BRAND, JOEL

(1906-64)

   Hungarian Zionist. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Germany but settled in Budapest in the 1930s. He was active in Jewish rescue efforts. In 1944 he was associated with Rudolf Kasztner in negotiations with Adolf Eichmann for the release of Hungarian Jews in exchange for military trucks and other material. He went to Constantinople to discuss the matter with Jewish Agency leaders, but was arrested in Syria by the British authorities on the allegation he was a German spy and was interned in Egypt. In 1944 he was released when the Hungarian Jews were rounded up and transported to concen-tration camps. He settled in Palestine and sought to track down Nazi criminals.