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To Mishmar Haemek
The first water tower

85 years, one kibbutz

On its 85th birthday, we invite you to a trip in time through the history of kibbutz Mishmar Haemek

January, 1922. A group of pioneers, members of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement who have just made aliyah to Israel and are staying at a camp near Haifa, is dreaming to establish its own community in the north.

 

The exact location is still unknown, the name has not been chosen yet, but the objective has already been set – founding a new Hebrew community.

 

At the beginning they built roads in the north, planted the first JNF forests in the area, established the town of Afula and the Haemek Hospital, as well as the agricultural school for girls in Nahalal.

 

Later they dedicated themselves to the setting up of their new home – kibbutz Mishmar Haemek – at the foot of the Menashe mountains. This is how it all started:


First days on the naked hilltops of Mishmar Haemek. Right to left: Burya Leen, Adek Gordon, Yaakov Hazan, Mordechai Bentov


The high commissioner, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, in a visit at the Mishmar Haemek forest, accompanied by Mordechai Bentov, a future member of the first Israeli government


Time to plant a new orchard


The great Arab rising, 1936: Mishmar Haemek is surrounded by Arab villages and suffers from arsons, thefts and break-ins by the hostile Arab neighbors. The British police set up roadblocks to tighten security


August 1938: A gang of Arab rioters attacks the police station in Atlit. The Jewish police officer Lazirovitch and his family members are kidnapped, and the parents are murdered. Three days later, Lazirovitch's children arrive at the kibbutz gate and tell their story. The kibbutz adopts the children


April 1948: Commander of the Arab Liberation Army, al-Qawuqji, briefs his soldiers at the village of Mansi before the attack on Mishmar Haemek


The kibbutz following the attack of al-Qawuqji, who had been defeated


Hashomer Hatzair's first boarding school is being built in the kibbutz


Students exercise on the roof

 



Kibbutz life: Band on the harvester, below – Hashomer Hatzair members

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.03.07, 17:17
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