A. Meir Cucuy operating an excavator
B. Meir Cucuy
C. Near the family's Ford car
D. 1927, Shabbat, Aharon with friends near the Cucuy family in Akko
E. 1927, the plowing was performed with a Holt tractor. In the photo: Noa, Aharon and Asher
F. 1928, fixing the tractor in Kfar Baruch
The Cucuy family: Life in Land of Israel
Following failed attempts to dry up the land on leased agricultural ground, the Cucuy family members are forced to wander the country, earn a living from random land cultivation. Third and last article in series
In the third and last part of the series of stories dedicated to the Cucuy family, we follow the family members after they immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1922.
As said in the previous article, In January 1923 the head of the family, Asher Cucuy and High Commissioner Herbert signed a lease agreement for 420 acres near Akko.
Asher soon discovered that the land he leased east of Ein Hamifratz, near the Naaman River, was unsuitable for agricultural products. The land brought the family a lot of trouble and endless expenditures.
Until the mid 1930s Asher made many attempts to dry out the land, whose underground water was salty. He planted thousands of eucalyptus seeds, which were flooded each time, and built drainage canal leading to the Naaman River. But the mandatory drainage authority did not drain the Naaman and the water remained stagnant on the Cucuy lands.
The natural growth in the area could have been used for hay, but the Arab neighbors robbed the harvest. Asher asked the British police for protection, but they refused. He therefore stationed guards in his fields, and was once arrested for seeking to protect his property.
When the 1936 events broke out lives were in danger as well, and Asher decided to move with his family to Kiryat Haim.
In order to earn a living all those years, Asher purchased a Holt tractor from the war department in Jenin, a transportation wagon, a Ford van, 10 tin sheds, containers and tents.
With this equipment, the family workers would perform agricultural cultivation in many places, including Nahalal, Merhavia, Tel Adashim, Balfouria, Kiryat Tzrifin (Afula), Kfar Hittim, Tel Shamam (Kfar Yehoshua), Ein Bada, Kfar Baruch, Yesod Hama'ala, Ayelet Hashahar, Mahanaim and Karkur.
The family members would take their equipment to the places they worked in and spend the night temporary structures they brought along with them. On weekends, they would gather at the family house.
Asher and Etil Cucuy died in 1945 and are buried in Haifa's old cemetery. Their children scattered across the country, except for Leah who returned to Canada in 1942 to Asher's discontent. Shaul died of an illness at an early age in 1929. Today, the Cucuy family's third generation members and their offspring live in Israel and have filled the country.
1. While paving a road, on a pile of rocks. Sitting on the right: Meir Cucuy
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