Lot 144
Letter from Alexander Zaïd - Shepherds Group in Sheikh Abreik
A letter, handwritten by Alexander Zaïd. Addressee: Moshe Zmiri. Sheikh Abreik (Jezreel Valley), November 17, 1934. Russian with a few words in Hebrew.
The letter, written mostly in Russian, with several Hebrew words, deals with the intention of JNF (and its representatives Weitz and Stern) to expropriate about 110 Dunams of Zaïd's lands for establishing settlements (among them the settlement "Kfar Hasidim"). Zaïd pleads Zmiri to go to Sheikh Abreik hills to assist in plowing the land together with the "Shepherds Group" staying there, and asks him to tell Berl Katzenelson "to stop the provocation on the part of Weitz, namely that 'Mizrahi' and others will not touch our lands, otherwise there will be physical violence and a fight".
Alexander Zaïd (1886-1938) - a prominent figure of the Second Aliyah and an exemplary figure among the defense and guarding organizations in the Yishuv period; one of the founders of the defense organizations "Bar Giora", "Hashomer", "Hakibbutz" and "Agudat Hashomrim". Made Aliyah to Eretz Israel by himself in 1904. In 1926 he moved to Sheikh Abreik in the Jezreel Valley, where he was employed as a guard on behalf of JNF and lived in a farm which he built by himself. In 1936 he discovered the antiquities of "Beit Shearim". Zaïd was murdered on July 11, 1938 (during the Arab Riots) when he was on his way to Kvutzat Alonim. In 1942 the murderer was captured by Palmach people, sentenced in a field court, and executed. [1] folded leaf (4 written pages), 21 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Ownership ink-stamp.
