23 paper items, most of them letters, documenting the living conditions of the Palestinian Jewish refugees in Egypt; sent to Yehoshua Gordon, a Zionist activist and the secretary of the Refugees Administration of the British government in Egypt. Alexandria, Cairo and Port Said, ca. 1915-1918. Hebrew, English and French.
When the Ottoman Empire joined World War I, alongside the Central Powers, all subjects of the Entente Powers in Palestine became enemy subjects and were required to accept Ottoman citizenship or leave the country. In the winter of 1914, Jamal Pasha ordered the deportation of all Russian subjects to Egypt; hundreds of residents of Jaffa and Tel-Aviv were taken violently from their houses and deported to Egypt on board of the SS Florio. In Egypt, an "Aid Committee for the Exiles of Palestine and Egypt" was established to support the refugees. The British-Egyptian authorities also helped the refugees, housing them in large facilities where they could maintain their community, cultural and educational systems.
The items before us document the hardships of the exiles, their poverty, and how difficult it was for them to make a living as well as their hope to return home and their efforts to establish Hebrew-national life on Egyptian land.
Among the items:
• Letters to Yehoshua Gordon by David and Ya'akov Marcus; handwritten, some on the official stationery of the Refugees Administration (of the British Government). The letters, which were sent to Gordon during ca. 1915-1918, contain reports about events in Egypt and the living conditions of the Jewish refugees. One of the letters describes the arrival of refugees of the Armenian genocide in Alexandria.
In a letter from September 1915, David Marcus describes the arrival of two new refugee ships in Alexandria and writes: "the old hope of organizing Hebrew institutions in Alexandria was reborn. The thirst to do something returned" (Hebrew). Later in the letter, Marcus relates the establishment of a first, temporary, committee of the Jews of Alexandria: "Yesterday a temporary committee was established, with five members and two advisors, whose goal is to organize the Hebrews that are located in Alexandria for everything that belongs to the national-Zionist 'trio': country, nation, language" (Hebrew).
In a letter from October 1915, Ya'akov Marcus reports on Hebrew lessons in Alexandria.
• A letter by Bezalel Yaffe, handwritten on the official stationery of the Repatriation Committee Jaffa. In the letter, Yaffe announces that "the Repatriation Committee wants to visit the places where there are still residents of Jaffa, to arrange their return…" (Hebrew).
• Three receipts of the Port Said Hebrew Association 'Herzlia'; a French booklet issued by the association (1915); and a French handwritten letter on the association's official stationery.
• And more.
Yehoshua Gordon (1885-1943), a member of a family of pioneers, founders of Rechovot, studied at the London University and was involved in Zionist activity in England. When he returned to Palestine, he received British citizenship and during World War I, was appointed an official of the British Government in Egypt, serving as the secretary of the Refugees Administration. Due to his ties with the British, he succeeded in greatly assisting the Palestinian refugees in Egypt. He founded the "Herzlia" Hebrew school in Port Said and taught Hebrew there. He was also involved in establishing the Zion Mule Corps in Egypt and active in the camp of Armenian refugees who were brought to Port Said from Musa Dağı. After the war, he returned to Palestine and when it was conquered by the British was appointed liaison officer between the British military government and the Jewish Yishuv.
23 items. Size and condition vary.

A varied collection of 27 printed items, letters and photographs related to the Jewish Legion. Various places in Palestine, the 1910s and 1920s (one item from Vilnius, 1930).
Among the items:
• Six photographs: photographic portrait of the Jewish Legion founder Ze'ev Jabotinsky, wearing its uniform; photographic portrait of the Jewish Legion commander John Henry Patterson, wearing its uniform; photograph of volunteers on a train from Jerusalem to the Sarafand camp (photographer: Ya'akov Ben Dov); two photographs of Chaim Weizmann flying the flag of the Jewish Legion during a ceremony of returning Torah Scrolls to Tel Aviv in 1918; and more.
• Five handwritten letters, written on the official stationery of the Legion (differing from each other): three letters by Jewish Legion soldiers (Hebrew. One of them long, with an interesting description of daily life in the Legion); two letters by a Jewish woman to her husband who was a soldier of the Legion (Russian. Printed on one of them, in red ink: "Magen David Adom").
• Invitation card and entrance ticket to "A reception in honor of the Jewish soldiers at the British camp, who will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Rosh HaSahana holiday". [1918].
• Program for "The New Year of the Trees, 'Neter Forest', Tu B'Shvat [1920]… with the participation of the first Hebrew Legion".
• "Prayer and thanksgiving for the bringing of the flag of the 40th battalion of the Royal Fusiliers to the 'Beit Ya'akov' great synagogue in Jerusalem, on Thursday, the sixth of Hanukkah… (December 17, 1925)". [Jerusalem]: "Hamadpis" Press, 1925.
• Micrographic portrait of Ze'ev Jabotinsky wearing the uniform of the Legion. Text: from his personal memoirs. Mounted to a thick cardboard plate, signed in the plate: "N. Kopolowitz" (Yiddish), and dated 5690 [1930], Vilnius. Yiddish. Handwritten inscription on verso.
• And more.
Enclosed: A postal envelope marking 40 years to the foundation of the Zion Mule Corps.
Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Military Handbook on Palestine. Second provisional edition, March 10, 1917. Cairo: Government Press, 1917. English.
Military handbook (classified as "secret" on the front cover and title page), printed for the soldiers of the British army before the conquest of Palestine. The handbook contains chapters on the climate, the population, a list of water sources, a list of railway routes and stations, buildings suitable for lodging soldiers during battle, common diseases, Turkish money, weights and measures, and more. It is accompanied by thirteen maps of Palestine, some of them in color (two of them large and placed in a pocket on the back cover).
Not in OCLC or NLI.
VIII, 222, [1] pp + [11] maps (some of them folded) and [2] folded maps in a pocket on the back cover, approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Several pages and some of the maps are stained, creased and have minor blemishes. Long tears to one of the large maps, mostly along fold lines. Worn and slightly rubbed cover.

Draft Mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine, as Submitted for the Approval of the League of Nations. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1921. English.
A booklet containing the draft mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine, submitted for the approval of the Council of the League of Nations by Lord Balfour on December 7, 1920.
The Mandate for Palestine includes 27 articles relating, among other things, to the following: creating the political and economic conditions that will enable the establishment of a national home for the Jewish nation while maintaining the civil and religious rights of all the residents of the country; allocating lands for Jewish settlement; creating a functioning governance system – laws, economics, foreign relations, maintaining the public order, protecting the holy places, protecting the freedom of conscience and freedom of religion; ensuring the status of English, Hebrew and Arabic as official languages; and more.
Formulating the Mandate for Palestine took two years and on July 24, 1922, after corrections and revisions, it was accepted by the Council of the League of Nations and became an internationally binding document.
9 pp, approx. 33.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Horizontal fold line on all the leaves. Tears along edges (including several open tears, not affecting text). The first and last leaves are detached.