The American Colony photographic collection in the Library of Congress is so large (some 22,000 pictures) that occasionally we take a virtual turn in the Online files and discover new sets of pictures, such as these pictures of Zion Gate, now added to our first feature on the gate.
Zion Gate (circa 1898) The photo was
captioned "Jerusalem" with no further detail.
Zion Gate (circa 1900)
In some cases the pictures were not captioned fully or they were given a general date such as "1898-1946," the years of activity of the American Colony photographers.
The founder of the photographic department, Elijah Meyers, was an Indian Jew who converted to Christianity and moved to Palestine. It is believed that he was an active photographer prior to 1898. Some of these pictures may actually pre-date his forming the American Colony Photographic Department.
6
Bnei Brak, 2,000 Years Ago Home to Talmudic Scholars, Reborn in 1924 as an Agricultural Village, Today, an Ultra-Orthodox City
Mentioned in the Book of Joshua, the town of Bnei Brak was well known in Talmudic days as home to the famous Rabbi Akiva (second century, CE). The town is also mentioned in the Passover Seder service as a meeting place for the leading rabbis of the Talmud.
Bnei Brak's synagogue, built in 1928
Bnei Brak (circa 1930)
In 1922, in an area not far from the ruins of ancient Bnei Brak, a group of Orthodox Jews from Warsaw, Poland purchased land from an Arab village in order to establish a farming community. The town's cornerstone was laid in 1924.
Bnei Brak bank for "agri-
culture and business"
(circa 1928)
Situated between Tel Aviv, Petach Tikva, and Ramat Gan, the town attracted a large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The new town of Bnei Brak (circa 1928)
Today, Bnei Brak is one of Israel's most densely populated cities, with a population of 170,000.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view original picture.
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5
This Is What Abraham Lincoln Would Have Seen. Rare Jerusalem Photos to Be Released -- Here's a Preview
"He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the Saviour. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem," Mary Todd Lincoln told the Springfield, Ill. pastor who presided at Abraham Lincoln's funeral. She explained that the 16th president told her of his desire moments before he was fatally shot in Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865.
Truth or myth? We can only speculate.*
Recently digitalized photos from the Library of Congress show in exceptional detail the Western Wall of the Temple Mount Lincoln would have seen in 1865.The photographs, released by the Library at our request, will appear with analyses in this spot and in the Jerusalem Post later this week.We thank the photo archive staff at the Library of Congress for their assistance.Meanwhile, we present here two small sections of the photographs to show why we are so excited about the minute detail of the photos taken 150 years ago.Even the memorial graffiti on the Western Wall, a practice common even into the early 20th century, can be read.
* Lincoln's Secretary of State William H. Seward visited Jerusalem in 1859, and Lincoln may have heard accounts from him. Seward returned to Palestine in 1871. Read Seward's fascinating account of his visit, his breakdown of Jerusalem's residents by religion, his visit to the "Wailing Place of the Jews," and his joining Friday night services at the Hurva Synagogue.Release date August 11. Editors and bloggers contact israel.dailypix@gmail.com
to receive further information.2
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The Arab revolt in Palestine (1936-1939) was almost a preview for the 1947-1949 hostilities after the UN partitioned Palestine, the British mandate ended, the British army withdrew from Palestine and the State of Israel was declared.
Ferry boat brings Har Zion passengers into Tel Aviv port.
The ship is identified in the caption as a "Jewish Agency ship."
The Har Zion could take 110 passengers
(Israel's National Maritime Museum)
The boat was sunk in 1940
The revolt was characterized by the Arab militias attacking Jewish communities and British government facilities, derailing trains, and halting commerce. While the British army eventually succeeded in restoring a semblance of order, the Arabs won a huge victory when the British responded to Arab demands and announced its "White Paper" in 1939 severely restricting Jewish immigration to and growth within Palestine.
Despite the revolt -- and in some cases in spite of the revolt -- the nascent Jewish state continued to develop the infrastructure for a state, such as the port of Tel Aviv and the international airport in Lod/Lydda.
Har Zion passengers arrive in Tel Aviv
The American Colony's photos from the mid-1930s show passengers from the ship Har Zion arriving on a ferry boat in the Tel Aviv port (Jaffa port was closed by an Arab strike).
Lod Airport construction (circa 1935)
The Har Zion (built in 1907) and its sister shipHar Carmel were owned by the Palestine Maritime Lloyd shipping company, formed in 1934. The company and its ships were Jewish owned and operated under these principles: "The Company [would] involve itself in the process of the building of the country; Company must be owned by Jewish interests; Ships will be under 'Hebrew' flag; Crews will be Jewish; Ships will be supplied by local products."
The Har Zion was mobilized by the British navy at the outbreak of World War II. In August 1940, on a voyage between England and Nova Scotia it was sunk by a German U-boat. Thirty-seven crewmen perished, including 17 Jews.
During the 1930s the Lod (Lydda) airport was built to receive international flights. Arab saboteurs attacked the airport in October 1938.
Polish Airlines plane's arrival at Lod
"Building at the Lod airport, which was burned in an attack on
the night of Oct. 15-16, 1937 during the Arab rebellion"
Dedicated in honor of the 30th Anniversary of our "Coming Home" -- S & L1
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Rishon LeZion, "the first to Zion" (a phrase from the book of Isaiah) was actually the second -- the second Jewish agricultural community formed by the Jewish Zionist movement in the late 19th century. Rishon was founded on July 31, 1882 by Russian settlers who had purchased 835 acres from the Arab village of Ayun Kara.
Rishon LeZion kindergarten (1898)
credit: Rishon LeZion Museum
Rishon's synagogue, built in
1889. It looks very similar to
Zichron Ya'akov's synagogue
built in 1886. (circa 1898)
The Jewish settlement struggled at first until aided by Baron Edmund de Rothschild, a munificent philanthropist. Rothschild, who also helped establish the communities of Zichron Ya'akov and Rosh Pina, dispatched town planners and agricultural experts to help the new community. He planted vineyards and established the Carmel winery in Rishon in 1886.
Carmel Steet in Rishon, the
winery is the large building
on the left, built around 1890
Rishon's architect and his home
View Rishon's Administration
building here (circa 1898)
Rishon LeZion claims many "firsts." According to the Rishon municipality, the school in Rishon was the first to use the Hebrew language in its curriculum in 1886. The Jewish national anthem Hatikva was written in Rishon by Naftali Hertz Amber in 1883.
The winery's cellar (circa 1898)
Rishon (circa 1920)
The American Colony photograph collection in the Library of Congress contains scores of photographs of the wineries in Rishon and Zichron as well as the work in the vineyards.
Visit of British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel 1920
View visit of Lord Balfour in 1925 here
According to the Library of Congress captions, the American Colony photos on this page were taken between 1898 and 1934. We suggest that many were taken closer to to 1898 because of the photographic methods (glass, stereograph) and the style of dress.
In 1917, World War I swirled around the residents of Rishon LeZion as dug-in Turkish troops in Ayun Kara fought New Zealand forces moving up the coast with the British army. Kiwi veterans of the battle of Ayun Kara left behind moving descriptions of the battle and photographs of Rishon residents.
"Children of Zion 1917" photo taken by a New Zealand
soldier, Charles Bloomfield. "Jewish children and their
teachers assemble for a photograph in front of the
schoolhouse." Donated by Bloomfield's family in
2008 to the "New Zealand Mounted Rifles"
The following morning the village of Ayun Kara was reported clear of the enemy, and, with a company of “Camels” on the left and the 1st Light Horse on the right, the brigade moved forward towards Jaffa, meeting with no resistance.
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on the captions to view the original pictures.
On the way they passed through the village of Richon le Zion, where for the first time they met Jews. One member of the community was a brother of Rabbi Goldstein, of Auckland. The joy of these people at being freed from the tyranny of the Turks was unbounded. They treated the New Zealanders most hospitably—an exceedingly pleasant experience after the tremendous effort they had just made, and the harsh hungry times spent in the south with its hostile Bedouins.1
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The city of Aleppo is one of the oldest in the Middle East. Over the centuries it was captured and ruled by the Egyptians, Hittites, Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Umayyads, Abbasids, Mamluks and Ottomans. 
The Aleppo Citadel (circa 1870) by French photographer
Félix Bonfils (1831-1885)
"Poor Jewish family in Aleppo" (circa 1912)
See also here
Full of ancient archaeological sites, including the famous Citadel, Aleppo was named a World Heritage Site 25 years. The Citadel is one of the world's largest castles, with parts dating back 1,000 years.A Jewish community existed in Aleppo for almost two millennia. The "Great Synagogue" dated back to the fifth century and stored one of the most important Jewish Biblical texts, the Aleppo Codex.
When the UN voted for the 1947 partition plan establishing a Jewish state, anti-Jewish pograms were launched against the Jewish community. Some 6,000 Jews emigrated.
The city of Aleppo seen from the Citadel
(circa 1912)
A commercial center and home to two million inhabitants, Aleppo today is ablaze, suffering under the Syrian regime's savage attack. According to the UN, 200,000 residents fled the city in recent days.See a tribute to the people of Damascus here.The Library of Congress archives contain dozens of antique photographs of Aleppo, many of them dated between "1898 and 1946," the years the American Colony photographers were active. More likely, the pictures were taken during 1903 or 1912 expeditions to Syria by the American Colony photographers.
The photograph at the top of the page was taken approximately 140 years ago by the French photographer Félix Bonfils (1831- 1885). Several of his pictures can also be found in the Library of Congress archives.
"One of the finest mosques
and the citadel in Aleppo"
(circa 1912) See also here
Aleppo this week (VOA News) 0
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"The Jews' Wailing Place" (circa 1860) A version of this article appears in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, July 27, 2012
This high-resolution photo of the Kotel was taken by Peter Bergheim (1813-1875), one of the first resident photographers in the Holy Land. He set up a photography studio in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem; his family owned a bank inside the Jaffa Gate.A converted Jew, Bergheim was well aware of the holy sites of Jerusalem. Three of his pictures were reproduced by the British Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Charles Wilson, who, in 1864, was one of the first surveyors of Jerusalem -- above and below the surface of the ground.
To put the photograph in chronological perspective, the picture was taken when Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States, Queen Victoria was in the middle of her reign, and disciples of the Gaon of Vilna had finished building the "Hurva" synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City.Besides the massive American Colony Photographers’ collection of more than 20,000 photos (taken between 1898 and 1946), the Library of Congress archives also contain ancient photos by 19th century photographers Bonfils, Bergheim, Frith, and Good.
Until now, the Library has not opened these photos to online viewers, citing copyright restrictions. At the request of this writer, the Library has assured that within days several of these historic photos will go online with no restrictions and with truly unusual resolution. They will, of course, also appear on these pages.
A similar perspective of the Kotel taken by the
American Colony photographers 80 years later
(circa 1940)
Photograph (1869) by French photographer Félix
Bonfils (1831-1885) who opened a studio in
Beirut in 1867. Might this be a self-portrait?
(Ken and Jenny Jacobson Oriental Collection,
Library, Getty Research Institute)
Click on photographs to enlarge.
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A version of this article appears in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, July 27, 2012
Jewish men sitting on the ground at the "Wailing Wall" (circa 1935)
The ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av -- Tisha B'Av -- is the day in the Hebrew calendar when great calamities befell the Jewish people, including the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, the fall of the fortress Beitar in the Jewish rebellion against Rome in 136 CE, and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. The day is commemorated with fasting, prayers and the reading of Lamentations. In Jerusalem, thousands pray at the Kotel, the Western Wall.
"Devout Jewish women" at the Wall (circa
1900). One of the two women on the left
is wearing a traditional Arab embroidered
dress. We suggest that the two women
in the black cloaks were companions
or care-givers to the Jewish women.
View another photo of devout women here
The American Colony photographers frequently focused their cameras on the worshipers at the "Wailing Place of the Jews." The Colony founders who came to Jerusalem in 1881 were devout Christians who saw the return of the Jews to the Holy Land as a sign of messianic times.
Of the dozens of pictures at the Kotel there are several of elderly men and women sitting on the ground or on low stools, customs of mourning practiced onTisha B'Av.
"A Jewish beggar reading at the Wailing Wall" (circa 1920).
Note others sitting on the ground. The day is almost
certainly Tisha B'Av and he is probably reading the
book of Lamentations.
Jews straining to see the Western Wall
(circa 1929)
"Jews' wailing place without mourners.
Deserted during 1929 riots."
See another view hereOther pictures presented here show the very narrow and confined area of the Kotel over the ages until Israel's army captured the Old City in 1967 and enlarged the Kotel plaza.
The tragedies that occured to the Jewish nation are also evident in the pictures of the deserted plaza after Arab pogroms in 1929. The area was deserted, of course, during the 19 years of Jordanian rule of the Old City when Jews were forbidden to pray at the site.
A story is told of Napoleon passing a synagogue and hearing congregants inside mourning. To his question who they are mourning, he was told they were weeping over the destruction of the Jewish Temple 1,800 years earlier. Napoleon responded, according to the legend, "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt."Dedicated in memory of Chaim Menachem ben Levi0
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Clarity of words and terminology is often the first casualty in political conflict. That is certainly the case in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Using the geographic terms "Judea and Samaria" today is often mistakenly attributed exclusively to Jewish residents of the "West Bank" or their advocates.
"A [Arab] wedding procession in Judea. Palestine" (1903)
The Library of Congress' photo archives prove otherwise.
"A [Arab] wedding procession in Samaria" (1903)
These 1903 pictures of an Arab "wedding procession in Judea, Palestine" and an Arab "wedding procession in Samaria" use the correct geographic names of the region -- well before the British Mandate, before the political division of the west and east banks of the Jordan River, and before the Arab-Israeli conflict.2
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Pre-Tisha B'Av feature
Jewish Quarter Street (1934-1939)
We found this picture to be an incredibly engaging portrait of an old Jewish man with his cane and tallit(prayer shawl) leaving prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem, most likely coming from the Western Wall. The subject, light and lines make it a beautiful composition.
The picture was taken between 1934 and 1939, according to the Library of Congress caption.
Jewish men in Hassidic Sabbath garb
in the Jewish Quarter
Researching the picture in the Library of Congress online archives, we then discovered a series of pictures taken in the Jewish Quarter alleyways. Some of the pictures are of the same man with the cane, a photographic study, apparently, of a Yemenite Jew.
The same Yemenite Jew
with his tallit walking down
the stairs. Also here
The American Colony maintained a special relationship with Jerusalem's Yemenite community starting in 1882.
Other pictures in the American Colony collection show Hassidic Jews (of European origins) walking on the steps of the Jewish Quarter in the 1930s.0
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23
A Digression: With Sympathy for the People of Syria, We Present Antique Pictures of the Shelling of Damascus in 1925
After World War I and the defeat of the Ottomans, the Kingdom of Syria was placed under a French mandate in 1920.
Destruction in Damascus, 1925
French troops and their machine guns
in Damascus
An ambulance cart moves across a
public square covered with barbed wire
The mandate was divided into six fiefdoms -- the Jebel Druze, Greater Lebanon, the Sanjak of Alexandretta (Iskenderun today), an Alawite State, the State of Damascus and the State of Aleppo. Eventually, Lebanon was granted its independence in 1943 and Alexandretta was ceded to Turkey in 1939.In the early summer of 1925, a Druze leader named Sheikh Sultan al-Atrash led a full scale revolt against the French across Syria. The French brought in reinforcements and heavy weapons and by October 1925 were shelling the city of Damascus. The American Colony photographers took pictures of the aftermath.
"Al-Atrash and his warriors" in Transjordan (circa 1926)
Al-Atrash was defeated and fled with his rebels south to Transjordan. The photographers followed him and took portraits of him and his fighters.
Statue of al-Atrash in Druze town of
Masedeh on the Golan Heights
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Click on captions to view the original pictures.
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The dream of establishing a university in Jerusalem had been expressed already in the 1880s.
Laying the foundation stone for Hebrew University, July 24, 1918
Finally, just seven months after World War I and the defeat of the Turkish-German army in Jerusalem, the foundation stone for Hebrew University was laid on Mt. Scopus on July 24, 1918.
Chaim Weizmann, the man who became Israel's first president 30 years later, was in attendence. So was Gen. Edmund Allenby, the commander of the British forces who captured Palestine.
More pictures and details can be found in an earlier posting, "Great Moments in Hebrew University's History."
British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel
(left) and Winston Churchill planting a tree
at Hebrew University site (1921)
Lord Balfour inaugurating Hebrew University (1925)
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21
Anniversary of the Bombing of the British Military Intel HQ in the King David Hotel 66 Years Ago Reposting an essay from one year ago
On July 22, 1946, the Irgun resistance organization blew up a section of the King David Hotel, killing 91 British, Arabs and Jews. The Library of Congress - Matson collection includes several pictures of the bombing's aftermath.
King David Hotel 1946
Those photographs pretty much marked the end of the Matson Photo Service's 65 years in Jerusalem. According to the Library, "In 1946, in the face of increasing violence in Palestine, the Matsons left Jerusalem for Southern California."
The attack still raises the question of the involvement of the Jewish underground in terrorism.
King David Hotel 1946
The following appeared in Myths and Facts, 1989, written by the publisher ofIsrael Daily Picture.
The King David Hotel was the site of the British military command and the British Criminal Investigation Division. Two events led the Irgun commanders to choose the British military headquarters as a legitimate target.
On June 29, 1946, British troops invaded the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and confiscated large quantities of documents. Simultaneously, over 2,500 Jewish leaders from all over Palestine were placed under arrest. Not only were the documents of crucial importance to the Jewish liberation movement, but papers on Jewish agents in Arab countries were also confiscated, endangering vital intelligence activities. The information was taken to the King David Hotel.
King David Hotel 1946
One week later, Palestinian Jewish anger against the British and their blockade of Palestine grew. Word arrived of the massacre of 40 Jews in a pogrom in Poland; 40 Jews who might have been saved had the doors to Palestine been opened for the survivors of Hitler's concentration camps.On July 22, the Irgun planted bombs in the basement of the hotel. Several calls were placed warning the British to evacuate. They refused. For decades the British denied that they had been warned.In 1979, however a member of the British parliament introduced evidence that the Irgun had indeed issued the warning. He offered the testimony of a British officer who heard other officers in the King David Hotel bar joking about a Zionist threat to the headquarters. The officer who overheard the conversation immediately left the hotel and survived.
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19
Antique Pictures of the Western Wall to Be Released Online. How Antique? Think Abe Lincoln's Days
Review of the Library of Congress' photo archives revealed pictures of Jerusalem dating back to the 1860s, but they have not been digitalized like the approximate 20,000 pictures taken by the American Colony photographers years later.
"The Wailing place of the Jews"
With the help of the dedicated Library of Congress archivists,Israel Daily Picture will post these pictures in the next few weeks. The pictures will be available online with incredible resolution and free of copyright restrictions.
Meanwhile, in the days leading up to Tisha B'Av, the day Jews around the world mourn the destruction of their Temples, we present a section of one of those rare pictures from the 1860s --almost 150 years ago.1
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In the pantheon of Zionist and Israeli historical heroes several names stand out -- Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Weizmann, Ben-Yehuda, Jabotinsky.
Pinchas Ruttenberg 1879 - 1942
Missing from that list is Pinchas Ruttenberg. Pinchas Who?
Ruttenberg. The Russian revolutionary who ran with the likes of Lenin and Trotsky, a prisoner of the Bolsheviks who immigrated to Palestine in 1919, co-founder of the Haganah defense forces, and and founder of the Palestine Electric Corporation in 1923 who established electric plants across Palestine. And a man relatively unknown.
Ruttenberg's Naharayim hydroelectric plant at the
confluence of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers (circa 1932).
In the early 1920s Ruttenberg joined with Zev Jabotinsky to form the "Haganah" Jewish self-defense militia to protect Jews in Palestine. When Jabotinsky was arrested in 1920 for defending Jews in Jeusalem, Ruttenberg took command. In the 1921 Arab riots Ruttenberg commanded the militia in Tel Aviv.
In 1923 Ruttenberg founded the Palestine Electric Corporation, securing financial support for his electrification plans from the wealthy Rothschild family and political support from British Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill.
Constuction workers building the
power plant (1927). View workers'
dining hall here.
Ruttenberg's pilot project, launched in 1927, was a power plant at Naharayim at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers. The land was located on the Transjordan side of the rivers, and the construction was carried out with the approval and assistance of Emir Abdullah. Security cooperation between the Arab Legion and Ruttenberg's security force (to protect both the plants and the power lines) was vital in protecting the building project during the 1929 Arab riots in Palestine. The Hashemite ruler attended the inauguration of the power plant. On the eve of the 1948 war, Abdullah met with the Jewish Agency's Golda Meir at Naharayim to explore avoiding hostilities, but to no avail.
Power plant's Sluice gate from
the Yarmuk River
Ruttenberg's company would go on to build power plants in Haifa and Tel Aviv, and the Palestine Electric Company would eventually become the Israel Electric Company.
Emir Abdullah starting up the turbines as Ruttenberg
watches (1932). Also see Abdullah here
During the 1948 war Ruttenberg's security forces were integrated into the Haganah. But the Naharayim power plant, located just across the frontier in Transjordan, was overrun by the Jordanian Legion and ceased operation. The power company lost almost one-quarter of its output until the Tel Aviv and Haifa plants came on-line.
After the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty in 1994, the grounds of the Naharayim facility were converted to the "Peace Island" park, a symbol of coexistence between the two countries.
In 1997, a Jordanian soldier opened fire on a group of Israeli school girls visiting the Naharayim Peace Island, killing seven.
King Hussein and Prime Minister
Netanyahu visiting a grieving family
Many Israelis will never forget the image of King Hussein of Jordan, Emir Abdullah's grandson, visiting the girls' grieving families in Beit Shemesh to express his condolences.
Click on a picture to enlarge. Click on a caption to view the original picture in the Library of Congress collection.
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The American Colony photographers were based in Jerusalem, but they roamed throughout Palestine between the 1890s and 1946. Their pictures record the history of the land from Metulla to Be'er Sheva, Tel Aviv-Jaffa to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
The Library of Congress caption reads "Jaffa" and that the
picture was taken between "1898-1946"
These Christian photographers captured on glass plates and film the Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael decades prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.
This picture provides an example. Labelled simply "Jaffa," the photo is dated between "1898 and 1946," the years the American Colony Photo Department was active in the Holy Land.
But there's much more in the photo beyond the two obviously Orthodox Jewish men walking in Jaffa. We can even narrow down the date of the picture.
The picture could not have been taken during World War I when the Turkish rulers expelled the Jews of Jaffa and hundreds died.
The two men are walking along railroad tracks which appear incongruously to be laid through a Jaffa alleyway. Actually when the Jaffa-Jerusalem railroad was inaugurated in the 1892 there was a spur that continued from the Jaffa train station down to the Jaffa dock (see adjacent postcard).
The rail line into the Jaffa Port (Cairo Postcard Trust)
But the men are not walking on the rails laid during the Turkish rule. Those rails were "standard gauge," at least one meter apart, and indeed in the old postcard people are shown walking two abreast. The rails around Jaffa were ripped out by the Turks during World War I for use elsewhere in the Palestine war effort. One can surmise that they left the wooden railroad ties.
In the photo above, only one of the Orthodox Jews can walk between the rails. The line was 60 centimeters wide, a fact that dates the picture to post-December 1917, when, with the port beyond the range of Turkish artillery, the British built a narrow-gauge track along Raziel Street, probably using the wide Turkish ties, to move supplies from the port. The narrow gauge tracks operated until 1928.2
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From the earliest days of photography, the Western Wall has been a favorite subject for photographers. The Wall or Kotelwas always a magnet for Jews who came to pray at the remnant of the Temple retaining wall. On the other side of that Wall once stood the Holy of Holies.
Jews at Western Wall (circa 1917). Note presence of women,
Ashkenazi Jews with the fur hats, and Sephardi Jews with the fez.
During Arab riots in the 1920s and during the Arab revolt (1936- 1939) Jews were often attacked in the Old City.
Orthodox Jews on the way to
the Western Wall (1934-39) and here
That's why this set of the American Colony's photographs of the Old City is so unusual. It shows Jews walking to the Western Wall between 1934 and 1939 "on their usual Sabbath* walk to the Wailing Wall," according to the caption.
The subjects hide their faces because of their desire to avoid being photographed on the Sabbath.
Little girl at "Jews wailing place" (1934-39)
Possibly because of the dangers there are few women or non-Orthodox worshipers in this set of pictures. Yet, one little blond girl appears in two of the pictures.
Little Jewish girl walking in the Old City
(in circle)
Click on picture to enlarge.
Click on caption to see original.
To maintain order in the Old City, the British police established gun positions and built walls to separate Arabs from the Jews. In 1929 and again in 1939 the British evacuated Jews from the Old City.
"Sand bags used by police in Jewish
Street" in the Old City
Sealed passageway in the Old City and here
But the American Colony photographers still found pious Jews who continued to flock to the Western Wall, and their pictures are presented here.
Jews in the Old City, walking back from prayers at the
Western Wall (1934-1939) and here
Sabbath walk in the Old City and here 
The Western Wall deserted during visit
of British General, 1936 "Palestine
Disturbances"
In 1948, the Jordanian Legion captured the Old City of Jerusalem, imprisoned or expelled all of the Jews, and destroyed the Jewish Quarter. Jews were not permitted to visit the Western Wall until 1967 when the Israel Defense Forces reunited the city.
*(Actually, the pictures were probably taken on a Jewish festival. Many of the worshippers are carrying prayer books and bags which some wouldn't normally do on the Sabbath.)
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Iraq and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, and indeed, some 20 years ago Saddam Hussein was firing Scud missiles at Tel Aviv and Haifa during the Gulf War from the H2 base in western Iraq.
Haifa port today
Laying the Iraq-Haifa pipeline in the Jezreel Valley (1933)
Today, however, The Times of Israel reports, Iraq is importing and exporting products through Haifa's port via Jordan. According to the report, "trade expert Matanis Shahadeh told Al-Jazeera that from Iraq’s point of view, the Iraq-Haifa route is much more direct and cost-efficient than the alternative maritime route through the Persian Gulf."
Iraq Petroleum Co. tractors with Mt. Tabor in the background
Today's Iraq-Haifa connection is history repeating itself.In the 1930s two Iraq Petroleum Co. (IPC) pipelines were built from Kirkuk in Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea. At French insistence, one was built through Syria and Lebanon ending in Tripoli.
Great Britain insisted on a pipeline through Palestine ending in Haifa. One of the pumping stations for the Haifa pipeline was designated Haifa 2 or "H2" -- the same infamous location used as a Scud missile base.
Iraq Petroleum Company oil tanks at Haifa (1937) The "IPC terminus" in Haifa Bay (1935)
IPC inaugural ceremony (1935)
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10
The Turkish Naval Base at the Dead Sea during World War IPart 2 to a Previous Posting on Weapons Found at the Dead Sea
Last week we posted a feature on the origins of a cache of antique German weapons found recently at the Dead Sea. The posting showed pictures of a World War I Turkish naval base and abandoned Turkish defense lines at the Dead Sea.
Unloading grain at the Dead Sea (1917)
Turkish delegation received at Dead
Sea dock (1916)
The Turks' "Dead Sea Flotilla" (1917)
Towing barges of wheat (1917)
Shipping grain from the south end of
the Dead Sea to the north. No roads
connected the north and south parts
of the Dead Sea shores
As evidenced in these American Colony-Library of Congress album pictures, the Dead Sea was a major supply route for the Turkish army between eastern and western Palestine, particularly after Britain and its allies blockaded Mediterranean ports.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Click on the captions to see the originals.1
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The Library of Congress photo archives contain dozens of old pictures of Syria. Some of them were taken 100 years ago in 1912 by the American Colony photographers who left Jerusalem on an expedition to Syria. The pictures and their travelogue appeared in the 1913 National Geographic article, "From Jerusalem to Aleppo."
Damascus (photochrome, circa 1890), also here (1860), and
Tomb of Saladin here (1870)
Other photographs in the Library of Congress collection were taken by early film pioneers Felix Bonfils and P. Bergheim in the 1800s.
Aleppo (1912) and here (1936)
In February 2012 we published our first tribute to the brave Syrian people under siege in Hama and Homs. We little expected that the massacres and oppression by the Assad regime would still be going on six months later.
"Busy scene on the Orontes River," water wheel in Hama (1912)
Orontes River, Homs (1912) 0
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This picture was taken by the American Colony photographers sometime between 1934 and 1939.
Why is this house in the middle of the road?
The caption reads, "Jewish house blocking asphalt highway between Yehudieh and Tel Aviv."
Enlargement
Any suggestions? Submit your ideas below in the comment section. (Online version)
Kudos to our comment senders. In your honor a screen capture from the movie Sallah Shabbati:
Sallah Shabbati about to leave in the middle of the road
a wardrobe closet he was paid to move2
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7
The Jewish Valero Family Owned the Land outside of Damascus Gate. Antique Photos Show What Happened to It
By some accounts, the Valero family arrived in Jerusalem in the 18th or 19th centuries from Turkey. Researchers have even suggested that the family were once conversos -- secret Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity in Spain. They later traveled to Turkey and returned to their Jewish faith.
Chaim Aharon Valero
(1845-1923)
In Jerusalem, the family took up residence in the Old City of Jerusalem . According to a monograph by Hebrew University's Prof. Ruth Kark and Joseph Glass, Ya'akov Valero arrived in Jerusalem in 1835 from Istanbul. Originally a ritual slaughterer, Valero opened a private bank -- the first in Palestine -- in 1848, located inside the Jaffa Gate in the Old City. When Ya'akov died in 1874, the banking and real estate enterprise was eventually taken over by his son Chaim Aharon.
Damascus Gate and Valero property
to the right of the gate (circa 1898)
Among the Valeros' land holdings were tracts outside of the Old City on Jaffa Road, the area that eventually became the Mahane Yehuda market, the grounds of the Bikur Holim hospital, and several acres around Damascus Gate, a hub of commerce in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Construction of the row of Valeros' shops outside Damascus Gate
(circa 1900). The domes of the Hurva and Tifferet Yisrael
synagogues are on the horizon on the left of the picture
Prior to World War I Chaim Aharon built and leased stores at the entrance of Damascus Gate, seen in the pictures below.
Another view of the shops. See also here
In the 1930s, the British authorities ruled that the area should be zoned for use as "open spaces" and they demolished the shops in 1937. The Valeros were not compensated.
Demolition of the Valero shops (1937), and here
Another view of the demolition
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Last month Israeli newspapers reported on the discovery of a huge cache of guns, bullets, artillery shells and mines in the Dead Sea. Speculation suggested that the weapons belonged to the German army during World War I and were dumped in the sea. The salt water preserved the weapons which were exposed as the Dead Sea waters receded.Guns revealed as waters receded. (Ynet,
photo by Yoav Zitun)
Photographs in the Library of Congress - American Colony collection erase all speculation and show that the Turkish-German army was well dug-in along the shores of the Dead Sea. The weapons are certainly theirs.
A British soldier looks over the Dead Sea shore from captured
Turkish trenches (1918). View another picture of
Turkish defense lines here
World War I was not only fought in Europe; the war was waged in the Middle East for four years and was conducted from the Suez Canal, all the way north to Damascus and east to Amman. After a slugfest in Gaza, the British army captured Beersheva and then Jerusalem in December 1917. But major battles continued in Palestine in 1918 along a line from Megiddo in the west, through Nablus in the northern hills, and to Jericho in the Jordan Valley.
Turkish naval officers at their Dead Sea
base
Turkish boat being transported to
the Dead Sea (circa 1917)The Dead Sea served as a major artery for the Turkish-German armies, sending ships back and forth from eastern Palestine (later "Transjordan") to western Palestine. In early 1918, according to one account, Australian fighter planes raked Turkish ships carrying grain and hay for the Turkish army and effectively put an end to the Turkish naval activities on the Dead Sea. British engineers with German POWs "boatbuilding" (1918),
posed in front of the "Adela"
Several pictures in the collection show German prisoners of war in front of a ship bearing the name "Adela" on the shores of the Dead Sea.The boat, quite possibly captured from the Turks, was named in honor of the wife of the British army's commander, General Edmund Allenby.Another photo of the ship, dated 1919, shows a wide-range of soldiers -- British, Indian, Australian, and perhaps others.
A collection of soldiers from around
the British empire (March 15, 1919)The photo may reflect the fact that the "Western Front" war in Europe was not going well for Britain, and some 60,000 British soldiers were redeployed from Palestine to France. Their replacements included Sikh and Gurkhan troops, as well as Jewish volunteers who joined after the 1917 Balfour declaration. See the call for Jewish volunteers below.
British recruitment poster directed at
Jews. See the poster in Yiddish here and
another poster here
According to the Library of Congress, the poster is entitled, "The Jews the world over love liberty, have fought for it & will fight for it ... enlist with the infantry reinforcements"
The poster shows a soldier cutting the bonds from a Jewish man, who strains to join a group of soldiers running in the distance and says, "You have cut my bonds and set me free - now let me help you set others free!" On the top are portraits of Rt. Hon. Herbert Samuel, Viscount Reading, and Rt. Hon. Edwin S. Montagu, all Jewish members of the British parliament. The poster lists at the bottom the commander, Captain Isador Freedman, headquartered on St. Lawrence Blvd in Montreal.2
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We recently posted a feature on a "streamroller" in the streets of Jerusalem."Steamroller (sic) in Jerusalem" with U.S. and
Turkish flag outside of the Old City's Jaffa Gate
We received this clarification from the folks at the British Road RollerAssociation.
My colleagues have responded that this is not a Steam Roller; it's an American-built Austin motor roller with two somewhat narrow flywheels (in the style of much later A&P motor rollers) - and I would therefore assume the flag denotes its origins. It's thought to be from around the time of WW1.2
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26
The Jewish State in Formation Required Major Industries. The Dead Sea Potash Works Was One of Them
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Jews of Palestine were employed in agriculture (oranges, wheat, dairy cows, etc) and small industries (textiles, edible oils, furniture, etc).
Palestine Potash Company on the shore of the Dead Sea
(c 1937). Note the airplane, upper right corner of picture.
Unlike other areas in the Middle East, large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were never found. While no "black gold" was pumped from beneath the ground, a "white gold" was mined from beneath the water.
In 1930, a major industry was launched on the barren shores of the Dead Sea, the Palestine Potash Company. Established by Moshe Novomeysky, the company was responsible for approximately half the worth of all of the exports of the Jews of Palestine by 1940. During World War II, the company provided Britain with half of its potash. (Potash is not only used in fertilizer. In World War II, it was a vital component in the fuel used by combat aircraft.)
Dead Sea 100-ton barge. View another
mining picture here
Dead Sea housing on the northern shore.
Note how close the buildings are to
the water line (1931). Since then, the
shoreline has receded hundreds of yards.At the time, the only route to the Dead Sea was overland via the Jerusalem-Jericho road or by boat to Trans-Jordan. Potash mined on the southern shore was loaded on barges and shipped to the northern facility where it was loaded on trucks. Until a workers' settlement was established in the north, workers traveled from Jerusalem.
Dead Sea dining room and
security building (1931)
The remains of the dining room and
security building today (credit: Michael
Yaakovson)
The potash company expanded to the southern half of the Dead Sea in 1934 where there was more area for evaporation pans. The area was known as Sodom.
Remains of the housing today (credit:
Michael Yaakovson)
The violence of the Arab Revolt (1936-1939) also struck the Dead Sea enterprise. In September 1937 terrorists struck a truck convoy on the way toward Jerusalem. According to the British Mandate report for 1937:
"On the 16th, five trucks belonging to the Palestine Potash convoy were ambushed and destroyed on the Jerusalem-Jericho road and two Arab employees of the company were murdered."
One of the burned-out trucks
British military jeep passing the burned-out convoy of trucks (1937)
Guards at the Palestine Potash Company (1937) During the 1948 War of Independence, the Jewish workers of the Dead Sea facility in the north were evacuated. The site was looted and destroyed by local Arab and the Jordanian Legion.Today, the Dead Sea Works is part of the Israel Chemical Group which reported $1.3 billion in revenue in 2010.
The historic photographs presented here were part of an American Colony album produced for the Palestine Potash Company, and some 90 pictures can be viewed in the Library of Congress files.Michael Yaakovson visited the southern facility in 2009 and posted online an incredible collection of pictures of the abandoned camp. We thank him for permission to use some of his pictures.0
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"A Jewish colony" dated sometime between 1898 and 1946.
Where and when was the picture taken?
The buildings in the circles help identify the siteHere are more pictures from the American Colony collection datedbetween 1898 and 1946. Not only is the date uncertain, but so is the location of the pictures.
"Harvesting, Jewish colony" (1898-1946)
Note the ultra-Orthodox man under the
umbrella. In the Library of Congress
digital collection the two harvesting
pictures are adjacent to the large photo
of the horse and buggy on the top right
Using landmarks and comparing the horse and buggy picture to other photographs, we can identify the unnamed "Jewish Colony" and suggest a time and vicinity for the harvesting pictures.
"Jewish colony harvesting" (1898-1946)
Note the same machinery in the two
pictures
The photo of the horse and buggy on the top right was taken at the Mikve Yisrael Agricultural School, established in 1870, near what later became Tel Aviv. Note the building with the central chimney which appears in other photographs below. The "Jewish colony harvesting" pictures are located in adjacent files to the horse and buggy picture.
The American Colony photographers took dozens of pictures of the "Jewish colonies and settlements," no doubt reflecting their Christian "end-of-days" theology which supported the return of Jews to the Holy Land. The founder of the American Colony's photographic department, Elijah Meyers, a Jew from India who converted to Christianity, produced a photographic documentary of the Jewish communities already in 1897.
An earlier posting:
Training Israel's Farmers 140 Years Ago at Mikve Yisrael Agricultural School
Photo captioned "Mikweh"
Note the two buildings in the
buggy picture
In 1867, young residents of Jerusalem requested assistance from Jews in Europe in order to build outside the Old City walls. "We're not requesting charity," they wrote, "but work. Provide us the land, put in our hands the tools and send us the people who will teach us to work the land."
Mikveh Yisrael students
The Mikve Yisrael Agricultural School was the result.Pictured here (left) is the Mikve Yisrael wine cellar, built in 1883.
Founded in 1870 by Karl Netter of the French Jewish organization, Alliance Israélite Universelle, the school was allocated 750 acres by Palestine's Ottoman rulers. It was one of the first modern Jewish schools in Eretz Yisrael. 
"Mikweh" photo and the chimney
Wine cellar (1898)
The montage of the
two men.(Not from the
Library of Congress
collection)
The school was the site of the historic 1898 meeting between Theodore Herzl and the German Emperor, Wilhelm II. Herzl requested that the Emperor intercede with his ally, the Ottoman Sultan, to establish a Jewish state.
The famous picture of the meeting, however, is not real. The photographer (apparently not one of the American Colony photographers) "missed the shot" and created a photo montage instead.0
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21
Another Mystery Photo -- A Steamroller in Jerusalem Can You Suggest Why It Flies an American Flag?
The Library of Congress provides little information about this dynamic picture in Jerusalem.
"Steamroller on Jerusalem Street" is the caption
The picture's caption reads "Steamroller on Jerusalem Street."
The date of the picture is given as sometime between 1898 and 1946, nearly 50 years the American Colony photographers were active.
The steamroller is on the left side of the picture surrounded by a crowd. Why is it flying an American flag (alongside what appears to be a Turkish flag)?
As we researched, we discovered another photograph of the same vehicle. The second picture was taken outside of the Jaffa Gate, beneath David's Citadel.
Here is what we deduce:
Vehicle enlarged
- The first picture was taken on Mamilla Street with the vehicle heading away from the photographer. The photographer's back is to Jaffa Gate.
- The picture was taken during the Turkish rule of Palestine, sometime in the early1900s and before automobiles were introduced. Only horse-drawn wagons are on the road.
- Perhaps the steamroller was a vehicle never seen before by Jerusalem's residents, and that would explain why all traffic stopped.
- Perhaps the American flag was being flown because the vehicle was an American gift or produced by an American company.
"Steamroller on street outside of Jerusalem
walls." (1898 - 1946)
Click on the picture to enlarge. Click on the caption to see the original photograph.
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New comments: Hat Tip to Reader Paul M! Read his comments below which explain the American flag and help date the picture.3
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Many of the kibbutz and moshav agricultural communities established in Palestine in the early 1900s were based on socialist ideals. A large number of the new settlers discarded the old religious traditions of their parents and ancestors.The blacksmith of Kfar Chassidim and former
resident of a Polish shtetl. (1935)
The fields of Kfar Chassidim, (c. 1935)
a community founded 10 years earlier
The ark in the synagogue
But the Zionist enterprise and the promise to return to the "holy land" also inspired ultra-Orthodox Jews in Poland to establish a farming community in Israel's north called Kfar Chassidim, or "village of the devout."Exterior of the synagogue
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on caption to see original photo
The settlers, many followers of the Kuznetz chassidic dynasty of Poland, first organized in 1922 while still in Poland. They purchased the land in Palestine and established Kfar Chassidim in 1924. But the land was swampland, and the community was hard hit by malaria and a lack of agricultural training.The blacksmith in his shop
The Jewish National Fund aided the community in drying the swamps, paid off their debts and sent agricultural experts to train the new farmers.
Today, the community has approximately 600 residents.1
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The caption on this picture from the Library of Congress' American Colony collection reads "Jews Carding Cotton" sometime around 1900 in Palestine.Jews carding cotton
What does carding cotton mean? How is it done?
Carding is a process of taking unprocessed fibers, such as wool or cotton, and untangling, cleaning and mixing the strands.
When done manually, carding was usually done with a brush-like tool, or "card." In the 18th and 19th centuries machines were invented to card fiber.
These Jewish men, however, are using another ancient method discussed inWikipedia:
Historian of science Joseph Needham ascribes the invention of bow-instruments used in textile technology to India. The earliest evidence for using bow-instruments for carding comes from India (2nd century CE). These carding devices, calledkaman and dhunaki would loosen the texture of the fiber by the means of a vibrating string.
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13
How Strange Does the American Colony Story Get? Meet the Founders' adopted Jewish son, responsible for one of the most incredible archeological finds in Jerusalem in 130 years
Meet Jacob David Eliahu, born in 1864 to Turkish Jewish parents in Palestine.Jacob Eliahu Spafford
Jacob and his parents were converted to Christianity by the "London Jews Society," a missionary group that started in London's East End and established a mission hospital in Jerusalem in the mid-1800s. Jacob was born in Ramallah where his mother went to escape a cholera epidemic in Jerusalem.
Spafford picnic (1902). Jacob is believed
to be in the middle with a dark shirt.
At the age of 17, Jacob went to live with the founders of the American Colony, Horatio and Anna Spafford, who had just arrived in Jerusalem. The Christian utopians, who had tragically lost five children to shipwreck and disease, adopted Jacob.
Jacob appears in numerous Spafford family pictures and is credited with using his many languages (English, Spanish, Swedish, Arabic and Hebrew) and business skills to guide the American Colony community through an incredibly difficult period in Palestine marked by war, famine, and a locust plague.
Jacob with his two Spafford sisters
and unknown girls (circa 1900)
Hezekiah's inscription. The original tablet
was chiseled out and taken to the Istanbul
Museum (Credit: Tamar Hayardeni,
Wikipedia)
According to the Library of Congress, "Jacob continued to join [Jewish] relatives for Jewish holidays and observances while serving in a long and highly respected leadership capacity in the American Colony."
As a "local," Bible-steeped young man, Jacob was certainly familiar with the man-made underground water channel discovered in the 1830s from the Gihon Spring to the Silwan pool in Jerusalem.
But it was young Jacob who is credited with recognizing beneath centuries of silt an ancient chiseled tablet on the wall that dated the tunnel to the 8th century BCE and confirmed the massive engineering feat of King Hezekiah.
The inscription reads:
- ... the tunnel ... and this is the story of the tunnel while ... the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut? ... the voice of a man ... called to his counterpart, (for) there was ... in the rock, on the right ... and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits. and 100?cubits was the height over the head of the stonecutters ...
From a family album: "Uncle Jacob Spafford,
adopted son of Horatio and Anna Spafford,
formerly a Jew called Jacob Eliahu."
Plaque dedicating a wing in Jacob's
memory at an
American Colony orphanage
Jacob Spafford's grave on Mt. Scopus 1
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There are many pictures in the American Colony collection that are simply not well captioned. Kudos go to the curators at the Library of Congress for digitalizing and cataloging the 22,000 photos they received from a California old age home. But, in some cases, they may have had trouble putting all of the puzzle pieces back in place.
"Triumphal arch" in Jerusalem, sometime between 1898 and 1946
Where? Why? When?
Here's an example of another mystery photograph that this website attempts to decipher. The photo is set somewhere in Jerusalem, sometime between 1898 and 1946, the period when the American Colony's photography department was active.
"Triumphal arch"
The photo is accompanied by a second photograph with the same caption "Triumphal arch" and the dates of 1898-1946.
Now we fill in the blanks: The picture was taken in 1898. The arch was built in honor of the Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II. The location was Nablus Road, a few hundred meters north of the American Colony's home. The second "Arch" picture was probably taken from the American Colony's upper floor and may be a photo of the Emperor's procession.
The Emperor's arrival in Jerusalem, riding on his white horse.
The building on the right is the American Colony's residence.
Note the minaret in this photo and the second "Arch" picture.
View another picture of "The Kaiser in front of our house."
This website has published other photos of events on Nablus Road in a posting "Nablus Road: Where History Marched."
View the "Arch" picture below with other Nablus Road pictures. We have marked in a box a group of houses with distinct roofs in several of the pictures.
Click on the picture to enlarge. Click on the caption to view the original photograph.
Note the roofs, arch and crooked
telegraph pole on the left
"Turkish soldiers marching on Nablus Road past the
American Colony." Marked are the same arches, roofs and
crooked telegraph poll (between 1898 and 1917)
Jewish children's procession on Nablus
Road on Lag B'Omer, 1918. Note the
distinct roofs on the left
Several "triumphal arches" were built in honor of the German Emperor, including a very elaborate structure built by Jerusalem's Jewish community, replete with Torah crowns and curtains from synagogues' Torah arks. 
British army towing artillery on Nablus Road
during World War I (1917-1918)
The arch built by the Jewish community of Jerusalem (1898) on
Jaffa Road. View photo essay on the arch here. The Emperor's
arrival was on the Sabbath, but the Jewish community and
its rabbis turned out.0
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Like the American Colony collection, the Central Zionist Archives (CZA) has many 100-year-old pictures of key events in Jewish history in Eretz Yisrael. One person, however, apparently got past the photographers of the American Colony, usually featured in this space.British commissioner Samuel (center), Chief Rabbi Kook (in fur
hat), and Mendel Kremer in white suit (1925). Who was this man?
Central Zionist Archives, Harvard
In several CZA pictures, usually in the background -- Forest Gump-like -- stands a stout man identified as Mendel Kremer. Who was he?
Advertisement for Kremer's pharmacy
on flyer at the Jerusalem railroad
station (1898) Central Zionist
Archives-Harvard
Kremer in Turkish
uniform (1910)
Central Zionist
Archives, Harvard
Kremer was an alleged agent and informer who first worked for the Turks and then the British. He was considered a hated moser who turned over his co-religionists to the authorities, according to some accounts.Reports claim that he was directed by the Turks to spy on Theodore Herzl during his 1898 visit to Palestine and was even authorized to arrest Herzl if his presence led to disturbances. In his diary, Herzl noted Kremer's presence.Mendel Kremer was born in Minsk in the 1860s and moved with his family to Palestine in 1873. He opened a pharmacy in Meah Sha'arim in Jerusalem in 1890.Kremer, in suit, with other veterans of
the Turkish army (1927) Central
Zionist Archives, HarvardKremer worked for some of the early Hebrew newspapers which probably served him well in providing information to the Turkish authorities.
Kremer with his Turkish
medals of honor Central
Zionist Archive, Harvard
Dov Ganchovsky, an Israeli journalist and chronicler of Jerusalem stories, suggests that Kremer was actually a double-agent and on occasion assisted the Jewish community.Kremer with chief rabbi Yaakov Meir
(1925) Central Zionist Archives,
Harvard
When the Turkish Pasha plotted to kill the manager of the British-Palestine bank, Ganchovsky wrote, Kremer warned the manager and smuggled him out of Jerusalem to Jericho. Subsequently, Ganchovsky recounted, the manager's daughter confirmed the story. A woman claiming to be Kremer's granddaughter also contacted the reporter to thank him for "saving my grandfather's honor."
When Kremer died in 1938, the newspaper Davar reported that Jerusalem lost one of its most known figures. The obituary referred to Kremer's experience with Herzl and his work with the Turkish and British police. The latter attended his funeral.1
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Skim through the pages of Israel Daily Picture and you will see dozens of pictures of Yemenite Jews, some dating back more than 100 years. The photographers of the American Colony clearly enjoyed taking their portraits.
"Arab Jew from Yemen" (circa 1900)
We recently discovered why.
Yemenite family (circa 1914)
The American Colony was a group of utopian American Christians who moved to the Holy Land in 1881. The leader of the group, Horatio Spafford, believed that "the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem was a sign of the imminent second coming of Jesus," according to the Library of Congress curatorof a recent exhibit.
"In May 1882," the Library of Congress exhibit reported, "the Spaffords met a group of impoverished Yemenite Jews recently arrived in Jerusalem. The Yemenites had come from their homes in southern Arabia because they believed that the time was right after thousands of years to return to the land that had been Israel. Impressed by their sincerity and claim to be descendants of Gad, a founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Spaffords housed and fed them until they could establish themselves in Jerusalem. In appreciation the Gadites bestowed a blessing on the Spaffords, which was recorded in [the family] Bible."
The "Gadite" (Yemenite) prayer in Spafford's Bible, 130 years ago
Prayer of Jewish Rabbi offered every Sabbath in Gadite
synagogue, June 27?: He who blessed our fathers Abraham,
Isaac & Jacob, bless & guard & keep Horatio Spafford & his
household & all that are joined with him, because he has
shown us mercy to us & our children & little ones.
Therefore may the Lord make his days long...(?) and may the
Lord's mercy shelter them. In his and in our days may Judah
be helped (?) and Israel rest peacefully and may the
Redeemer come to Zion, Amen.
A Yemenite Jew standing above the
village of Silwan. The Yemenites lived
in caves there upon their arrival in 1882.
(circa 1901)
Yemenite Jew at Yemin Moshe project in Jerusalem (1899)
Yemenite Family (1911)
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