"Yom HaChayal HaYehudi" [Jewish Soldier's Day], poster issued by the National Committee for the Jewish Soldier. [Palestine], 1941. Design: Franz Kraus (signed in the plate and in handwriting).
Poster for the Jewish Soldier's Day held in April 1941. The illustration, depicting a Jewish soldier wearing a British Army helmet, was created by Franz Kraus after a photograph by Alfons Himmelreich. The poster is signed by Kraus, in pencil (in the lower right corner, beside the printed signature).
Jewish soldier's Day, in honor of the volunteers of the Jewish Yishuv to the British Army, took place in Palestine three times, during the years 1941-1943. The day was announced by the National Committee for the Jewish Soldier together with the Jewish Agency and the National Council. Over the course of the day, there were parades, public meetings, sports competitions and other celebrations. The events of the day were used also to raise funds and assist the soldiers' families.
Approx. 60.5X92.5 cm. Good condition. A few stains. Minor creases and blemishes to margins.
Provenance: The Raphael Grünzweig Collection.

"Your brother in the Diaspora, in the camps and on the roads needs a Hebrew book, give him one of your books / A Book for the Diaspora" (Hebrew), a poster calling to donate books for the Jews of "She'erit Hapletah". [Jerusalem]: Lit. Offset "Graphica" Press, [second half of the 1940s]. Design: Emanuel Grau.
A poster encouraging the donation of Hebrew books to the Jews "in the Diaspora, in the camps and on the roads". The poster was designed by Emanuel Grau, a graduate of the Department for Applied Graphics of Bezalel and one of its teachers. The illustration on the poster depicts a hand giving four youths a book titled "Ivrit" ("Hebrew"). Addresses for sending the books, in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Haifa, are printed on the bottom of the poster.
Approx. 46.5X69 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Small tears to edges, restored with acid-free tape on verso. Inscription in felt-tipped marker on verso.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Three posters promoting the learning of Hebrew, two of which were designed by the Shamir Brothers. Israel, [1950s].
1. "Hebrew, a Bridge to Life in Israel", illustrated poster by the "Information Service - Ministry of Education and Culture". Government printer's press, surveyor's department, [ca. 1950]. Design: Shamir Brothers.
Fine illustration of a large bridge passing over a tent camp, village houses and urban houses - a metaphor for the Hebrew language that serves as a bridge between the different immigrant groups. On the bridge is the title "Hebrew, a Bridge to Life in Israel" (Hebrew), and, at the bottom of the poster: "Sign up today for evening classes in Hebrew".
2. "One Language - One People, for you and your children, learn Hebrew!", illustrated poster issued by the "Information Service - Ministry of Education and Culture". Government printer's press, surveyor's department, [1950s]. Design: Shamir Brothers.
3. "The Workers' Organization Calls: Join the Language Learning Operation", poster issued by the General Organization of Workers in Israel, the Executive Committee. "Grafika Bezalel" press, Tel Aviv, [1954]. Design: Eliyahu Vardimon.
Color illustration depicting the figure of a new immigrant bent beneath a stone, and a "sabra" leaning to lighten the load.
Approx. 70X48 cm (the third poster is slightly smaller). Good overall condition. Fold lines and minor creases. A few stains. Small tears along edges.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

A Simchat Torah flag. Linocut by Salamon Yedidya (Seelenfreund). Jerusalem: Y.C. [Chaim Yehoshua] Kasovsky, "Beit Yisrael"; Y. Heilpern Press, [1923].
A swallowtail flag, printed in blue. One side is divided into two strips; on the upper strip are a Torah Scroll with a crown, flanked by angel wings, in front of the rising sun. On the lower strip are heraldic lions supporting a Star of David enclosing the Hebrew word "Zion". Alongside the traditional inscription "Zot HaTorah asher sam Moshe Lifnei Bnei Yisrael" (This is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel) appears an inscription of a more Zionist nature – "For our people, our country and our Torah" (Hebrew). The other side of the flag depicts a dove carrying in its beak a branch with the inscription "Sissu VeSimchu BeSimchat Torah" (Rejoice and be happy on Simchat Torah), in leaf-shaped lettering, alongside seven stars (following Herzl's suggestion for the Zionist flag), a Sukkah, the four species and a sheaf of wheat. The flag is signed in the plate "S. Yedidya".
This flag, which combines traditional and Zionist themes, appeared in 1923 on the last leaf of the newspaper "Al HaMishmar" edited by A.Z. Ben-Yishai and published in Jerusalem, alongside "user instructions": "To the Hebrew children in the diaspora! Like your friends in Palestine, you too in the diaspora, shall raise on 'Simchat Torah' only the Hebrew flag" (See: "The Flags of Simchat Torah, from Popular Jewish Art to Hebrew-Israeli Culture". Tel-Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 2012. p. 21).
Salamon Seelenfreund (1875-1961) was born in Hungary. When he was about 16, he left Szeged to Budapest to build his life as an artist. He studied at the School of Arts of the city and later also in Rome, Paris and Germany. When he returned to Hungary, he founded a workshop and became known as a master craftsman and art teacher; he was even invited to design and carry out the decoration of the new Neolog synagogue in Szeged, inaugurated in 1903. Later he held a solo exhibition and participated in group exhibitions in Szeged (1910) and Budapest. In 1921, he immigrated with his family to Palestine and founded a workshop in Jerusalem, later settling with his family in the colony of Beit Tulma in Emek HaArazim. During the 1929 Palestine Riots, the family escaped in time and was saved; however, the house and all that was in it – plans, works of art and equipment – was burned and anything that remained was looted. In the following years Yedidya lived alternately in Tel-Aviv and Givatayim; many of his works were destroyed when his house suffered a direct hit in the Egyptian aerial bombing during the War of Independence.
As a calligraphy artist, much of Yedidya's work focused on the Hebrew letters, which served him as raw material for creating decorative shapes and models inspired by the tradition of Jewish art. For additional information about him, see enclosed article by Timnah Rubinger, published by the Memorial Museum of the Hungarian Speaking Jewry.
21.5X28.5 cm. Good condition. Small tears, some of them reinforced with tape.