Page 56 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20
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felt deeply betrayed by the Labour I am kneeling in the middle. In the summer of
government. This was in the days before 1942, I was 11 years old.
there was a “Habonim Bayit” – it opened the Also, in the photograph are Zena Mendick,
year before I went on Hachshara.
who married Lionel (Shalom) Holland, (later
Even the first Habonim activity I attended in Amiad), Klelie Fluss, and others from
1941 was a reflection of the war. We went as Edinburgh. I believe most of them eventually
a group for a few days to Polton House. This went on Aliya.
was a large house, not far from Edinburgh, Camps were held separately for the Bonim
that housed a group of refugees from Europe. and Tsofim age groups. After the war, the
It was a sort of pre-Hachshara, where the summer camps were combined with those of
members of the group did agricultural work. English Habonim
They were young people between the ages of
14 and 17, who had arrived with the
Kindertransport. I remember working in the
fields picking strawberries and being so
exhausted that I could not keep my eyes open
for an evening of talk and music. There was
quite a bit of contact between Polton House
and the Movement (see, “The Forgotten
Kindertransportees: The Scottish Experience”
by Frances Williams).
The first real Habonim camp I attended was 1957 Opening of the Glasgow Bayit,
in 1942. Scottish Habonim camps were held 6, Sinclair Drive
at Blairgowrie or Auchterarder, some 50 Glasgow in those early days had its own
miles from Glasgow. My madrich was Robert shaliach! All the chaverot were in love with
Weber (later of Bet HaEmek,) The attached him. He organised the peleg from 1943 to
photograph is priceless, the only one I am 1946. This was the mythical Wrocz, the first
aware of. Robert is fifth from the left,
of a long list of shlichim from the Yishuv. He
was an inspiring shaliach and also helped
organise the summer camps. Habonim had
tremendous support from the community, an
active Va’ad Lema’an Habonim, with quite a
number of notable citizens, including Misha
Louvish, who later became a journalist and
translator in Israel and Harold Levi, whose
Hebrew text we would use.
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