Lot 95
Fifteen Letters from David Ben-Gurion
Fifteen letters from David Ben-Gurion. Various addressees. One letter from 1929, one from 1947, one letter is not dated [1940s] and all the other letters are from the 1950s and 1960s.
Amongst the letters: a letter to Knesset Member Elimelech Rimalt, a letter to Knesset Member Peretz Bernstein, a letter to the secretary of the Histadrut Mordechai Namir, a letter to the secretary of the Government Ze'ev Sherf, a letter to the deputy Minister of Agriculture Yossef Efrat, a letter to the author and poet Avraham Shlonsky, a letter to Knesset Member Beba Idelson, and more.
One letter is not complete but on the two remaining leaves appear some interesting ideas: "horrible dangers are foreseen – from terror in the country, from the deviant … against the British Mandate, rising anti-Semitism in the world, Nazism – but I do not know any danger which is more bitter and horrible and risking our movement – the moral failure of the Israeli worker, destroying unity and inner tranquility…"
In a letter to the Minister of Welfare and Religions, dated March 1954: "it is unacceptable that people of Nahalal will sit in Nahalal and that people of Tirat Zvi will sit in Tirat Zvi. They all have to leave their settlements, which are full of memories, and merge with the new immigrants and settle with them. All this in order to pass on to them the cultural, professional and social richness which they inherited from their parents. This knowledge should become now public domain. What we are obliged to do now – is to develop and settle our barren land”.
In a letter to Knesset Member Elimelech Rimalt: ”No prime minister in the country learned it at his parents’ home, and can be substituted by another. But a nation you cannot substitute, and unfortunately our nation is a multi-party nation…”
In a letter to the secretary of the government Ben-Gurion writes: “When I immigrated to Eretz Israel about fifty years ago I had a modest goal: to do physical work and build our homeland. Unfortunately some public roles were imposed on me”.
Six of the letters are in Ben-Gurion’s handwriting; all the others are typewritten and signed by Ben-Gurion (a handwritten addition on one letter).
Size and condition varies. Overall good condition. Filing holes, folding marks and spotting. Ink stamps and short, handwritten, comments.