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This is a memoir by my father, Benzion Patkin, when he was a pioneer in the (then) small Palestinian village of Ness Ziona.
In 1921 e arrived as a young man of 19 from Odessa, in the Crimea, after a torrid journey south from Moscow.
We arrived in Ness-Ziona on a warm May evening in 1924 from the Beth Olim (Immigrants hostel) in Tel-Aviv, about 50 boys and girls, nearly all former students of secondary and tertiary institutions, but almost everyone was in a Soviet jail at one time or another for his or her associations with Zionism and Hebrew culture.
It was dark when we arrived at a camp studded with tents made of water-proof canvas. Because the block of land upon which the camp was situated was a little elevated, we noticed at the top of the camp site a long wooden barrack with a door at each end and a few windows in-between.
"That", we were told, "is the communal kitchen, eating place and, when required, a hall for meetings, lectures etc. All the explanations were given to us by two Madrihim (instructors), one whose name was Israeli from some Kibbutz in Emek Izreel ( Valley of Jezreel ) and the other whose name I don't remember was an old member of the Kibbutz Deganiyah built on land at the southern end of Yam Kineret (The Sea of Galilee). It was the first Kibbutz built in Eretz Israel in the year1909, hence it is called the mother of the Kibbutz movement in Eretz Israel .
The madrihim allocated to a11 of us tents -- two or three beds each. The boys were in tents at the entrance to the camp which was near the main road from the faraway south of the country, passing throughRehovot in the direction of Tel-Aviv. The girls were given the tents encamped higher up, nearer to the community barrack. The tents were well put up, had enough room inside for two or three beds respectively and it was quite pleasant though as a new experience it was even exciting.
The madrihim told us that the next day will be a day of acclimatisation with the surroundings, unpacking and arranging our personal belongings but at 3 a.m. the following morning we will be awakened for breakfast and then march to one of the orange groves where we will do the first day's work in Eretz Israel.
On our first day, the free day, we had breakfast about 7 a.m. , consisting of bread, jam and tea; lunch consisting of vegetable salad, vegetable soup and tea and something similar for the evening meal. Meat was generally provided on Friday evenings (on the eve of Shabbath) and or Shabbath (Saturday) itself. The meals were generally prepared by the girls. It was not easy for them as they knew more about mathematics, literature and other subjects than about preparing meals notonly for fifty young men but even for themselves, After all, they came from middle class homes where on arrival from lectures at the secondary or tertiary institutions, they found all meals prepared and ready for them.
It took them a while to learn not to mix up sugar with salt and pepper. The boys, however, were not free from kitchen work. They peeled potatoes, onions, washed and dried dishes, cleaned the barrack and scrubbed its floor. From the first day the principle of complete equality in all work to be done inside and outside the camp was willingly and voluntarily instituted and all of us were happy about it.
Strolling along the edge of the camp, I suddenly noticed a group of riders go by in strange uniforms, particularly the slouch hats. I knew they were a cavalry unit but definitely not British. I saw British horsemen a few days earlier riding past the immigrant camp near Jaffa where we had to remain a couple of days prior to being moved to the Beth-Olim (migrants' hostels).
The cavalry men wore beautiful uniforms, their boots shining in the sun as if well polished a few minutes earlier, their slouch hats had beautiful feathers stuck in them, all of them seemed to be at least about six feet high, sitting erecton beautiful horses and whilst riding along the sandy road, looked with interest, even fascinated at our camp where, meanwhile, nearly all the boys and the girls came out of their tents to watch a scene, long remembered by all.
The Madrihim explained these are Australian cavalry men, some of the last who remained in Palestine after World War One ended but will sail back to their homes at any time. I never saw an Australian soldier again until the outbreak of World War Two, fifteen years later.
As I was sitting outside my tent with some of the boys talking about our next day's work which, so far, was a mystery to us, I noticed a familiar figure approaching our camp from the direction of Rehovoth. Wearing a white open necked short sleeved shirt, white trousers and white shoes, he looked like one of the sons of the old Ness-Ziona orange growers. But as he came nearer, I recognised in him no other but my old and one of my best friends from Moscow , Meyir (Max) Mart. He, apparently, saw me at the same moment as I saw him and as if by unknown agreement, we ran towards each other and fell into each other's arms,
For the first few minutes none of us could utter a word. Both of us were out ofbreath and we had to sit down to calm ourselves and even wipe the few tears of joy off our eyes and cheeks.
Meyir Mart arrived in Eretz Israel a few weeks before me. He and his group, after their arrest for being Zionists, were at first taken to the Lubiyanka headquarters of the Cheka (the first short name by which was known the Soviet Secret Police; now it is known to be KGB). A few days later they were taken to the Moscowinfamous prison Butirki where they were put in cells with all kinds of criminals - thiefs, murderers, black marketeers and such others.
The group remained at Butirki for a few weeks and following the usual procedureof those days, and after signing the required papers, Meyir and a group of about 40 other boys and girls were marched off to the Bryanski Railway station, put on a train which brought them to Odessa and then sailed by ship to Eretz Israel,
Meyer's group was taken to Rehovot, a few kilometres south of Ness-Ziona. Aa a matter of fact the Rehovot group was actually the founding branch of Havurat Hadarom. Other branches were later rounded in Gedera and in Petakh Tikwah (in the latter under a different name).
Meyir Mart and I left the group and went for a stroll as we had to tell each other so much. He told me about the nasty experiences at the Cheka and at the Butirki prison, about the journey to Eretz Israel , about the work they now do in the orange groves. "But," he said "you will soon learn about everything and will love it all just as I do."
I told him about things that happened after he was arrested. I related to him the happenings in "Maccabi Mascow, in other cities, about the new arrests which nearly brought all our underground work to a standstill, though physical culture as such was not interrupted because of the intervention by some influential members of the Communist Party who defended us against the accusation by the Yevsektziyah (Jewish section of the Party) whom they themselves detested at that time.
I told Meyir about the last meeting of the All-Russian "Maccabi" Central Executive held in our apartment whilst mother was outside to give us a sign to disperse should any of the Cheka suddenly appear. Meyir asked my opinion about the idea to establish a "Hapoel" sporting organisation that would function under the auspices of the Histadrut Haovdim, (Trade Union Organisation) which naturally will be a competitor with "Maccabi", not an opponent or in opposition to it.
I immediately replied in the negative. "We must keep Jewish sport - the "Maccabi" - out of politics", I said. I also told him what the madrihim said to us about acertain antagonism to Halutzim by some sons and daughters of old settlers, particularly land owners, fruit growers and such others. "Therefore", I said, "The Maccabi should be the link between us and thus overcome any antagonisms. After all, their (the present Eretz Israel 's) youths have come here long before us, alsoas Halutzim and our job here has to be to unite, not to divide."
"We will continue our conversation later in the week or next Saturday", said Meyir, "Now I must walk the few miles back to the camp in Rehovoth, something I would not
like to do after dark , But I will tell you, Benka or Benzion as you call yourself , Rightly now, we will not have to carry on our backs, Jewish refugees sick with typhoid or tuberculosis, as we have done in Moscow a few years ago. Remember?"
First Days of Work at Ness-Ziona
Next morning (I have no records of days or dates as many notes were lost in the course of over fifty years) we were awakened at about 3 o'clock in the morning,after having dressed and a bit of a wash[ ae had breakfast consisting of bread, jam, an orange and tea. At about 4 o'clock when it was still dark we arrived at the gates of an orange grove which were opened byta Arab watchman. He led us to an opening between the trees where even in the darkness we could see was a huge pit filled with horse and cow manure mixed with some straw but moist because, as we learned later, of water pouring on top of it to make the manure more organic and useful as a fertilizer for the orange trees.
At the edge of the pit lay a big stack of old hessian bags and as we neared it a huge strong Arab with a hoe in his hands gave us each who neared him a bag, showed us how to open it and within a couple of minutes filled it with manure. Another Arab told us to put it on one of our shoulders which was not easy so he helped each of us to do so and as all the boys had their bags on their shoulders the same Arab led us in a row between the trees and showed us how to empty the bag, one under each tree, all around it.
Meantime, daylight began to break through the darkness and on our second trip with the bags of manure we saw another Arab opening with a hoe channels between the trees through which water flowed and as it covered the round hole with the manure in it, he closed the channel under each such tree and opened it under the second tree, and so on.
By the time we made the fourth or fifth trip with the manure on our shoulders nearly 400 trees were manured and watered. Someone looked at his watch and said it is about 9 o'clock . The madrih told us to rest and that very soon a morning meal and tea will be brought to us from the camp. It was not long when we saw two of the girls and two boys who were on kitchen duty that day together with the second madrih coming up to us each carrying baskets with food and large flasks full with boiling tea. They were the most welcome visitors and we told them so.
Having had our meal we rested for about fifteen minutes and then continued again with carrying bags with manure but now had to walk with the loads on our shoulders further and further from the pit but by that time we considered ourselves as experienced workers helping to build up the old homeland of our forefathers,
Baron Maurice de Hirsch and the Jewish Colonisation Association
We learned later that this particular orange grove belonged to ICA (short for Jewish Colonisation Association) formed in 1891 at the initiative of a great philantropist, Baron Maurlce de Hirsch (1831--1896 in Germany).
When Baron de Hirsch learned about the pograms in Russia, the persecution of Jews by the Tzarist Regime and, as a result, about the distress, poverty and in general, masses of Jews in Eastern Europe and Russia particularly, living under most miserable conditions, he initiated the abovementioned Association by, at first donating Two Million pounds sterling and later adding one million U.S. dollars.
The idea was to purchase land anywhere outside Europe and Russia and to settle on it millions of Jews to enable them to make a good living as farmers and suchlike where they could start and develop a free Jewish life away from persecution and any outside interference. The amounts of money as donated then by Baron De Hirsch were considered in those days so huge that even very rich people could not believe their eyes when they read about it in the press and their ears if told so by others. But these were pure facts.
Baron Maurice de Hirsch did not believe in Palestine as a future homeland for the Jewish people because he did not trust the Turks and the Turkish Government who ruled the country in those days. Therefore the 1CA purchased six million dunam of land (one and a half million acres) in Argentine with the idea of settlingthere three million Russian and Rumanian Jews within a period of about twenty five years.
But the tempo of settlement was reduced to a great extent after a short time following the arrival of the first five thousand families consisting of approximately twenty thousand men, women and children. There were many reasons for the first failure of .ICA experiment in Argentine. The main cases were - lack of agricultural experience by the would-be sellers, absence of any experienced instructors to guide the settlers in their new ventures, the setting up of individual farms far from each other and thus failing to establish even segments of community life, the great difficulty to get used to the harsh climate of that particular district in Argentine by people who for generations lived in completely different surroundings and above all complete absence of idealism as contrary to those who went to Eretz Israel to rebuild their lives in the land of their forefathers. Thus they had an excellent motivation.
The ICA association then tried to establish agricultural settlements for Russian and East European Jews in other countries such as Brazil, United States of America, Canada, even in Poland and Romania, also in-between the two World Wars, in Birdbidjan (a district in Siberia where the Soviet Government under Stalin tried unsueeessfully to set up a Jewish Soviet Republic but failed most miserably). Wherever ICA tried to establish Jewish agricultural settlements, it never succeeded. It then tried to co-operate with other Jewish Institutions to establish together various trade schools and co-operatives within existing Jewish communities wherever they may have been.
Nevertheless, ICA became active in Eretz Israel at the end of the 19th century where Jewish agricultural settlements did succeed to establish themselves but were short in funds for further development, The first such settlement or colony to which ICA gave assistance was Ness-Ziona which was established in 1883 but by 1895 the settlers found themselves in great financial difficulties. Thanks to the initiative of Shmuel Hokhberg, the first
Chairman of the settlement's committee who was an agronomist by profession and instructed young students in agricultural science at the first such farm-schools in Eretz Israel called Mikve-Israel (Hope of Israel) and was nicknamed 'Mother of Jewish agricultural settlements" in Eretz Israel because out of it came the first knowledgeable farmers,
Shmuel Hokhberg together with Mr, Rigo, the principal of Mikve-- Israel approached ICA with a petition to help Ness --Ziona with the purchase of more land so each family shall have, at least, 60 dunams (15 acres) for an orange grove, vineyards, vegetables, etc., building family houses by using stones extracted from near-by quarries.
Above all there shall be planted a community orange grove the income from which shall cover the settlement's expenses, such as for a school, administration, etc. The total amount thus required was about 150,000 French Francs. The proposal included such conditions as repayment of the amount within twenty five years bearing an interest of 3% per annum and that the loan be administered by settlement's local committee, not ba outside officials or functionaries as the custom was in those days.
Following two years of negotiations, the Ness-Ziona settlement committee was at last notified by the Headquarters of the Jewish Colonisation Association (ICA) that the loan was approved and as a result of which, amongst all other enterprises, an orange grove for community needs was planted on a block of land of 50 dunams and it was in this grove that we the halutzim from Havurat Hadarom in Ness-Ziona began our working life in Eretz Israel.
The assistance to Ness-Ziona was followed by assistance to a workers' co-operative settlement Mishmar Hayarden situated near Tzfat (Safed), north of Lake Kineret ( Sea of Galilee ). This was followed by the establishment of an agricultural training farm at another settlement Segerah which later became known as Ilaniyah.
Baron Edmund James de Rothschild and the Palestine Jewish Colonisation Association (Pica)
But contrary to the stand taken by Baron aIaurice De Hirsh with regard to Jewish settlements in Palestine, Baron Edmund James de Rothschild was a strong believer in Jewish argicultural aDd urban settlements in Eretz Israel and himself financed the establishment of many settlements on land purchased by him, He financed not only the initial establishment of the settlements but extended any assistance where and when it was necessary for their further development. No wonder he was called Avi Hayishuv (the father of Jewish settlers in Eretz Israel ). There was hardly a settlement established in Eretz Israel prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 194a which was not assisted in some way in its formation by the Rothschilds through the PICA, whether in buying the land for it or loans to the settlers for its development or in many other courses of action.
Baron Edmund de Rothschild had full confidence in the Zionist ideal and foresaw that any settlement of masses of Jews in any other place but Eretz Israel was doomed to failure, hence already in 1899 he transferred the management of "his colonies" to the Jewish Colonisation Association (ICA) which already had a good administration for the projects and, although there were at times, certain frictions between settlers of one or another Settlement and some of the administrators, there was always found a way to return to good relationships and mutual understandings, The fact was that Jewish settlements grew in Eretz Israel by leaps and aounds whilst in all other places including Australia , they did not succeed.
[Oral comments by Hemda Patkin on 20 April 1999 : Abraham Samuel’s father was Rothschild’s manager of orange groves and irrigation, for which Hemda’s father managed the electric motors. He was a very hard man. There was a small ?brief pension for HP’s mother (father had died in a Turkish WW1 prison). Benzion Shani, elder brother, had become head of the family, ran the new family orange grove. Hemda’s mother became a dressmaker, helped by Hemda at age 10 after school hours. She was very clever with needle. Matityahu, another brother, went to the Gymnasium (high school) at Hertzliah, and because of an uncle at Tel Aviv, got his tuition for nothing. Other cousins were already at the gymnasium. The eldest cousin was married to the sister of Porush, Esther. A second cousin went to France or Italy , where he graduated in medicine – Abraham Shani. A younger brother Elimelech said I am proud and better-off as a Ba’al Agalah (wagoner) than one brother a doctor and the other as an engineer. An uncle was a small man, with a lovely singing voice, like Hemda’s father. The whole family was musical. Father played the violin and flute, taught Hemda the violin but this didn’t last long. Yehudah Shani played the violin. One aunt was in Yalovsky and another in Karelich, lots of cousins from the father’s side of the family.]
On the second day it was the work in the same orange grove, By now we began to consider ourselves experienced workers in the art of carrying bags of manure about 40 kilo or more on our shoulders and spreading it orderly under the trees_ On this day as we were having our morning tea and meal, a man nicely dressed, Wearing a typical English colonial tropical hat canoe up and greeted us with the customary Shalom Lekulhem (may peace be with all of you) and introduced himself in the Hebrew language as Avraham Samuel, the manager and overseer of this particular orange grove.
He was friendly and, although he wanted to speak to all of us, he could only converse for a while with a few as most of us could not, as yet, speak Hebrew and he could not speak Russian or Yiddish. But he understood that we have the same work to do for at least another few days and after that there will be other types of work like yidur (loosening the soil under each tree), about two weeks after the current watering, to prepare the opening inlet round each tree for the next watering.
Also Gizum (cutting off the trees any dry little or other branches). This latter work was mostly done by the girls because of its easiness, though some of them did some yidur also, But on many occasions, the boys have also done the work of gizum, It was easy on orange trees but got us into trouble by doing the same work on lemon trees, The latter were full of prickles and since we were ignorant of what can be the result of being lacerated by them,
After working for a few days. those of us who worked on the lemon trees felt very itchy in parts of the body not covered by clothing. Boys and girls wore short sleeves, shirts, shorts. sandals and light caps or hats as the sun was very hot and we were warned against not wearing some kind of head covering,
Feeling itchy we scratched ourselves. On the following morning we saw that most of the parts of our bodies Were covered with blisters and some kind of a mange. We visited the local Doctor (Dr. Litwak) to whom we could speak in Russian or Yiddish and he immediately diagnosed the cause of our troubles was the laceration by the prickles of the lemon trees. Although he gave us some ointment to relieve the itchiness and all the discomforts as a result of it, he advised us to have sea-baths or spend some hours in the sea as the sea water with the salts and minerals in it is the best healer on such occasions. This we did by either visiting Tel Aviv and swimming in the sea there or walking a few kilometers to Nabi-Rubin (an Arab name for a certain spot on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea where according to their legend ReuVen the eldest son of the Patriarkh YaakoV (Jacob) is buried). Generally speaking Islam adopted many names and precepts from Judaism, particularly from the five books of Moses - The Pentateukh). Thus, working on lemon trees taught us some local habits and manners of conduct.
First Friday night and first encounter with Ness-Ziona youth
On Thursday evening after the usual meal we were told that "Tomorrow on Friday we will go out to work as usual but will finish work at 11_30 a.m. and will have our midday meal in the dining hall at the camp_ After the meal and the usual hour rest, we will clean the camp, the tents, the dining hall and to prepare ourselves for Friday evening which is the beginning of Shabbat (Saturday), day of Rest.
Since there was no flooring in the tents, all we had to do was to sweep out the top layer of the sand and in some instances to bring in a bucket or the fresh sand from across the main road, to sprinkle some water on top of, to make it a bit harder and the inside of the tent looked beautiful. By the time we finished our showers, changing into clean pants, shirts, sandals or locally made white canvass shoes, we were ready for the Shabbat-eve dinner.
But, at the same time we noticed some new faces of boys and girls of about our age groups. These were new Halutzim and Halutzot from Galicia in Poland and Germany (from the Blau-Waiss Organisation). It didn't take much time to acquaint ourselves with them and by the time we had to go into the dining hall, all of us felt as if we knew each other for a long time.
During the meal the Madrihim taught us a few Eretz Israeli songs, one of which was "Haavoda hee hayeinu mekol tzara tatzileynu" - Yahalili Amalili (the last two words to be repeated four times). To translate it into English it would read "Work is our life, it will save us from all troubles" (like a flute helps the shepherd to take away his boredom). I mentioned this particular song because we sang it and another song nearly every morning as we were walking to work. The other song was "Mi Yivneh Eretz Israel ? (repeat once) - Anu Hahalutzim Nivneh Eretz Israel (repeat once). In English it would read: "Who will build Eretz Israel - we the pioneers will build Eretz Israel ." But very often we changed the words Eretz Israel to "Hagalil" or "Tel-Aviv" or "Emek Yizrael" ( Valley of Jesreel ). but not the last four or five words,
After the meal when a11 the dishes were washed and dried and the tables and the hall itself was swept and cleaned, we were told there was a "Glvat Ahava" (hillock of love) where the youth of Ness-Ziona usually spent Friday evenings and very often midweek evenings in singing, dancing and just in conver sations (although it was called "Hillock of Love", there was never love-making as it is understood in the 1970-s and 1980-s),
There we met the Ness-Ziona youths of our own age groups, It was a good beginning of becoming acquainted with each other and though language was somewhat a barrier, we found a way of getting to know each other. The local youth taught us to dance Hora, Debke (an arabic dance) and other local dances, also more Hebrew songs and this brought us still closer to each other.
Although it was difficult for me at our first encounter to converse in Hebrew, I nevertheless succeeded with words, gesticulations, etc., to convey to some of the local boys and girls that I am an old Maccabi member and interested to join the local Maccabi organisation if such exists in Ness-Ziona. I was informed that they have a very good soccer team, one of the best in the country but to their great sorrow, all other sporting activities have stopped for lack of an instructor and someone who would volunteer to organise gymnastics, athletics and other activities. On hearing the latter I offered myself to do it and suggested we shall meet as soon as possible either at Havurat Hadarom or anywhere else to discuss the matter and get the proposal moving.
One of the Ness-Ziona youth, Benzion Schnaiderowitsh (24 years later after the establishment ofthe State of Israel in 1948, the whole large family, spread over many parts of the country, changed its long surname to Shani) suggested to meet in their home and, in addition to those few who agreed to attend such a meeting when we discussed it, he will invite two-three others who he said, he knows would be interested to participate in it.
An attempt to revive "Maccabi" in Ness-Ziona
I was notified on Monday that the meeting will be held on Wednesday evening at Benzion Shani’s (l will continue calling his surname which he adopted later, for convenience sake). I remember well the gathering. In addition to Benzion Shani there were Herzl Hokhberg, Aaron Lehrer, Benyamin Zaytzev, Moshe Gothelf. Aaron Blashar, Aaron Feldman, Herzl Etttngen and Hayim Samuel. As it happened the latter was a brother of Avraham Samuel, the manager and overseer of the orange grove where we worked the first week and continued working the second week, some of us on manuring (zibul), others on gizum, yidur and various other works.
[Oral notes by Hemda Patkin: Hemda’s father died when Hemda was 10. Avraham was 6 months old. He made gymnastic rings and parallel bars and swings. The whole back yard of sport. He made deck chairs with wood and canvas, was very handy with his hands, especially with wood. Mother was handier with clothes. She said as a child “If I see a Turk I will kill him”. Esther was 2 years old, the most lovable child in Ness Ziona. “Boi henah, lo, lamah, kachah". Hayim was by a few years older than any of us but it did not preclude him from being "one of the boys" and taking an active part in the meeting.
Benzion's two sisters Hemda and Shoshana (Hemda and I were married five years later) younger than him, together with some of their girl friends who also happened to be their cousins, were also present. As a matter of fact most of the Ness-Ziona settlers were interrelated through marriages of their parents or grandparents. In the discussions we had about the reorganisation of the Maccabi in Ness Ziona, it was revealed that it would be impossible to achieve our goal without the active support of the Moshava's (settlement's) committee because we needed the use of a suitable hall and the only one available was the Beth-am (Public Hall) used for meetings of local settlers, the committee itself, at the meetings of which were usually present many of the settlers, also it was for lectures and other functions.
We also needed some money to purchase certain accessories, appliances or implements needed for gymnastics and other types of physical culture. A suggestion was made Hayim Samuel at first to approach the Settlement committee for permission to use the hall which was, in fact, a kind of basement built underneath the local Synagogue which was erected on a raised part of the ground. In fact, looking at the Synagogue's front from the street, the hall was on the ground floor and the synagogue was on the first floor. The entrance to the latter was and now is at the back of the building whilst the entrance to the hall was at the front of the building, facing the street.
Hayim Samuel and Moshe Gothell undertook to do the necessary lobbying amongst members of the settlement’s committee whilst others undertook to speak to some influential individuals to seek their support in the matter, The meetings of the committee were open to the public, I was told, which often reacted to opinions expressed from time to time by the elected committee members. A favorable reaction by the public could help us a lot, those present said.
I felt we became good friends. Moreover, Benzion's mother said to me before my departure: "Come to us whenever you feel like. We and our parents were also Halutzim when we or they were of your age and even younger, so don't be shy with us." On the following Friday evening when we met on the "Givat Haahava", we from the Havurat Hadarom considered ourselves free and "at home" with and in the company of the local youth.
The news about the meeting at Benzion Shani's home spread all over the settlement so when we met on the abovementioned Friday evening I was asked by many what were the actual plans I intended for to revive Maccabi in Ness-Ziona, what experience I had in leading and directing such a club also in acting as an instructor. Everyone seemed to be happy with my answers and I felt my enthusiasm about the whole idea was imbued by everyone concerned.
We from Havurat Hadarom were happy to accept an invitation from the loca1 youth to join them next day at the Breykha (Pond) at the Baron's orange grove where we worked for the past two weeks. Usually the pond was constructed of reinforced concrete either on higher ground or on artificially raised flat foundations for the specific purpose of irrigating the orange groves. Water was pumped into it by a near-by installed motor which drew it from about ten to thirty metres deep underground. The water was usually cool, sweet and suitable for human consumption and excellent for irrigation. But no opportunity was lost on free days to swim in the Breyka which was usually a place for young people to assemble particularly on hot summer days.
As a matter of fact the "Givat Haahava" was actually the pond from which pipes brought water to every household in Ness-Zlona. The difference was this particular pond was built on higher ground and was elevated still more and covered with twelve inches or more of reinforced concrete, hence the possibility to hold so many people who were able to assemble there, to dance, jump and engage in physical exercises.
A few weeks later I was informed that a meeting of the settlement committee will be held on the following week and I was expected to put before the committee a plan for the proposed revival of the Maccabi branch in Ness-Ziona. I was told that if I will be short in some Hebrew words to express myself, I can use Yiddish or Russian and these will be translated. I passed the information on to Meyir Mart and suggested he shall come with me to a meeting and if not to be the main speaker, since his Hebrew was already very fluent, at least, to support me. But he refused, saying he had already committed himself to the idea of establishing a "Hapoel" sports movement and will not budge from it.
When a few days later I addressed the Settlement committee, I was surprised how the Hebrew words came to me quite easily though, at times, I used Russian or Yiddish expressions. No translation was necessary and I felt much elated at the support I received in conveying the idea not only from the younger generation but also from the older generation. Not one single person expressed himself against reviving the "Maccabi" organisation.
When we had the first evening of exercises, Inoticed amongst those who came to participate in them people like Meyir Kemproy, Dr. Litvak and others of their generation, about 10 to 15 years older then we were. There were also girls in their later teens and young women in their early 20's, some already married. I was satisfied with the results so far but was sorry that no one from the "Havurat Hadarom” wanted or was interested to join in the exercises which were held once a week.But as time went on several members of the "Havurah" did finally join and the link between the Halutzim and the old settlers was attained still further.
"Maccabi" national conference and meeting from Tehudakov
One day a few weeks later I was informed that "Maccabi" Ness-Ziona received an invitation to participate in an Eretz Israel National Conference to be held in Haifa two weeks later. The committee of "Maccabi" Ness-Ziona which managed the affairs of the Soccer Team co-opted me and two others who joined the physical culture exercises decided at a special meeting called for the purpose to delegate me to the conference.
The only way to reach Haifa in those days was either by train from Rehovot station, changing to another train at Lod station or to walk hoping that someone from one of the settlements on the way in a cart or buggy driven by a horse will give one a lift. I chose to go by train. Inter-city buses or any other public transport were not yet known in the country.
On my way to the lodging place (the name of which was given to me by Meyer Komarov, I had to pass the local hospital, As I neared it, I noticed a group of people surrounding a cart in which a man lay screaming because of terrible pain he suffered. I looked at the man and recognised him to be no other than Mr, Tchudakov in whose home in Kaluga , a city about 160 km south-west of MOSCOW , I visited, at least once or twice weekly. I asked him what happened and he answered he was working in the fields near Benyamina and when he neared the horse to lead him to the cart, the horse turned round and hit him hard in the ribs with his hind legs, "Save me Benka," he said, “I am in agony ," I went inside the hospital to inquire the reason for the delay in admitting Tchudakov who is suffering terrible agony and was told they are trying to arrange a bed for him somewhere as the hospital is full to capacity.
I knew the whole family Tchudakov very well as one of their sons Grisha was a class-mate of mine at the Shakh-Magonov's private college, the only high school in the city where Jewish boys could study as they waived the 4% norm which existed for us in other schools. When I saw Tchudakov being taken into the hospital, I proceeded to my lodgings.
I found out much later that Tchudakov's three sons and one daughter have disappeared without trace and he himself died in Benyamina. In his will, Tchudakov left his house and all his fields and plantations to the settlement to be used by it in accordance with the decisions of its committee. It was named Benymina to commemorate the first name of Baron de Rotschild who originally purchased the land for the settlement and also helped the settlers to establish and adjust themselves to the new conditions.
On the following day the conference was opened by the then President of the Eretz Israel "Maccabi", Mr. Yoseph Yekutieli. It was very festive and stimulating. The organisationa]. and financia] reports as presented to the conference showed that "Maccabi" increased its activities and membership_ Yekutieli expressed concern about the rumours regarding the establishment of a "rival" sporting organisation "Hapoel" under the auspices of the Trade Union movement, "But," he said "we will never try to stop any group of citizens from forming a sporting organisation, so long as it will be formed for the sake of sport with the slogan "A healthy mind in a healthy body,"
Later the discussion centred around two main points: (a) The necessity to widen the "Maccabi" activities. Not to give all attention to soccer becgtuse the games bring crowds of people to watch twenty two young men competing for a number of goals, Every boy and girl must be enlisted in as many sporting events as possible; and (b) to give more attention to new olim (migrants) who were members of '*Maccabi" in the countries they came from. Now because they are working on road making in agriculture and other pioneering works, we must go out to them and not wait till they come to us.
"An an example," one speaker said, "Patkin was able to organise in Ness-Ziona other branches of sport like gymnastics and athletics and I am sure there are other Halutzim-Maccabeans like him and we must find them and encourage them to do likewise."
I was asked to chair one of the sessions of the conference but was a complete failure because of lack of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and also lack of experience in procedure as it was perceived in those days in Eretz Israel . Another important problem was discussed at the conference and that was lack of sufficient number of physical culture instructors not only for Maccabi's own clubs but also for schools, the number of which will grow parallel to the growth of Aliyah (immigration) to Eretz Israel . Also, an exchange of opinions took place as to the method of physical culture to be adopted, the Swedish or Danish or any other.
The conference was a beneficial exercise for me. Not only have I met a second and third generations of Jews living and working in Eretz Israel but I also made good friends with very fine people, Not less important was the fact that I learned about theinner structure and workings of "Maccabi" in Eretz Israel,
On returning to Ness-Ziona I found a letter from the family in Moscow waiting for me. Mother wrote about "Haverim" (Komrades) of the Soviet Secret Police visiting
our apartment asking for me and when told that I left for Palestine , they searched everywhere probably for documents and any papers concerning my associations and activities. Luckily, all the archives I had at home were taken away by friends who, at the request of mother, placed them elsewhere. The archives included details of the "Gehaver" after it was split into right and left wings. A friend and associate of mine, Hanna Arest, expecting to be arrested at any time, told me of the danger to have the archives of the Gehaver at her home and suggested I shall keep them for the time being and naturally I agreed. She was arrested a few months later. She left for Eretz Israel before me, joined the Kibbutz Ein Harod and is still there.
Others brought parts of the archives of the Hehaluiz after it was also split into right and left wings. I always kept them in order, the documents of the right wing on the right and of the left on the left, whether in a wardrobe or a large office desk I had in my room or in a cupboard.
But the next news in the letter was that the whole family decided to come to Eretz Israel . The problem was to obtain certificates (entry visas) something they might have to wait for a year or two. Also, the only sister of my father - Haya-Bella - with her usband Dr. Aaronow have applied to the British Embassy for entry visas and to the Soviet Authorities for exit visas, though they knew very well that the latter depended a lot on the result of the former.
On my return to Ness-Ziona I found that more Halutzim-ot arrived at Havurat Hadarom from the Soviet Union . All of them were in jails all over Russia , some were even in Siberia . Amongst them was Meyir Grabovsky who later occupied important positions in ahe Histadrut (Trade-Union movement) and the Labor Party, and after the establishment of the State of Israel he changed his surname to Argov. He was elected to the first Knesset (Parliament). Later still he became the Chairman of the Security and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset. Also Halutzim-ot arrived from Poland nd Rumania .
'Another group of Halutzim-ot from the Soviet Union had also arrived at the Rehovoth Branch of Havurat Hadarom_ Amongst them was Eliyahu (Ilyusha) Epstein who laaer changed his name to Eliyahu Elath, Amongst important positions he occupied later were: First Ambassador of Israel to the United States; Ambassador of.Isreal to the court of St. James', London. Naturally, on my visits to Israel and London , I never failed to contact either of them as we remained good friends at all times.
Kibbush Avoda - conquest of labour
An unpleasant feature I was told about that happened whilst I was away for a few days was the arrival of a great number of Arabs from Transjordan and Hauran (a district in North-Eastern Syria bordering Transjordan ). They heard about Jews coming to Eretz Israel , developing plantations, building houses and, as a result, they can get work for good pay. The trouble was the Arabs were prepared to do any work for a few piastres (five piastres = one shilling) a day. We the Halutzim could not exist on a pay below 15 piastres = 3 shillings per day.
Nevertheless, when it became known that a Jewish man - owner of a large orange grove, - decided to plant an additional grove but to prepare the land he bought requires certain preparations, particularly Bahar - deep ploughing. Sinceearly ploughs that could penetrate fifty to hundred centimetres deep into the ground, were not yet known, it was necessary to work by a hand hoe to turn the earth at such depth to take out any roots of a11 weeds and any allied grass that could prevent the speedy and healthy development of young orange tree saplings and later the orange trees themselves.
This was the hardest work we have ever done. Particularly when a six foot six inches Arab was leading the line of a dozen halatzim and an identical size Arab was at the end of the line and we the halatzim had to prove our ability to do the work not less good and for the same price as the Arabs did. Thus we not only obtained work for ourselves but also for many other halatzim who continued to come from the Soviet Union and from Eastern and Central Europe . We felt that without the conquest of ]about, we have no chance of survival. But we have done it.
When our success became known, it was easier to get other work needed to be done by the old settlers of Ness-Ziona, such as building, household duties, even as night watchmen in a vineyard and then ina watermelon field. Each time I was given a revolver but I never used it, though on one occasion I noticed late at night some Arabs entering the vineyard but the revolver was jammed and the trigger would not move. I called out in a loud voice and beat with a piece of an iron pipe on a metal pan. I then noticed the intruders run away.
As time went on, we were transferred from one type of work to another. I don't think there was any kind of work we did not become familiar with, including well-digging and building inside them walls of concrete blocks to prevent caving-ins and many others.
One day we were notified that very soon, within weeks or months we will start building the road between Rehovath and Beth-Dagon, where it will meet the road from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv. The Halutzim from Havurat Hadatom in Rehovot and Ness-Ziona, also other workers, will be engaged in this work for about three yearsø Everything will have to be done by hand as the only machine known and available for road building in those days was a Roller-Press consisting of two big concrete or steel rollers or wheels of heavy weight, about a metre and a half in diameter, driven by a motor and by its weight pressing the stones into the ground and at the same time making them level. Everything else had to be done by hand.
The first process in the road making was called silul (paving). It meant to put stones in the sandy road as evenly as possible. The stones had no forms and it was necessary to judge by looking at them as to the manner of embedding them in the required place in the right way. When the silul was done on a certain area of the road - about fifteen metres - hatzatz (gravel) was spread over the area with the view of filling in the spaces in between the uneven stones and then the roller press would go over the whole area several times to make the road even. The next operation was to pour asphalt over the area, thus finishing the making of the road.
[Oral note from Hemda Patkin: Benzion’s father was making peasant’s clothing. Aaron Patkin was a barrister in Moscow . He took his parents to Berlin and then they went to Palestine . Eliezer wouldn’t go to Synagogue. “Before we come, Shanah Habah birushalayim”]
Whilst silul was done by the boys because of the necessity, at times, to lift up heavy stones, the gravel or hatzatz was made by girls - halutzot by breaking with reasonably small hammers the larger stones into gravel as no machines to do this particular work were known in the country. The girls sat on a heap of stones in their shorts and for hours every day made hatzatz which was in fact paid by a certain amount of piastres per cubic foot. It was actually piece work. Each girl's heap of hatzatz was measuredby an overseer. Hatzatz was also made by boys from time to time. Everything depended on the need of the day or of the week.
At times we had a lot of fun when cars with tourists, particularly from U.S.A. or England , used to stop near where we worked to take photographs of Jewish workers - Halutzum and Halutzot, to show them back at home. I remember one tourist asking me what I was doing in Russia before coming to Ertz Israel . When I told him I was a student at an Institute of Textile Technology he asked me what was my father doing. When I answered that before the Bolshevik revolution in October-November 1917, my father had three large factories in a Moscow suburb, his wife started to cry and calling out aloud in Yiddish: “Oy, my God, and way to me, to what condition you brought these fine people, why? What have they done?" I replied: "We are building a Jewish homeland in a country which was Jewish until its people were driven out and now returning to it, and you, madam, will one day come to live here." She answered: "What is wrong with Brooklyn ? Why to make such a change?"
The lady took out a few one dollar notes and offerred them yo us but none accepted the money, neither the apples, chocolates and other goodies offered to us. The tourists were horrified to learn from us that our pay is only 15 piastres per day (three shillings) and some of the agricultural work like bahar, we only earned one shilling or five piastres per day. We explained to them that our job or part of it is to create work for Halutzim who are continuously arriving in the country and unless we will prove we can do the work as good as Arabs or better, more Arabs will arrive in Eretz Israel from neighbouring countries and no work will be available for newly arrived Halutzim. One wave of Halutzim was to prepare work for the next wave.
It took the members of Havurat Hadarom in Rehovot and Ness-Ziona, also workers who were not connected with any Havura about three years or more to complete the building of the road from Rehovot to Beth-Dagon, where it joined the Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv Road . Amongst workers who used to come to build the road were not only Halutzim who could not find suitable work in near-by settlements but also from Tel-AviV and beyond. One day I even saw working on silul and making hatzatz actors from Habimah Theatre such as Amitay,Bruk, Ben-Hayim and others.
Meeting the Hayim Weizman family
[Compare the story with the one written for the opening of the University attached to the written manuscript marked with pencil]
Meantime I received a letter that my aunt, Haya-Bella and husband advising they received entry permits to Eretz Israel and were anxious to leave Moscow very soon. Later I learned that the visas were granted to them as well as later to all other members of my family as a result of intervention by Dr . Hayim Weizman whom I met in April 1925 at the offices of the World Zionist Organisation in Jerusalem . The description of my visit there is narrated in a separate chapter. I also mentioned my meeting with Dr. Weizman .
I called at the offices of ahe W.Z.O. and asked for an appointment with Dr . Weizman. The Secretary told me it would be impossible because the few days he, Dr. Weizman . will remain in Jerusalem are more than full with appointments, meetings, interviews, etc. I told him I came for the opening of the University from Havurat Hadarom in Ness-Ziona and was to be one of the special guards of honour for all the official guests, particularly Lord Balfour, but lack of money prevented me from using transport so I had to walk all the way and was therefore late to join the guards as my uniform was already given to other Maccabi members. Whilst I am in Jerusalem , I wish to meet and speak to Dr. Weizman. I did not tell the secretary that my main reason not to tell him - the Secretary - about the object for my necessity to see the head of the W.Z.O. is to avoid any further meetings with officials of these offices and thus to spare the bureaucratic delays in fulfilling my request for entry visas for members of my family to Eretz Israel.
"Impossible," said the Secretary, "every day from early morning until late at night, Dr. Weizman has meetings in this office, then every day, either here or elsewhere, meetings, conferences etc. until his departure for London . Tell me, therefore, your request or what is it about you wish to see Dr. Weizman and I may be able to help you."
I thanked the secretary for his willingness to help and left his office. If he could not help me, I thought, for the last four weeks since my first letter to him,.about two only entry permits, how then will he help with issue nine permits now. As I started to walk away, I saw Dr. Weizman walking in the direction where I stood, When he came to me, I approached him: "Boker tov (good morning) Dr_ Weizman, I apologise for approaching you, My name is Benzion Patkin" and before I could continue, he asked me whether I am a relative of Aaron Patkin who at that time lived in Berlin. When I replied that he is my uncle - my father's brother - he asked me to come into his office and tell him my story or what is my request of him,
Naturally, I thanked him for the invitation and as soon as we settled down in most comfortable chairs I ever had the pleasure to sit on, I related to Dr. Weizman about the decision of the whole family to come to Eretz Israel as soon as the required immigration certificates will be made available for them, “So far," I added, “my pleas to the officials of ..............
I related to Dr, Weizman about my work and those of others at Ness-Ziona and I told him about everything we do, the types of work we perform, the Competition for Kibbush Avoda and the payments we receive for such work as bahar, ziboul, etc. “But," I added, "we all feel, we build Eretz Avoteynu (the land of "our forefathers"). Dr. Weizman asked me to convey greetings to members of Havurat Hadarom and with a promise by him to try to arrange entry certificates for nine members of my family, we parted as good friends.
We met again in January, 1952, during my visit to the State of Israel for the first time in 23 years after leaving for Australia in 1929. I was in Rehovot visiting some members of my wife Hemda's family. Walking along the main street with a cousin, Moshe Ram, who accompanied me on my visits, told me: "There goes Vera Weizman, the President's wife," whom I never met before. I went up to her, introduced myself and asked her about the health of her husband knowing he was ill. To her question whether he knows me personally, I related to her in short our meeting in Jerusalem 27 years earlier.
Mrs. Weizman then said: "He is a little better today and will be happy if you eall on him to say shalom but just for a few minutes, two or three, no more." I agreed and promised
to fulfil her request. which I did. It is of interest to note that I met there also Dr. Hayim Weizmin's sister-in-law, his brother Yehiel’s wife who together with her husband were personal friends of uncle Aaron Patkin and to whom I brought greetings from her on my return to Australia.
Whilst speaking about the Haylm Welzman"s family, I will now relate the meeting with Benjamin, Hayim Weizman’s older son, There was a younger son, Michael, who, unfortunately, was killed in World War II. Michael was a fighter pilot and was brought down over the English channel . It was in mid-1951 when Hemda (my wife) and I visited Sydney to where we travelled by car. It was partly public and/or Zionist affairs, partly business and partly - a holiday for a few days. As usual, so it was on this occasion. We called on Mr. Yoseph L. Linton, the Israeli Minister in Australia at that time, to say Shalom to him and his staff, also to have a little chat about what is going on in Israel and in the Jewish community in Australia . "This time," Yoseph Linton said, "I will introduce you to a very nice person who is on a private visit to Australia ."
He went into the next room and a minute later returned with a man whom he introduced as Benjy (short for Benjamin) Weizman, the older son of Dr. Hayim Weizman, currently the President of the State of Israel. Naturally, it was a pleasant surprise to us and after a few minutes of conversation about his impressions of Sydney , about his journey from London , etc., he askedus what is the best way to travel to Melbourne . We told him that this time we came to Sydney by car and if he wishes he can join us and will thus be able to see the countryside of Australia with its townships, small and not so small, also, with luck, he may see flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and maybe, with extra luck, some kangaroos in their natural environment..
"That is exactly what I want," said Benjy. After discussing the matter for another few minutes, we decided not to travel by the main road but to deviate to various country roads to enable us to visit country towns and, if at a11 possible, to visit a sheep or cattle station, something none of us saw or visited before. Thus, instead of driving for about 12-14 hours, we were on the road three full days, stopping to sleep at hotels-motels twice each time for one night.
Although, we could not visit sheep or cattle stations we saw flocks and herds of these grazing not far from the road. What was remarkable about us travelling in those days y side roads through towns and cities like Cootamundra, Denniliquin, Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, Albury and some others, is to leave a city booming with traffic, hotels, shops, garages etc., and a few miles further everything is either bush, forest, grazing land or wheat fields, but we seldom saw a motor car or a living human for about a hundred miles until a few miles before we were about to enter the next city or town. Even the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were grazing far from the roads.
Prior to leaving Sydney , Benby told us he would like to avoid using the name Weizman as far as possible. He did not want to receive any special attention because of being the son of the President of Israel. I promised that any rooms to be booked in a hotel or motel will be done in my name. But it happened in Wagga Wagga where we had to stay overnight that the receptionist demanded to know if the surnames of the three of us a Patkin and Benjy standing at the counter said his surname is Weizman. At that moment a man wearing a white overall, white apron and a white head-gear so could not possibly mistaken him for no other but the cook, on hearing the name Weizman stopped, looked at Benjy and asked him: "Are you related to the Weizmans in Rehovoth?" to which Benjy replied: "Yes, Dr. Hayim Weizman is my father."
"If that is so, your auntie, the Dentist, helped me when as a soldier in Palestine I had trouble with my teeth." "I will now repay her nephew with the same kindness I was treated by your aunt," He said something in a low voice to the lady behind the reception desk and from that moment until we left the hotel on the next morning, we ere treated like Royalty.
All the above I told Mrs.Vera Weizman in as much a condensed a way as I could, This I told her when the door was already open for us to leave, Mrs, Vera Weizman was most interested to hear about her eldest son, She asked if there were any special curiosities whilst we travelled together with Benjy.
So I told her that whenever we came into a township, Benjy used to say: "Here is another Kibbutz or Moshav. On a couple of occasions when we saw signs above the entrances into shops with names like Benjamin, Solomon, Abrahams, and other Biblical names, Benjy insisted we shall call in to find out where are the owners coming from and if they are Jewish. We found out that in some instances the grand-grand-fathers or the grandfathers or fathers of the owners of the shops were Jews and in other instances the owners present or former, were from Scotland and their names, they said, are from the Old Testament, were their real surnames and "that none of our predecessors were Jews." At last we said to Mrs. Vera Weizman "Shalom, and wishing full and speedy recovery to your husband, Dr. Weizman", we departed.
When a few weeks later I was to visit England , I found it was almost impossible to get a booking into a decent hotel in London . I cabled from Paris to Benjy and asked him to book a room for me in a fairly good hotel. Next day received a reply confirming the booking of the room at Mount Royal Hotel, also to be his guest for dinner on a certain day. Pointing to large collections of figurines or statuettes in groups depicting halutzum, religious Jews, types of Arabs in Eretz Israel and, many other types displayed on a mantlepiece, on a cupboard and on a shelf fitted to one of the walls. "These," Benja said, "are my Kibbitrim, aren't they lovely?"
Back to work -- finding a quarry
When I arrived from Rehovot at Havurat Hadarom in Ness--Ziona, I was told that unless we will find a quarry nearby wherefrom we could obtain sufficient quantities of stones for building the road, there is a fear that the work may stop for shortage of suitable material until it could be brought from near Hartuv or the Judean hills which could take weeks.
A suggestion was made that we shall try and find the required stones near by. I suggested it would be worthwhile to look for suitable material somewhere near the orange groves belonging to Yirmeyahu (Seremayah) Bokser and the Lehrer family where I saw in an open field large size stones sticking out from the ground, Next mornlng several boys. including myself, went to the area referred to by me and after working there with picks and shovels for an hour or so, we found.an ancient cemetry but instead of graves we saw big jars or vases made of lime similar to those used to hold water. But those we saw contained what seemed to be bone dust,We dug deeper and tried to take out from between biff loose stones some of the vases not yet touched by our picks and shovels hoping to find something valuable, but all we found was the same bone dust. We even asked a well known archeologist about our "discovery" and he said that most probably there was some hundreds of years ago an Arab village near-by and there was a quarry which the inhabitants decided to use as a cemetery as the custom with some Muslim sects was not to bury the body of the deceased but to put it into a jar of a suitable size, put the jar in the quarry and cover it with stones.
It was estimated that this particular quarry, named the "Patkin Quarry" because I found it, will provide enough stones to build the road just behond Rishon Le'Zion and meanwhile to try to find another quarry on the other side of the latter or some other means of supplying required stones.
Meanwhile, the immigration of Halutzim continued and work had to be found for each and every one. Representatives of tha various branehes of Havurat Hadarom, in Ness-Ziona,
Rehovot, Gedera called on every individual citrus fruit grower, vineyard owners with requests to give newly arrived Haultzim whatever work was available. Same was done in Rishon le' Zion , Petakh Tikwah, Hedera and other places, In the main, the efforts of our delegates were successful. Only very few refused to listen and do anything in this respect. And the Aliyah increased manyfold.
This Aliyah (imigration of large numbers of Jews particularly from Poland ) was called the "Grabsky Aliyah". It was so named because of the economic policy introduced by Wladyslaw Grabsky who was Prime Minister in Poland (1923-1925) such financial and economic policies against middle classes of whom the greatest majority were Jews that the latter could not withstand the financial burdens and found the only way to survive was to migrate elsewhere, The only country they could go to was Eretz Israel because U.S,A. and most of other countries of immigration closed their doors to any new immigrants. Eretz Israel in the years 1924-29 was the only country which received them with open arms. Altogether, Eretz Israel , in those years, absorbed about 80,000 new migrants.
Amongst the settlements, towns, kibbutzum, etc., which were established in those years were:Hertzliyah (1924), Hadar Ramatayim (1925), Kefar Barukh, (1926), Kefar Ganim (1926), Kefar Hasidsm (1924), Kefar Yehoshua (1927), Magdiel (1924), Mishmar Haemek (1926), Nataniyah (1929), Nesher (1925), Afulah (1925), Kiriyat Shaul (1924), Ramat David (1926), Ramat Yishay (1925), Raaat Rahel (1926), Sdey Yaakov (1927), Sarid (1926), Tel Mond (1929), Beth Zerah (1927), Bat Yam (1926), Gan Shlomo (1927), Cat Rimon (1926).
But it must be understood that whilst Kibbutzim have been established by Halutzim after having received required training in old established settlements or Havurot, new middle class immigrants have settled in cooperative settlements or towns after the latter have already been started by older settlers and with experience in local way of life as well as having got used to the climate and specific conditions a country like Eretz Israel, began to live and develop again after centuries of neglect
It was natural that at the same time, building of blocks of flats or apartments in the larger cities and to a certain extent in the smaller towns has increased due to immigration of the Jewish families with capital. Many of them settled in cities, others went to agricultural settlements. Those in the cities developed commerce and industry and those who decided to settle in agricultural districts, bought land, planted their own orchards and vineyards and thus established new settlements.
Many amongst the latter were active Zionists and Jewish communal workers in many aspects of Jewish endeavour. Whether from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania or any other country in Europe, they knew that Eretz Israel or Palestine, as it was commonly called, was the last station in their wanderings and they did their best to integrate themselves in the way of life in the country with its sub-tropical climate, culturally with the language which they, their fathers, grandfathers and others before them knew only as the language of prayers or study in Synagogues, between the afternoon and evening prayers.
They were happy to see their children going to Jewish schools in which Jewishteachers taught them subjects like mathematics, geography, physics, and all others in the Hebrew language. These proved a great asset to the country from the first days of their arrival. When they bought land to plant groves or build houses, they inquired about Jewish workers whom they could engage to do the required work.
But there were also such, fortunately very few, who by nature would not trust a Jewish worker. They could not imagine Jewish workers being able to do manual work. I remember such a man who by some luck or special ability was able to bring out from the Soviet Union enough capital to be lucky enough to purchase in Ness-Ziona an orange grove and thus derive an income immediately upon his arrival. Moreover, he was able to builda very nice family villa but insisted, where possible, the rate of pay be reduced even by a penny or two. It was in his orchard that we worked that week.
One day, whilst working on yidur (loosening the soil around the orange trees to enable the water to penetrate it as deeply as possible), I noticed someone watching us as we worked. I did not see the man, only his white straw hat worn in a manner as if the man is lying on his tummy watching us working. I told about it to the other boys and we decided: 1) to find out who he is, and 2) what is his objective. Next day we saw the same man again in the same position . One of the boys went up to him and recognised him to be no other but the owner of the orchard we worked in, the man who was lucky to bring out of the Soviet Union a large sum of money to purchase it. As we were about to have our usual morning rest also morning meal, we invited a ta join us. Mr. Y. (I do not wish to call him by his name) happily agreed to join us and we all felt as if we were old friends. One of the boys happened to be born and educated in the same city where Mr. Y. came from and he knew the boy's parents very well. He asked Borya (though he changed his name to Dov) whether his parents and other members of his family intend coming to Eretz Israel . Dov replied: "It depends on the success of his father's efforts to liquidate the family's shop, house and other possessions to enable him to pay for the passages as well as starting something here, and not to rely on loans from friends, banks and other sources. To this Mr. Y. replied: "I wish I could help him, but the only suggestion I can make is to sell everything as best as he can because in another year (as I will describe later) or two, it will be impossible to sell anything." [Hemda: Mr. Yalovski would only employ Arabs His son, Gideon Yalowski, married Miriam Bokser, Hemda’s cousin]
At this point one of the other boys asked in Russian (Mr. Y. could speak and understand only Russian or Yiddish) what was the actual reason for him to watch us working as if he was afraid we may not do the yidur as it should be done. The reply was simple but unconvincing: "I wanted to see Jewish boys, former University and college Students, do manual work, same as Russian peasants or Palestine Arabs," "If we or those tens of thousands of Jews who came before us and did the same work and built moshavot (settlements), moshavim (cooperative settlements), kibbutzim (communal settlements), cities and towns, you would not have been able to come here, to purchase this orange grove and watch us whether we do the right number of pits per day around the trees. Isn’t this right?". "You are right with the first part of your remarks but not with the second part. I had no intention to scan your work or spy on you. I will not come again. Thanks for the tea and shalom," We never saw him again whilst we worked in his grove.
The following week we worked in a grove belonging to an old settler, reputedly an immigrant from South Africa many years earlier, who until the week when we startedworking there would never have considered engaging halutzim or halutzot to do any work in his grove or even in the backyard of his home.
We arranged a deputation first to his manager and overseer Mr.Hayim Kurtchik senior (his son Avraham Kurtchik was occupying a similar position with another citrus grower) who was considered a fine and kind man. Many of us were friendly with his three daughters when we used to meet very often on the "Hill of love" and felt he will help us should we have to approach the owner himself. The delegation consisted of Meyir Grabovski (later - Argov), Zvi Cohen and myself. As it was expected, we had no difficulty to persuade Mr. Kurtchik to employ some of our boys but, he said: "You have to talk about it with the boss, Mr. Tzerkow". We told him, it is our intention to call on him after we left this house. Mr. Kurtchik then suggested to wait a day or two, to let him speak to Mr. Tzerkow first.
We agreed, and on the following day, late in the afternoon, passing his house, Mr. Kurtchik called out to me to come inside. When I came in, he told me that a possibility existed for Mr. Tzerkow to agree to our request, "Tell him," he continued, "the names of all other citrus growers at whose groves you started working recently,"
Luckily, in the last couple of weeks we obtained works in the groves of Yirmeyahu Bokser, Meyir Komarow and Bezalel Lehrer"s groves. So when the three of us called on Mr. Tzerkowand mentioned to him the names of the latter three growers, together with several other names, he told us: "If you will work at the same price as the Arabworkers do and will produce as much, I will tell Kurtchik to engage some halutzimo" To this we replied, that whilst we guarantee the second condition, we cannot agree to working at five (5) piastres a day as this would mean to hunger_ "Would you, Mr. Tzerkon, like to see any of our boys or girls go hungry for bread or even become ill or die because of hunger?"'. "All right. he said, "I will give you a trial. Tell Kurtchik I have agreed to your conditions and he will arrange the work for you."
After we finished our assignments at Mr. Y's grove, we started similar work - yidur and ziboul at Tzerkov's grove. We felt our "kibbush avoda" (conquest of Labour) efforts succeed. Moreover, the farmers, citrus growers and even builders have begun toapproach us to do the work for them. On the first morning of our work at Tzerkov's grove we, as usual, had our early breakfast whilst it was still dark and on our way to the grove we, at first, marched like soldiers under a command, I was asked to give marching orders –Smol, Yemin, Smol, Yemin (left, right, left right) and then broke out into a song - "Paam ahat bahur yatza el hawkish - paam ahat bahur yatza vebahura hu sham matza al yad hamahaneh, hayah ze basadeh (It happened that a boy went out on to the road, a boy went out on to the road and near there in a field he found a girl not far from the camp) followed by several other stanzas or verses. The song was very popular in those days, particularly with haultzim (pioneers) living in camps of tents.
We later learned that both Kurtchik and the owner Tzerkov were satisfied with our work which in turn led us to obtain work in many other groves, including Ostashinsky's grovesituated near the Rehovot Railway Station. A tragic event occurred in that grove a little later. Because of its size, it was necessary for the owner. Mr. Ostashinsky, who himself lived in Rishon Le' Zion , to employ two or three overseers. One of them was a small grove owner livina in Ness --Zlona. One late afternoon the latter did not return home. The family became worried and asked a couple of friends to go over and find out what happened_ After searching the grove for a couple of hours, they came face to face with one of the Arab watchmen, who, in answer to their questions about the missing man, led them to a small clearing near the pit of manure and there they saw the body of the missing friend in a pool of blood. He was killed by a number of knife stabbings or another sharp instrument.
There was a terrible commotion in Ness-Ziona. Nobody could guess the motive for the murder but it was a strong suspicion that he was murdered by an Arab. [Hemda: Fisher was murdered by an Arab because he attacked and raped an Arab woman. Ritual was “like a devil there”. Hemda was at school with the daughter and son of the murdered man]
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Contents
Meeting with Meyir (Max) Mart
First days of work at Ness-Ziona
Baron Maurice De Hirsch and the Jewish Colonisation Association
Baron Edmund James de Rothschild and the Palestine Jewish Colonisation Association (Pica)
Work in Ness-Ziona continues
First Friday night and first encounter with Ness-Ziona youth
An attempt to revive "Maccabi" in Ness-Ziona
"Maccabi" national conference and meeting from Tehudakov
Kibbush Avoda - conquest of labour
Building roads
Meeting the Hayim Weizman family
Back to work -- finding a quarry
Havurat "Hadarom" - The Period in Ness-Ziona
I didn't get on well with my parents, but I cannot avoid admiring him and his life-story, partly described in two published books.
More of his life is celebrated on the website of the Archives Judaica at the University of Sydney, thanks to a catholic nun and academic, Sister Marian Dacy.
My father dictated this manuscript late in life when his eyesight was failing (central macular degeneration). and he didn't get to revise these fragments.
Later, after his death, I quizzed my mother about some of the personalities mentioned. Several of her comments are included.
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