Page 10 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20
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flowing streams and well-organised fields. Kvutzat Kinneret, who had arrived from
They glimpsed maize growing to a height of Latvia with the Baltic contingent, the year
nine feet, and wonderful gardens and lakes. before. She was very successful there and
At Milan station, the police were all dressed everyone loved her. Conditions at Kinneret
in white. Shalom was upset that he only saw were hot and difficult. She shared a room
it for half an hour – it was like a wonderland with two other girls, and there was little
to him. privacy. Shalom and the Aliyah group lived
in bell tents.
In Trieste, they were met by the Jewish
Agency and Beth Olim officials. Shalom was Shalom and Leah married the following year
shocked that they spoke no Hebrew, only in the Jerusalem suburb of Makor-Chaim,
German. The group spent some days there. where Leah's sister Rivka lived. The family
The city was full of soldiers with rifles, was traditional orthodox. The wedding was a
swords and feathers in their hats (Alpine simple. A cheap ring was purchased.
troops?). Next door to Beth Olim was the According to Jewish custom, Leah quickly
Zionist HQ, with no decorations on the wall sewed together a white wedding dress. There
except for a photo of Signor Mussolini. was no wedding reception – no one could
Everybody spoke Italian. Shalom found a girl afford one, but Rivka prepared a modest
who spoke some Hebrew and was told this meal.
was the only Zionist Society in Trieste, When the new Olim first arrived in Kvutzat
although the city had 5000 Jews and 2 Kinneret, they were housed in tents. They
synagogues.
arrived on a Friday morning and the next day,
Shalom was overwhelmed by the sight of the they were already working. Shalom's work
S.S. Tel Aviv, the ship on which they were to that day was sikkul (removing stones). As he
sail. (The writer went through similar wrote “removing little pieces of Palestine
feelings of excitement and exhilaration when under the gaze of a Chaver with a rifle –
he sailed on the S.S. Moledet to Haifa in because of the Arabs".
1962). He could not get over being waited on On their second night there, the farm was
by Jewish stewards. It was as if the shackles attacked by local Arabs: “They didn't do
of the shtetl and having to look over one’s much damage and the attack lasted about 15
shoulder had been thrown away. The shock minutes. Our Chaverim gave them a volley of
came when they arrived in Palestine: The fire. The Arab bullets whizzed through the
police carried revolvers and the British Army bell tents and we were advised to evacuate –
was armed – very different from the streets of which we did in our pyjamas. We crawled on
London and Manchester.
our bellies to the central house, the Chaverim
On arrival in Haifa, they were greeted by the calmly walking about as if they were going to
smells, the noise, the hubbub and a mob of plant cabbages." (September 8th, 1936).
welcoming people. The first person Shalom Guards were always on duty all night on a
met on the quayside was Leah Deutsch, a rota system. Some kibbutzim were under
beautiful girl of 23, a kindergarten teacher at
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