An extensive collection of documents, photographs, philatelic items, works of art, immigration certificates to Palestine, propaganda publications and other items documenting the detention camps in Cyprus and the immigration of the detainees to Israel. Cyprus, Palestine, USA and elsewhere, ca. 1946-1949.
Including:
• Broadside issued by the "The Committee of the Hebrew Community of Haifa" protesting against the decision of the Mandate authorities to deport the illegal immigrants to camps in Cyprus[1946] ..
• Approximately 20 envelopes sent to and from detainees in Cyprus, some bearing Palestinian, Cypriot and other postmarks, and some bearing stamps of camp secretariats (Hebrew), stamp of the "Central Post Caraolos", and more.
• Letters by detainees of the camps in Cyprus and letters sent to them, including a telegram sent from Sweden to a female detainee at the Famagusta camp in Cyprus.
• Greeting cards and various publications of the "Committee for the Exiles of Cyprus".
• Receipts and documents for donation of funds, a book drive and other initiatives for the detainees in Cyprus.
• Membership cards of the Gordonia Young Maccabee movement and the "Poalei Eretz Yisrael" party at the camps in Cyprus.
• 13 illustrations and sketches made by detainees at the camps, including still-life exercises and portraits made by the students of Naftali Bezem's art workshop, illustrations documenting life in the camps and caricatures about the detainees' situation. These include works signed by artists whose works appeared in the album "In the Cyprus Exile" (see next item) – David Tashamovsky, Peretz Weinreich, Dov Roterman and others.
• A woodcut titled "Liberation Cyprus" depicting a Jewish family behind barbed wire, signed (in pencil) by the Jewish-American artist Leon G. Miller.
• Notebooks that were distributed by the Joint to the children of Cyprus (one containing a reading journal written by an illegal immigrant in the camps of Cyprus. German); a Hebrew textbook "for the children of Israel in the camps of Cyprus" (printed in Cyprus. Stamped with the stamp of the Joint); personal details questionnaire and knowledge assessment for the schoolchildren of Cyprus; school registration form for the children of the religious schools at camp 70.
• Commemoration leaf (taken from a booklet) in memory of Hashomer Hatza'ir member Shlomo Chaimson, who was shot during an attempted escape from a Cyprus camp.
• Ketubah DeIrkhesa (replacing a previous Ketubah that has been lost) written for the couple Yosef, son of Ya'akov and Chaya, daughter of Menachem Mendel at the "Jewish detention camp near the city of Dhekelia in the island of Cyprus". Stamped with the Hebrew stamps of the "Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus" and the "Committee of Rabbis of the Exiles of Cyprus". December 1947.
• Birth certificate for the birth of Sarah Shadlezki, the daughter of Yosef Shadlezki and Chaya Shadlezki, née Elmer (presumably, the same couple for which the aforementioned Ketubah was written), also issued by the "Chief Rabbinate of Cyprus" and the "Committee of Rabbis of the Exiles of Cyprus". September 1948.
• Six certificates for immigrants from Cyprus, issued by the immigration department of the Jewish Agency.
• Approx. 15 philatelic items bearing the special postmark "Welcome" (Hebrew), celebrating the closure of the Cyprus camps. The stamp depicts the map of Cyprus alongside ships flying the flag of Israel. January-February 1949.
• Approx. 50 photographs, mostly press photographs and photographs from private albums documenting the arrival of camp detainees to Israel in July 1948 and early 1949. A small portion of the photographs document life at the detention camps in Cyprus.
• And more.
Approx. 140 items. Size and condition vary.

A collection of over a thousand letters and documents documenting life in the colonies in Palestine and the early years of the State, many of them sent to or by Chaim Ariav (1895-1957), secretary of the Farmers' Union and director of The Association of Local Councils. Palestine, 1930s and 1940s (some earlier or later). Hebrew and some English.
Most of the collection consists of correspondence between Ariav and mayors or secretaries of colonies in Palestine: Petach Tikvah, Zichron Yaakov, Rishon LeZion, Rosh Pinah, Ness Ziona, Hadera, Mazkeret Batya, and more (many of the letters were sent to or by colony mayors, some of them important figures in the history of the Jewish settlement in Palestine – Shlomo Stampfer of Petach Tikvah, Aryeh Grushkevitz of Kiryat Motzkin, Yehuda Gorodisky of Rechovot, Abba Shechter of Rishon LeZion and more). The letters deal mostly with administrative issues – budgets, education, agriculture, and many of them bear official stamps.
The most important part of the collection consists of hundreds of letters and documents from the period of the War of Independence, documenting the lives of the farmers and the colonies in the shadow of the war: inventory of ammunition and rifles in the colonies, dozens of tables calculating the financial damage and detailing the assistance that will be sent to the colonies, requests for guards and weapons, protocols of emergency conferences pertaining to the colonies, personal letters sent by citrus growers requesting to relieve their sons from military duty, a list of names of residents evacuated from the colony of Rosh Pinah and more.
In addition, the archive contains dozens of documents pertaining to the attempts of the colony members to obtain immigration certificates for their family members in Europe (including lists of applicants, notifications about the reception of certificates by the Jewish Agency, applications, and more).
The documents and letters are alphabetically organized by colony names in binders and files (except for documents pertaining to security and immigration visas, which are organized in separate files). Enclosed are several printed items – posters, leaflets, a map and additional items related to Ariav's activity during this time.
Chaim Ariav (1895-1957), secretary of the Zionist Commission, Secretary General of the Jewish Agency and eventually, member of the second and third Knesset. During the Mandate period, he served as secretary of the Farmers' Union and the director of the Association of Local Councils.
Over a thousand documents and letters. Size and condition vary.

Flag of Israel manufactured by the ATA textile factory. Sewn by special order of the Haifa Municipality, on the night of the establishment of the State of Israel, between the 13th and the 14 of May 1948.
A large flag made of a white sheet, with two light blue stripes and a Star of David. Factory label (three triangular roofs and the name ATA in Hebrew, English and Arabic) sewn to margin.
About a hundred flags were sewn at the ATA factory on the night of the establishment of the State of Israel. The flags were ordered from the manager of the ATA factory on Hamelachim St. in Haifa (today "Derech HaAtzmaut"). Due to the time constraints and required secrecy, the flags were made from white bed sheets and fabric for manufacturing light blue workers' shirts. The hundred flags were sewn throughout the entire night, and during the next day, were raised in the Independence celebrations in Haifa.
The ATA Textile Company was one of the most important factories in Palestine. The factory was the largest of its kind during the first years of the state and was responsible for manufacturing some of the pieces of clothing which are most identified with the 1948 generation – the Tembel hat, the khaki shirt and pants, blue work clothes, the first IDF uniforms and more.
Approx. 152X209 cm. Good condition. Stains and creases. Minor blemishes.
Literature: Dalya Bar Or, ATA Textiles enterprise and the Israeli society, 1934-1986 (Hebrew), doctoral dissertation, Haifa University, 2009.

Special issue of the "Herut" journal, with Menachem Begin's speech for the establishment of the State of Israel (the "Reddening Dawn" speech). [Tel-Aviv?], 15.5.1948.
On Saturday night, 6 Iyar (May 15) 1948, the evening of the first day of Israel's independence, Menachem Begin delivered a speech on the Irgun's underground radio station, "Kol Tzion HaLochemet" ("Voice of Fighting Zion"). In this speech, which constitutes a kind of alternative "Declaration of Independence" instead of the one delivered by Ben-Gurion, Begin addresses the dismantling of the paramilitary groups, the need for a strong and well-trained army, the essential foreign policy with the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R., repatriation of Jews, and more. In fact, in this speech he lay down the ideological foundations of the party he was about to form – the Herut Movement.
This is a special issue of the journal of the Irgun – "Herut" (numbered 97), that was printed several hours after the speech, featuring it in full (the headline of the issue "Announcement of the Chief Commander of the Irgun"). Printed alongside the name of the journal - the announcement of the Irgun about the establishment of the state - "The State of Israel has been Established, the Kingdom of Israel will be Established on the Entire Homeland".
[1] f. approx. 51X35 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes. Closed tears to
edges and several open tears, restored (the entire issue in mounted on thin paper for preservation).
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.