A short history lesson and my first experience of Terror V,O

Hello everyone,         

   After the Second World War came to an end, the pressure from the Arab nations mounted, demanding to prohibit the entry of Jewish European refugees,who were able to escaped Hitler's concentration camps and arrived to Palestine (future Israel)... The British rulers sided with the Arabs, who demanded to prevent  the Jewish refugees, who escaped the Nazi's horrors, from entering their Biblical 'Homeland' in their old and  dilapidated boats... However, the British rulers would not allow these refuges, who lost their homes and families in Hitler's concentration camps, to enter Palestine and insisted on sending them back to Europe for their certain death... The Hagana and Irgun organizations, of the Jewish settlers in Palestine, defied the British, by helping these tormented refugees enter  Israel illegally, hiding them in the homes of the old time settlers, in the cities and in the Agricultural Settlements in Israel...

   The Hagana, which was the main Jewish organization in Palestine (future Israel) believed in peaceful resistance... On the other hand, the Irgun, a more extreme group, demanded that the British would allow those pathetic Jewish survivors, who just lost their homes, possessions and families by the hands of the Nazis, to settle in Israel, the land of their forefathers, but the British government refused to do so...  If and when the British discovered a few boats with Jewish survivors, making their way to Palestine, they attempted to force them back, to the open sea and their certain death... The Irgun, which was an extreme Jewish resistance group, retaliated... Several British soldiers were killed and the British army found and hung some of the Irgun members... The Jewish organizations, reacted by bombing  at the British command post, situated in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem...  Israel's War of Independence began!

Jerusalem, 1946

Mommy and me

"David"

  "About a month ago I celebrated my third birthday... My nursery school friends and those who live in our neighborhood, came to our apartment and brought me many gifts! Yesterday I was sitting with Ima (mom) on our little balcony, because she always says that the "Sun" is good for us, because it has vitamin D!" She was sitting on a chair fixing my torn dress and I set on the white and black tiles floor, holding my doll 'David ' and was changing it's wet diaper... "David" is a 'Hot water bottle' my parents use during the cold nights of the winter, or if any one in our small family, has a Tommy Ace...  David is my favorite "doll"! Ima is giving me a ball with green peas to munch on. “Eat Shirale!” She says “Green vegetables are healthy!"  My David is made out of red robber and after Ima puts inside him hot water, he becomes warm and squeezable, just like a real baby!  I love to hold David and sing to him lullaby's... Years later, when            I asked my mother, if life was so bad, that people weren't able to buy real dolls for their kids, she said laughing: " Do you know how many dolls you had?! The only one you wanted was your David!" 

   Our family of four lives on the second floor of two story apartment building, which was build out of "Jerusalem Stone... People can find this stone in the desert, outside Jerusalem. Most of the buildings in  the city, are made out of this white stone... l love our home! every time we come back from visiting friends and relatives, I touch and stroke the stones of our building... I even kissed it once, but my brother said that I am stupid... My extended family lives far away from us, in Ramat Gan, Givat Ada, Benyamina, Rechovot and Tel Aviv.  My parents laugh, when they see me stroking and kissing the walls of our home, but Romy, my older brother, says that I am stupid...   Our neighbors Shula and Avi, live on the second floor, just next door to us. For a long time Shula had a very big belly, until one day, she went to the hospital and came back with two babies: Twins!! I was unable to move away from their crib... The twines had tiny heads and little faces, which got got red, whenever they cried... Their names are David and Solomon; like our two kings in the Bible... When they begin to cry, their mother Lea says: “Why do you cry my little ones, kings never cry!”

   One day, I heard horrible screams coming from the Twin's Apartment... I ran in and saw Lea lying on the floor screaming, kicking and scratching her bleeding face... All the neighbors were there, trying to help, but she was pushing everyone away, banging her fists on her head and shouting:“I want my David   I want my baby!” Ima took me to our apartment and explained in a quiet voice, that baby David was very sick and after he died he went to God, who lives in Heaven... I once saw a dead bird laying in the street... The bird's little legs looked like two twigs, pointing at the sky. It was not moving and Ima told me it was dead...x“Is Solomon also going to die?”x I asked terrified... Ima hugged me, saying that Baby  Solomon, is a healthy, strong baby and he will be fine!X“Am I healthy Ima?"... I asked, my heart beating fast in my chest, facing for the first time the"Fear of Death"... Ima put me on her lap and said that to my brother and me that we are very healthy, because we grew up in a home of "Veterinarian  parents", so I have nothing to worry about!. "X But I once ate a cookie, Lea gave me and I didn't tell you, because you always say that white sugar is pure poison!"I began to cry... Ima hugged me and said that only one cookie, or one candy from time to time, will not kill anyone... She was holding me until I stopped crying and I fell asleep in her arms... But all of this happened a very long time ago...This time, I was sitting on the floor, at Ima's feet and was giving David his battle...

   All of a sudden, a terrible noise seems to shake our house! A big explosion, like Million Thunders, was shaking our building and Broken glass was covering the tiles of our small balcony... Ima grabs me and runs downstairs, where the neighbors were standing together in the the small garden. Everyone was listening to the news on the radio..."The Irgun is taking responsibility for bombing the British High Command, in King David Hotel! There are many casualties! The British police declared curfew for the next 48 hours and will be searching for Terrorists inside homes and apartments all over Jerusalem!"...

Explosion of the
King David Hotel

After the explosion

   Paralyzed by fear, I am trying to talk, but no sound comes out of my mouth... Ima starts to shake me:“Speak Shira'le! Speak to me!!! Oh God help me, she can't talk! She  lost her voice!" The  Neighbors turn away from the radio and gather around us“Give her water, No! give her sugar! Slap her on the back! Take her to the hospital!" Ima is holding me in her arms and runs upstairs to our small apartment, were most of the windows are broken... She sits on the sofa and puts me in between her knees, looking deep  into my eyes.“Don't be afraid Shira'le, there was an explosion near by, it made a Big Noise, but no one was hurt, we are alright! Everything is fine now!” Avi, whos sister is a nurse in Hadasa Hospital, looks at me and says:“She is in shock!" “Oh my God!" Ima starts crying "What should I do? what is there to do for shock?!"  This is all I remember from that event...  In later years my parents would tell me, that I lost my voice for a whole day... They took me to the hospital and allowed the doctor to give me a shot, even though 'Medicine and Shots' were against their believes, since Veterinarians object to any kind of medicines, which are "Pure poison" and leave Toxins in the body..." This time, my parents were so terrified that I may never gain my speech back, they had no choice, but put their trust in a Meat-Eater Medical Doctor, who gave me a shot which made me talk again...  In the years to come, whenever I got sick and the vegetarian remedies did not help, my parents would blamed whatever I suffered from, on that "Poisonous Injection!"...

With Love and Light,
Shir