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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'

The treasure in the cigar box

After Mila (Yerahmiel) Dovrin's death, his grandson found an old tin box containing a treasure: Photographs documenting his grandfather's life while taking part in building Pinchas Rothenberg's power station in Naharaim

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


 

2. 1925, "Measurements in Akko" (Mila sitting on the left)


 

3. 1925, on the right: "Measurements at the Akko Valley, view of Akko" (Mila standing second from the right); on the left: "Measurements in Akko with Levin" (Mila standing on the right)


 

4. 1929, "Naharaim"


 

5. 1932, "Naharaim's workers, foremen and their assistants in building the factory, on a train to Haifa, Friday" (Mila standing on the right)


 

6. 1927, "A 7-ton Kato crane, the biggest in the country. I was its mechanic, for dismantling and assembling the machines for the Naharaim factory. Operating the machine at 3 am…"


 

7. 1929, "Naharaim"


 

8. 1928, "Naharaim, the main and last dam before the station"


 

9. "Part of the Naharaim power station"


 

10. 1929, on the right: "The waterwheel's wings on blocks of wood, during the assembling. The water turned the wheel, which activated the generator 8,000 horse-power"; on the left: "The Naharaim power plant hall before the machines were assembled. A 60-ton crane for the putting together the machines."


 

11. Assembling the rotor of one of the three generators


 

12. 1930, "Hefer Valley, a place of drilling in search of water"


 

13. Passover, April 14, 1946. On the right: "Afula, wedding day, with Moshe and Malka" (Malka is the sister of Sonia, Yerahmiel's wife); on the left: "Afula" (In the photo: Yerahmiel and Sonia)


 

14. Naomi (Yerahmiel and Sonia Dovrin' daughter) and her cousin Ruthie

 

  • For all trips to the past – click here

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.14.09, 10:14
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