Hello everyone,
In my previous post Who Am I, I described my present life as an adult... I once read, that"We are the Sum of all our Childhood Experiences and those of our parents, their parents and those who came before them"... In this, post I plan to go back in time and write about some of the stories, I have heard from my parents, aunts, uncles and older cousins; about our 'family's History... My grandparents from bouth sides, decided to immigrate from Russia to Palestine (future Israel) at the turn of the century, inspired by Theodor Herzl, the well known Jewish Author and Journalist,who encouraged the European Jew, to leave Europe and move to Palestine; the future Israel; the 'Promised land'... Herzel, who was covering the "Dreyfus Affair", for Newspapers in Paris and Vienna; was alarmed by the the waves of Antisemitism during this Trail, realized that the 'Dreyfus Affair, was just the beginning of 'Up coming wave of Antisemitism in Europe... For many years, Herzl was publishing articles, about the"Up Coming danger of Antisemitism", gave lecturers, wrote his Best Selling book"; The Old-'New Land', about the European Jews, and about an upcoming wave of Antisemitism... Urging the Jewish people in Uurop, to move to Palestine,which was then, under the rule of Turkey; the Ottoman Empire. Herzel was erging the European Jews, to sell all their material possessions, in order to make this important move, which will save them, from an Up Coming Catastroph in Europe!
My father's parents, who arrived to Palestine in1905, during the "Second Wave of Immigration" setteled in Jerusalem. My grandfather was a very religions Jew, who made his living, by creating small models of the Biblical Holy places in and around Jerusalem... My father who was born in Jerusalem, was the youngest of six children: His older brother Jacob, was drafted into the Turkish Army, during the First World War and was never heard from again... My grandfather never gave up the hope, that his eldest son, is still alive and believed that one day he will come back home...
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| The Cohen family; 3 sisters 2 younger brothers |
Shoshana, Lea and Rachel; were my father's older sisters; Aron, his brother, was older then him, in four years... As a young child, I loved to listen to my dad's stories, about his childhood and was especially moved and sad for him, when he told me, how when he was about six years old, his mother died from pneumonia, at the age of forty three... His sisters Lea and Rachel, left the house to study Nursing and became Midwives (an extremely respectable profession at that time)... Shoshana my dad's oldest sister was a teacher, as well as a writer, who's poems and short stories, were published in the local Newspapers and Magazines. Shoshana was an adventures; For several years she lived in Egypt, working in King Faruk's Palace, as a teacher for his children. She would later move to Europe and was teaching Hebrew and Jewish history at Jewish schools, in Germany and England... Besides teaching, Shoshana was giving lectures, at Jewish kcommunities and swas preding Theodor Herzl's warning, about the wave of Antisemitism, which is about to sweep Europe... She urged her new friends, to sell their homes and move to their Biblical homeland, which during those days, was under the rull of Turkey; the Otoman Empaier...My aunt Shoshana, became involved in the budding Suffragettes Movement, which started in England an eventualy became, the"Women Liberation Movement"...
While working in Germany, Shoshana became interested in Vegetarianism, which was gaining popularity during that time... In London, she made friends with some of the well known intellectuals of the time, among them the authors Oscar Wild and George Bernard Show, with whom she corespondent for many years, after returning home to Palestine... My aunt Shoshana, introduced her two sisters to the new idea of Vegetarianism, which was very popular in Germany, during that period of time... The three of them, adopted this new way of life with 'Fanatic Enthusiasm'... Shoshana believed in the 'Suffragettes' idea that "Marriage, was a form of Slavery!" She convinced her sisters that since the three of them had good professions, which made them be Financially Independent Women, who are capable of caring for themselves... They dicleard that as "Liberated women"' do not have to get married and become "Slaves to a husband!" My three aunts never got married ...
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| The Dubnikov family |
My mother's family, the Dubnikov's, came to Palestine from Russia around the same time my dad's family did... Hoever, unlike my father's family, they were not religious at all, they declared themselves as Zionists, following Herzl's vision of settling in Israel, the promised Jewish land! Unlike my dad's family, my mom's parents, were not religious; but Zionists! who came back to our old country, to rebuild the Jewish Home Land! However, instead of finding a land of "Milk and Honey, mthey met the local premetive Arabs and cruel Turkish Rulers..The family settled in Northern 'Palestine' ready to build an Agricultural Villag, nfortunantley they found the land, to be full of Swamps and Mosquitos...The women, children as well asthemselves, became sick with Malerya, which took many lives..These New Pioners, began to dry the swamps and build homes, drilled for water and planting wheat,vegetables and fruit groves. After several years of hardship, the Dubnikov family, gave up and moved to a more established settlement; Zicron Yakov. It was among the first Agricultural settlements in Palestine, financed by the well known, French-Jewish Baron :Yakove Rothchild, who edviced the new settlers to build a large wine celler,where they would turne the grapes into wine; for local use, as well as exporting it to other countries...
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| The village of Zichron Yakov |
Locally growing Black, red and green grapes | Wine cellar |
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My mother Tsvia, her two sisters Yehudit and Ruth, as well as the younger brother Tsvi, were born and raised in this village, which would play an important chapter, in the history of
Israel... During the first world war, when Britain and Turkey were fighting over the Middle East; members of the Aronson family who lived in Zichron Yakov, spied for the British; passing them information about the Turkish military... The spies were eventually caught, tortured and executed by the Turks and will be known, as the heroic
Jewish Spy Organization, Nili; who's members, fought by the side of the Briish, to liberate the country from the primitive, cruel and tyrannical Turkish rulers... In my youth, I took pride in the fact that my mother, was born in this 'Famous Villag', where the well known Aronsons used to be her neighbors...
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| Some of the Nili spy ring |
General Allenby is entering Jerusalem with the victorious British troops |
Sarah and Absalom, the main spies |
My brother and I loved to listen to our "Ima's" (mom) stories, about her childhood... She would describe the magnificent view from the top of the mountain, where their home was built, surrounded by fields and vineyards, with the blue Mediterranean sea sparkling below... My brother and I loved to hear how our mother, sisters and girlfriends; used to play "Hide and go seek" among the grape vines and bring home wild flowers, they picked in the fields, to decorate the table for the Sabbath dinner, on Friday night...
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| Ima in school (standing on the right) |
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| A New Year card from Ima's cousins |
My brother and I had a favorite story, which we kept on asking our mother to tell us, time and time again... It was about the kids in her village who had only one pair of shoes... "If our shoes needed repair we would bring it to the one and only Shoemaker in our village and walk barefoot to school..." "You walked barefoot to school?!" Rami and I would exclaim in shock! Ima was also telling us how most of the kids as well as the adults ,walked barefoot all the time, especially in the the summer... X "During those days, the roads were not paved, like in big cities and most of the people were walking barefoot, on the dirt roads!"x Ima told us...As a child, as well as in later years, I experienced a repeated dream (Rather a nightmare...) in which I was walking barefoot to school and my class-room friends and teachers, are pointing at my bare feet and laugh... Some of my mom's teachers, who later became well known scholars and writers, instilled in her the love of reading as well as a great respect for books, which many of them were translated into Hebrew; from Russian, as well as English, French, German and Italian... My Ima, passed on to me her passion of reading; as well as her joy of life and the gift of laughter and story gtelling......
After World War I, Britain put an end to the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and divided the Middle East between France and England... Israel (rather Palestine) became a British Colony and life began to flourish under the new civilized rulers... The British Governors, began to pave the dirt roads, which connected the remote Arab and Jewish villages, as well as the isolated Kibbutzim and small farms and towns, to the big cities of Haifa, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem... The new rulers introduced electricity to some of the remote places, creating public schools, police force and ourts of law. Movie theaters, opened up for the first time, as well as the traditional English 'Four O'clock Tea, were introduced and embraced, by some of the Jewish and Arab families... The former citizens of the primitive Turkish rulers, adopted the British and American music and were dancing the popular Swing, Shag, Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug,\ and wdere singing the popular songs; "I am in the Mood for Love," and the "White Cliffs of Dover"... Needless to say that the new civilized rulers, were welcomed by the old settelers, with open arms! Romances bloom between British soldiers and Jewish young women, in spite of the objection of their strict families... A few got married and moved to England, but most of the affairs came to an end, leaving behind tears and many broken hearts, on bouth sides: Israel and England...
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| My brother Rami and I |
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| My brother and parents |
My parents, who met in Tel Aviv, got married and moved to the Jerusalem, next to my father's family... My dad accomplished his old dream and opened a Garage with his partner Moti, where they serviced the cars of the British military, as well as those of the few wealthy Arabs and Jews, who were able to afford a car... My brother Rami, was born in 1938 and I followed five years later, in 1943...
After living in a small village, my mom was thrilled to be in a Large City! The tiny apartment we lived in, was always full of people, whose favorite past time besides talking and arguing, was playing cards... My dad, who was a good joke teller, was rewarded by the loud and joyous laughter of our gusts...Life was very good, until rumors began to spread about a 'Madman named Hitler', who was rising to power in Germany... His shirking voice, which could be heard on the radio, was hurting my ears... Rumors began to spread about a wave of Antisemitism, which started in Germany and was spreading to it's neighboring countries and around Europe."Didn't the Germans learn Anything from their crushing defeat, during the last war? X "Why do they do it again?"x People asked...
Below are five excellent movies, describing the historical events, before and during WWI and WWII.
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| Fiddler on the Roof |
The Dreyfus Affair |
Golda Meir |
Lawrence of Arabia |
World War II |
With Love and Light,
Shira
