A. '1919, David Nahum – my brother' (Nahum Dovrin)
B. '1925, Haifa, the railway station, measurements at the Akko Valley' (Mila sitting on the left)
C. Devise for measuring Jordan River's altitude where it originates in Lake Kinneret
D. With friends (Mila sitting second from the right)
E. 'In working clothes, near the Naharaim power station'
F. 1930, assembling generators
G. 1940, 'Illegal immigrants' ship, Tel Aviv'
When Ehud Dolev found a tin box of cigars from the British Mandate era among his late grandfather's belongings, he was surprised to discover a large treasure: Old photographs documenting the life and work of his grandfather, Mila (Yerahmiel) Dovrin.
Mila was born in 1905, the fourth of the six children of the Dovrin family from the city of Kiev. The family members were Zionist Jews, and were persecuted by the Czar authorities over these activities.
In the early 1920s, as the winds of revolutions began to blow in Russia, Mila's eldest brother, Nahum, was jailed for his Zionist activity. The family then decided that it was time to immigrate to the Land of Israel.
The family arrived in Israel in 1924 and settled on Mount Carmel. Mila, who studied engineering in Russia, began working as a ground measurer with Yehoshua Hankin in the Hachsharat Hayeshuv company.
One day, while engaging in measurements for the Tiberias-Tzemach Road in the Jordan Valley, Mila met Pinchas Rothenberg, who asked him to join the team building the power station in Naharaim as a measurer and mechanic. Mila agreed, and resided in Kibbutz Gesher throughout the years the factory was being built.
During the War of Independence, Mila served as a platoon commander and took part in the battles for the release of Haifa and Akko. He was one of the first workers at the Namlit cooperative, where he worked as a mechanic for many years. He died in 1983.
Mila Dovrin wrote some explanations on the photos found in the cigar box. Here are the pictures and their original captions.
1. The cigar pack from the British Mandate era in which the photos were found
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