Page 31 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19
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what was the purpose - he knew perfectly well, crossing borders in Europe daily, carrying huge
what the case contained. Nevertheless, he was amounts of money and forged passports, for the
insistent and so I opened the case... and to his Jewish underground movement. Jail was the least
obvious dismay and mine, all the tubes of paint, of their worries; their lives were literally at stake.
large and small, together with brushes of every Now I refer to my efforts in this grey area of
size and my palette, flew into the roadway. It must spooks. They concerned a shaliach, Rafi Thon.
have been a hilarious sight to see the burly Rafi was born in Palestine and was previously a
sergeant and me desperately trying to retrieve the member of Kibbutz Maoz. At the Northampton
whole shebang, while trying to avoid being run- Seminar, he had lectured to us on the Arabs of
over.
Palestine and our land-purchase there, from
“The police, however, were actually not entirely knowing much about the subject from his father,
ignorant of the Movement’s clandestine activities. who was one of the foremost Jewish land-buying
The police had placed Habonim and Hechalutz agents in Palestine. One day Rafi Thon gave me
offices under surveillance. Shmuel Hatzor and the instructions, which were very hush-hush. In some
shlichim were frequently aware of being followed part of London, I was to meet a Jewish taxi driver
by detectives, who on more than one occasion - every taxi driver in London seemed to be of the
intimated that they knew of the illegal activities of Jewish faith and without exception, a convinced
the Movement.”.... “Issy Devons (then head of Zionist. I was told that he would drive me to one
Hechalutz), claimed that ... the police ... explicitly or two chemist shops, distanced well away from
stated their sympathy for the group’s desire to each other. At these chemist’s, with due
immigrate to Palestine, (and) proved that the precaution whatever that was, I was to try to
police were fully aware what was going on. It purchase a role of “Velox” film - or any other
seems that as long as the Press did not publish the make of film - if I could. In those days, everything
story, the British authorities preferred to ignore or nearly everything was still rationed. After each
what was a potentially embarrassing situation”. purchase or not, I was to change taxis and repeat
(See “The History of Habonim 1929-1955”). the same procedure - over, and over again,
throughout the day. Only then, was I to continue
Acknowledged as an artist in early 1947, it was
assumed that I knew everything about to the next phase.
photography. Actually, the extent of my Late in the night, I recall, it was dark and raining
knowledge was the ability to place my eye at the (it usually is), I was taken to an underground
right aperture on a Kodak box camera. Issy basement that contained a camera on a tripod. An
Devons and Rafi Thon, a shaliach who was then old gentleman showed me how to focus the
head of Haganah in the UK, recruited me, without camera on pages of a military weapons-manual
being given the possibility of saying yay or nay. held down on a table by large spring clips. After
This is how it was in those days - the Movement the first weapons-manual of some ten pages, I was
was sacrosanct! One accepted everything one was to photograph an even thicker one. The films were
asked to do and thought it a privilege and an developed and sent to the Haganah in Palestine.
honour to be chosen. In addition, if I sound Leila Pearlman was one of those who carried a
flippant now, it was not the case in my Movement film in a talcum tin. After a few months, I was
days. I realize now in hindsight, how truly relieved of this “spooky” business.
dangerous the job was.
This period of my Movement work, from 1946,
If I had known that other chaverim were until Gussie and I went on Aliya in October 1949,
undertaking much more dangerous assignments, was most dramatic - with at least 100 chaverim
perhaps I would have been less apprehensive. For leaving on Aliya Bet (most of them landing up in
instance, Joe Rifkind and Levi Genislav were the British camps in Cyprus); the White Paper; the
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