones](/source/Jonah_Jones_(sculptor)) and the two married without official permission in 1946.[1][4] They would go on to have three children and multiple grandchildren.[4][5] In the meantime, she served as an officer in the [Palmach](/source/Palmach) (Haganah's commando wing) in the [Galilee](/source/Galilee) during the [1947–1949 Palestine war](/source/1947%E2%80%931949_Palestine_war). Maro's time in the ATS, marriage to a British Army soldier and racial conflict prompted her and her husband to leave for the United Kingdom in June 1947.[1]

## Career

The couple lived on [Tyneside](/source/Tyneside),[1] before moving to the [Llŷn Peninsula](/source/Ll%C5%B7n_Peninsula) in [North West Wales](/source/North_West_Wales) in 1949.[6][7] She taught Hebrew to immigrants in the early years of [Israel](/source/Israel) during the early 1950s.[4][8]

In Wales, Maro embraced herself in the [country's culture](/source/Culture_of_Wales) and identified with it,[7][8] and learnt Welsh.[4] She found the landscape of [Snowdonia](/source/Snowdonia) similar to that of her homeland in Biblical toponymy.[1][8] She assumed the [pen name](/source/Pen_name) Judith Maro and converted to the [Roman Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church) faith.[1] She began writing in Welsh and insisted that all of her works must be translated into the language before appearing in English.[6][7] In 1971, she wrote about Hebrew in *Adfer yr Hebraeg* (The Revival of Hebrew).[2] Maro wrote her autobiography *Atgofion Haganah* (English: Haganah Memories) in 1972,[1][5] and remembered her experiences of Wales in the novel *Y Porth nid ''n Angof* (later republished as *The Remembered Gate*) in 1974.[1] That same year, Maro published a collection of English publications and Welsh periodicals from 1959 to 1974 on the similarities between Israel and Wales and called it *Hen Wlad Newydd.*[2][8]

She also wrote articles and reviews for *[Jewish Quarterly](/source/Jewish_Quarterly)*, worked with various broadsheet newspapers published in the United Kingdom and broadcast for the [BBC World Service](/source/BBC_World_Service).[2] In 1986, Maro wrote the novel *Y Carlwm*,[1] which was translated into English as *The Stoat* by [Y Lolfa](/source/Y_Lolfa) in 2009,[1][9] in response to the [Gaza War](/source/Gaza_War_(2008%E2%80%9309)).[9] The novel was positively received by WalesOnline.[10] Extracts from her work were published in an [anthology](/source/Anthology) called *The Chosen People: Wales and the Jews* that was compiled by [Grahame Davies](/source/Grahame_Davies) in 2002.[4]

## Death

Maro died on 16 November 2011 in Swansea.[1] Her husband predeceased her in 2004;[8] Maro was given a funeral at Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in [Mumbles](/source/Mumbles_(district)) on 1 December.[4]

## Personality

According to Meic Stephens in her obituary in *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*, Maro was "a restless, vivacious woman who liked nothing better than an argument" and someone who liked to discuss Israeli and Welsh politics.[1] A committed [Zionist](/source/Zionist),[9] she thought independently and challenged and questioned spirit.[4] Maro's fluency in the [Hebrew language](/source/Hebrew_language) caused her to feel an affinity with [minority languages](/source/Minority_language) such as Welsh. She said that it would be "monstrous for me to see the old language disappear to the modern age's bowels of uniformity."[7]

## References

1. Stephens, Meic (5 December 2011). ["Judith Maro: Writer and Jewish patriot who fought with Haganah in Palestine"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/judith-maro-writer-and-jewish-patriot-who-fought-with-haganah-in-palestine-6272185.html). *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125142631/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/judith-maro-writer-and-jewish-patriot-who-fought-with-haganah-in-palestine-6272185.html) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

1. Donahyne, Jasmine (2012). ["Judith Maro's Altneuland"](https://books.google.com/books?id=8cUmDAAAQBAJ&q=Judith+Maro&pg=PT282). *Whose People?: Wales, Israel, Palestine*. Cardiff, Wales: [University of Wales Press](/source/University_of_Wales_Press). ISBN 978-1-78316-497-4. Retrieved 25 January 2020. – via Google Books.

1. ["Judith Maro"](https://www.ylolfa.com/authors/239/judith-maro). [Y Lolfa](/source/Y_Lolfa). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125172056/https://www.ylolfa.com/authors/239/judith-maro) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

1. ["Palestine-born author Judith Maro dies in Wales at 91"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15933914). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 29 November 2011. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125230155/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15933914) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

1. Beddoe, Deirdre (2003). [*Changing Times: Welsh Women Writing on the 1950s and 1960s*](https://books.google.com/books?id=l2jaAAAAMAAJ&q=Maro). Aberystwyth, Wales: [Honno](/source/Honno_(press)). p. 132. ISBN 978-1-870206-53-2. Retrieved 25 January 2020. – via Google Books.

1. [*Culture + the State: Nationalisms*](https://books.google.com/books?id=57C0d-Nl830C&q=Judith+Maro&pg=PA218). Edmonton, Canada: CRC Humanities Studio. 2003. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-1-55195-149-2. Retrieved 25 January 2020. – via Google Books.

1. Parry-Jones, Cai (2017). [*The Jews of Wales: A History*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-yVDwAAQBAJ&q=Judith+Maro&pg=PA215). Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-1-78683-085-2. Retrieved 25 January 2020. – via Google Books.

1. D. Abbey, Alan (30 November 2011). ["Judith Maro, Welsh author, wrote of Haganah, dies at 91"](https://www.jta.org/2011/11/30/lifestyle/judith-maro-welsh-author-wrote-of-haganah-dies-at-91). [Jewish Telegraphic Agency](/source/Jewish_Telegraphic_Agency). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125133700/https://www.jta.org/2011/11/30/lifestyle/judith-maro-welsh-author-wrote-of-haganah-dies-at-91) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

1. ["Tense Political Thriller"](http://www.cllc.org.uk/newyddion-news/news-detail?id=11871). [Welsh Books Council](/source/Welsh_Books_Council). 6 March 2009. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125141133/http://www.cllc.org.uk/newyddion-news/news-detail?id=11871) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

1. ["Book Review: The Stoat, Judith Maro"](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/book-review-stoat-judith-maro-2120563). WalesOnline. 27 March 2009. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200125141129/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/book-review-stoat-judith-maro-2120563) 25 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

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