However, Nahumi died shortly afterwards and the idea was not progressed. A year later, the idea was resurrected and pressure was put on Longo and Marty by a group of influential Paris communists.
The idea of a separate Jewish unit was first put forward to Luigi Longo and André Marty in Albacete by "Albert Nahumi" (Arieh Weits), a French Communist Party leader in October 1936. The idea was well received and a call for volunteers went out.