Approx. 45 "Shanah Tovah" (Happy New Year) greeting cards from soldiers of the Palestine Regiment and the Jewish Brigade and female soldiers of the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). Late 1942 to late 1946.
Most of the cards bear the emblem or name of the unit, company or corps to which the writer had belonged – usually accompanied by a Star of David – and a short greeting for the New Year. On several of the cards, maps, illustrations or photographs were printed, some of them are simple and symbolic while others are detailed and well-executed, reflecting the technical means that were at the disposal of the unit. Many units and companies which served in a variety of capacities and fronts in the Middle East and in Europe are represented in this collection. Some of the cards note the location as "somewhere".
When the Jewish volunteers from Palestine served in the Palestine Regiment, before the establishment of the Jewish Brigade in September 1944, unofficial emblems were designed by the soldiers of the Jewish battalions themselves in order to emphasize their identity as Jewish soldiers and challenge the military authorities, which forbade the soldiers to carry Jewish flags and emblems. The emblems appeared on unofficial publications such as "Shanah Tovah" greeting cards and Haggadot, and to a certain extent, met the need of the Jewish soldiers from Palestine for self-identity and a flag.
Enclosed:
1. Printed "Shanah Tovah" postcard for the soldiers of the 88th infantry division of the USA army. Gorizia (Italy), the eve of Rosh Hashanah 1946.
2. Photographic "Shanah Tovah" greeting card from the DP camp of Grottaferrata in Italy. On the card, a montage of Jewish soldiers, a map of Palestine, the Arch of Titus and a sculpture of Moses, alongside Hebrew greetings of Happy New Year and "Long Live our homeland Israel!" (Hebrew). Late 1948.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Decorated wooden album binding made by a detainee in the detention camp in the Ayalon Valley (Latrun), 1946.
Wooden binding with a brown leather spine. The front board depicts a pair of chained hands holding a torch, drawn in black ink, the Hebrew letter "ש"; inscribed "From Joseph" (Hebrew). The back board depicts a detention camp – tin shacks, barbed wire and a watchtower, titled "Emek Ayalon". Dated (Hebrew) on the edge: "Adar II 5706". Single album leaf bound inside, inscribed: "To Shifra, for your twenty-second birthday. Loyally, from Joseph. […] in the Ayalon Valley, the seventh of Adar II 5706" (10.3.1946. Hebrew).
At least one additional work, also dedicated to Shifra and made (or ordered) by the same Latrun camp detainee is known of. See Kedem auction no. 68 item 48.
10X22 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes to binding and leaf. Stains to spine.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

A handwritten diary by one of the Exodus illegal immigrants. [Germany? ca. August-September 1947]. Yiddish.
The illegal immigrant ship SS Exodus (or in its Hebrew name – Yetzi'at Eiropa) left the port of Sète, France, in July 1947, carrying 4554 passengers, most of them Holocaust survivors. The ship was intercepted by the British and its passengers were sent, after a bitter struggle, to DP camps in Northern Germany. The high-profile struggle of the illegal immigrants was publicized worldwide; the public dismay at the way the British authorities treated Holocaust survivors helped turn public opinion in favor of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.
As evident from the diary entries, the events were recorded in the diary shortly after their occurrence, in DP camps in Northern Germany, where Exodus illegal immigrants were gathered, or aboard the deportation ship Runnymede Park, after the deportation from Haifa port.
The diary documents the story of the Exodus illegal immigrants chronologically and from a personal perspective: the departure from the port of Sète in France, arrival in Haifa port, embarking the deportation ship SS Runnymede Park, sailing to Port-de-Bouc in France and the long stay there (while the immigrants refused to disembark) and later, the trip from France to Germany (the diary ends when the ship crosses The Strait of Gibraltar on its way to Germany).
The author recounts his experiences and feelings using mainly plural form: "We reached Haifa on July 18th. While standing in the port we listened to the radio. They spoke to us in Hebrew and handed out leaflets in English and in Hebrew announcing that we would sail to Cyprus… who could have imagined!!! Unfortunately, we could only see Haifa from far away. With tears in our eyes we looked at the land we longed for but could not set foot in. We saw no civilians around us, only soldiers and more soldiers. With heads bent down, looking at the Holy Land, we embarked the Runnymede Park. I was one of the last passengers to embark, there was no place to sit, we were packed like herring in a small barrel” (p.4).
The writer continues to tell about the immigrants' refusal to disembark in France and the decision to start a hunger strike, as well as the decision not to allow pregnant women and children to disembark in Gibraltar; about the Red Cross physician who boarded the ship in France; about "Mordechai" (probably Mordechai Roseman, leader of the immigrants on the ship) and an address he gave to the illegal immigrants; about observing Shabbat on the ship; about journalists coming on board in Port-de-Bouc; about the flag the immigrants prepared and waved in front of the journalists in France – a British flag with a swastika ("we prepared a British flag with a swastika from a blanket, red toothpaste and condensed milk. The journalists immediately took pictures of it, and we celebrated in front of the English… we flew the flag continuously... The English looked on, grinding their teeth"), and more.
Enclosed with the diary is a full translation into Hebrew.
The diary is written in blue ink, in a notebook starting with Hebrew studying exercises (in pencil). [12] diary pages + [16] pages with exercises. Notebook: 11X17 cm. Fair-poor condition. Wear. Stains and tears. New paper cover; placed in an elegant case.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Wooden chess set made by Josef Rosenblum, a prisoner at the Atlit detention camp. Atlit, 1940.
A chess board and chess pieces in a wooden case inscribed with a dedication. The lid reads "S.I. Koegel / As a souvenir / by: Josef Rosenblum" (Hebrew). Additional inscription etched on the inside of the lid: "Made in Atlit 5700" (Hebrew). The black squares on the chess board and the black pieces were painted black, but the inscriptions, the place and the date, and chess board pattern on the lid were etched into the wood.
The "Bintivey Haapala" database lists Josef Rosenblum as an illegal immigrant who immigrated to Palestine on board of the illegal immigrant ship SS Hilda. The recipient, Koegel (Kogel) Shraga Iser (Filip) of Prešov, Slovakia, was also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda as well as a prisoner of the detention camp in Atlit together with Josef Rosenblum. After his release from the camp, he enlisted into the 51st Middle Eastern commando unit of the British Army and fought in World war II.
The SS Hilda left Sulina, Romania, in January 1940 carrying refugees from European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. The ship was intercepted by the British when arriving at the shores of Istanbul, held in high seas and after prolonged negotiations, during which the British threatened to deport the illegal immigrants to Paraguay, the ship docked in Haifa, where the women were taken to an immigrants' house while the men were sent to the detention camp in Atlit. The women were released after three weeks; but the detained men in Atlit remained there for about six months, during which they celebrated Passover, writing a special Haggadah telling their personal Exodus story – The Haggadah of the Atlit Illegal Immigrants, 1940.
The conditions in the British detention camps varied between camps; but in every one of them the problem of inaction and boredom was most bothersome. In many camps, the detainees kept themselves busy in various ways including handcraft and art. Art workshops guided by artists existed in several camps, including the detention camp in Atlit, where artist Isidor Ascheim, also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda, was active and contributed his talent to the Haggadah of the illegal immigrants of Atlit; alongside the "high" art, the prisoners at the various camps made an abundance of useful and decorative works of applied art with wood, stone and metal.
Sawn, glued, painted and etched wood; hinges and nails. Chess board: 33.5X34 cm. Case: 23.5X16X7 cm. One white piece is missing; replaced by a wooden cube. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes. Minor fractures. Stains.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.