A huge collection of letters from Safed, Zichron Yaacov, Haifa, and Jerusalem from the War of Independence peroid

A huge collection of letters from Safed, Zichron Yaacov, Haifa, and Jerusalem from the War of Independence peroid

A huge collection of about 400 letters written between members of one family and saved, during the War of Independence in the years 1947 to the end of 1948 - the war and the liberation. Many letters were written by a nurse at the Hadassah Medical Association, Safed branch, known as Rahelka, describing the Safed front, as well as letters from family members who were at the time in Zichron Yaacov, Jerusalem and Haifa, describing the events of the war, the Arab attacks, the fallen, the fear of harm, The victory and joy in the streets and more. 

In her letters, the nurse describes, among other things, the course of the battles of the War of Independence, and in particular the details of what happened in Safed during the battles. The letters describe the shooting attacks on Safed, the lack of food, the rumors of the relocation of the hospital to Jerusalem, the recruits who did not know what happened to them during the war [for example, a letter from June 48 reads: We are very worried about you ... We are very much looking forward to the sign of life from you and from rdelka, and I hope we will receive the sign soon ..."], and in recent letters, the victory and the lifting of the siege on the city of Safed.

A letter dated 12/1/47 reads: "Congratulations, Hebrew state, finally ... We said goodbye without knowing that in an hour will be announced on the Hebrew state ... We returned home at 5:30 in the morning, the streets were full of people and beer and wines were distributed in abundance." A letter dated 5/11/1948 entitled "Safed: Liberation Day" reads: "A lot has happened to us here in Safed, this is besieged Safed surrounded by hundreds of Arabs, we were like a drop in the ocean. Today, the day of liberation and a little relieved, but much to rejoice is impossible ... There is no power and it is unbelievable that the siege has already been lifted, the shootings have stopped ... the people have not yet come out of the cellars ... Dear victims have fallen here in Safed and for its liberation, and so precious that joy can not be complete ... People here have dulled all emotions. .. Safed belongs to us it's a fact ... without a single shot ... in what situation we were 12 hours until we received reinforcements in people and weapons all this I will tell you when we met, while they were announcing in the newspapers and radio in "Safed is quiet", the city would be shot, grenades and shells, Arab radio Announced the conquest of Safed by the Arabs, 4241 Jews killed, apparently counted the number of shells that flew over the Jewish quarter for several days, and according to their account  every shell single killed one Jewish  ... ".

Letters written in Jerusalem during the War of Independence from the same family also describe the difficult events. For example, a letter from June 1948 reads: "You want to hear what happened to us, a somewhat difficult demand because who can describe it ... The last letter I received from you was shortly before the fall of Judah, so we were still complacent, stupid, or just plain innocent and we believed in "there will be good". Judah's death was in fact the first attempt of the cruel fate to put us face to face with the reality we were so afraid of ... we were amazed, we fell in our spirit, we almost gave up ... after two or three weeks we got used to it too, there was a friend - And no more! ... The front was still far away, we could still watch during the battles from "far" until the first shell fell next to us, right next to us, so we forgot Galilee and Negev, so we did not remember victims from Nabi Yehoshua and Negba, we saw people fall next to us , In our 4. Amot. We saw people with limbs amputated and crushed without knowing in the streets, on the sidewalks, on the roads we had to walk every day on the way to work and home ... the attack on Jerusalem came too early, even before we managed to recover from the fall of Gush Etzion, can you imagine for a moment what a falling bloc is? A block of 4 settlement points, containing about 400 isolated and detached fighters from everything, cries out for help and there is no ... we knew that none of the defenders of Kfar Etzion remained, of the other three kibbutzim few were taken captive, among them Benjamin Duvshani, whose brother Yehuda fell and he himself miraculously survived ... ".

A letter written in Haifa on April 16, 1948 reads: "Today I woke up to the voice announcing a curfew in Har and Hadar Carmel, and only later did I learn through the radio that the curfew was imposed due to the execution of four Israeli boys. The situation in Israel will be even worse ... tell it to her in Jerusalem ... The Greek and Roman Babylonians did more than those, they even moved a plow over the Temple Mount, desecrated and destroyed our temple, and changed its name to a foreign name. And again Jerusalem recovered and rose again, wrapped in thanksgiving and exclusion ... and may we be the capital and holy city forever! "

Among the letters can be found many with personal content between family describing the attempts to maintain a routine of life despite the fierce battles and the tense situation. Among other, some letters appear earlier from the early 1940s, and some later from 1950.

The collection has not been thoroughly reviewed by us. general condition very good