The critic against the bureaucracy in the country
"There is not a single government ministry on which one can finish the praise (praise; DS) and present it as 'from which you will see - and so you will do.'" In these words, Maariv editor Azriel Carlebach summed up the state of bureaucracy in young Israel. "The foot of the citizen is in contact with the institutions of government - he discovers a shaky ground beneath him, which causes him to fall into a pit or get caught in the thicket of bureaucracy, without the ability to escape."
The State Comptroller, Siegfried Mozes, submitted in mid-August 1951 an audit report concerning the Ministry of Industry and Trade, after sampling the procedure for issuing an import license submitted by the company "ZD" for the production of chocolate and confectionery, which sought to import 25 tons of chocolate from the United States or Brazil. Cocoa butter.
The auditor's report described the ordeal required to go through the importer, which began by submitting an application in seven (!) Copies, signed by Clerk A. at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and archived, where Clerk B opened a file, gave him a serial number and wrote the number in the application book. Clerk C reviewed the request and sent a postcard to the importer (pictured) confirming that "the request was received and is being discussed," from there the request went to Clerk D and from there to the deputy director of the department, and from there to the committee.
If the application was approved by the committee, it passed to the head of the signature department, and from there to the head of the division, for his signature.
From there, the application continued to the Ministry of Finance, for the purpose of allocating foreign currency for import, passed several officials and one committee, and if it was determined that "import is necessary for state needs" - foreign exchange allocation was approved, and the application was returned to the Ministry of Trade In the registers of importers, customs agents and customs agents in the port, only then was the approved request sent to the importer.
In the summary of his report, the auditor wrote: "The situation in which an application for an import license passes no less than 40 stations, from submission to approval, and lasts 9-6 months - is intolerable, and requires immediate correction."
"In the Negev, potential for millions of dunams of agriculture"
Prof. Laudermick (right) with the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Haim Halperin, Photo: GPO
On August 10, 1951, two of the world's greatest agricultural experts from Israel landed in the United States: the first was Prof. Walter Laudermick, who specialized in soil conservation, and with him came Wayne Miles, who was the International Food Organization's chief expert on "water resource dispersal."
They were commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry Director-General Haim Halperin, in order to plan the Negev land survey and determine which areas are suitable for processing, which are more suitable for grain and forage crops or if afforestation.
Prof. Laodrmik previously visited the Land of Israel in 1938, when he was deputy director of the Department of Conservation Land in the US administration, he was sent to Europe, and from there he continued to Eretz Israel, as a tourist, and stayed here for a few weeks.
He was very impressed by the settlement enterprise and the contribution of the pioneers to the preservation and cultivation of the land, and became a follower of the Zionist movement.
He spent years planning the agricultural-settlement future of the "Land of the Jews," when it was established, and many of his ideas, which he published in a thick book called "Palestine, Land of Promise," were later realized.
Laudermilk and Miles suggested examining all the places in the Negev where ancient agricultural remains were found, and making sure that these areas would be suitable for present-day agricultural cultivation.
"The water in the Negev is there, the winter rains bring millions of cubic meters of water to the wadis, and they can irrigate huge areas of land - but it is necessary to catch them and prevent them from reaching the sea," the experts determined.
Miles proposed to improve the method of dams in the wadis, and to build them efficiently and cheaply.
He referred to the dams of Wadi Asluj (near Kibbutz Revivim), where the Jewish National Fund set up a system of irrigation canals and dams costing half a million pounds, a huge sum in those days.
Laudermic and Miles, on the other hand, designed a dam costing only £ 5,000, which could feed 3,000 dunams in its waters.
The experts worked in the country for three weeks, at the end of which they asked for a salary of only one dollar for each of them.
The two stated that they estimate that there are about 12 million dunams in the Negev, from the area of the village of al-Fallujah (now Kiryat Gat) and to the south - about a quarter of which can be trained for agricultural purposes.
* Thanks to Roni Palmer from Or Negev for the help
More than 600 kiosks in Tel Aviv
Kiosk in Tel Aviv, early 1950s, Photo: Fritz Cohen, GPO
A count conducted by the Sanitation Department of the Tel Aviv Municipality in August 1951 revealed that in the 40 years that have passed since the establishment of the first kiosk, no less than 600 additional kiosks have been established in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
The kiosk count was done against the background of the municipality's decision to revoke the business licenses for all kiosks in the city that were built of wood, in order to reduce the risk of flammability and ensure greater cleanliness in the kiosk environment.
The municipality offered wooden kiosk owners a convenient loan to build a brick kiosk, but according to Emanuel Zilberman, director of the municipality's enforcement department, it became clear that "in the last ten years individual kiosks have been built on the ruins of wooden kiosks, and now the municipality has decided to eliminate it once and for all."
A license to open a kiosk in Tel Aviv in those days was of great value to its owner, and the right was granted only to discharged soldiers, the disabled and patients of the Department of Social Assistance.
Many rumors have been circulating over the years about the high profits of kiosk owners, who were, in the opinion of the general public, in second place to profits after taxi owners.
Indeed, a well-located kiosk brought its owners in the early 1950s about £ 300 a month, while the average wage of a laborer was about £ 50.
The sale of a kiosk in a bustling location to other owners was rare, and it required a sum of about 8,000 pounds, which in 1951 was equal to the value of 2-3 apartments in Tel Aviv, depending on the location and size of the apartment.
Germany wants negotiations
"West Germany is ready to find out all the controversial issues with the State of Israel," West German President Dr. Theodor Hoys announced in an interview with the German-language Jewish weekly Der Offenbau.
In the interview, Hoys admitted that the Boone government had to issue a statement regarding its position on the Jewish question, but added that in his opinion "Nazi ideas in Germany have ceased to thrive."
Four months before the publication of the interview, the director general of the Ministry of Finance, David Horowitz, and the Chancellor of West Germany, Conrad Adenauer, secretly met in Paris and began the process that led to the signing of the "reparations agreement" in September 1952.
Lack of soap
Soap made by the "Shemen" factory, Haifa,
On August 12, 1951, the Minister of Health in the outgoing government, Haim Moshe Shapira, announced that "although a new government has not been formed since the second election, the shortage of soap, which has become a danger to public health, must be dealt with urgently."
His remarks came against the background of the third month in a row in which soap could not be obtained in Israel other than through the black market.
The reason for the shortage was related to the fact that the main raw material in the soap manufacturing industry, soda caustic, had not been imported from abroad for some time, and only when manufacturers began threatening to forcibly shut down production lines did the government take action.
In response to the Minister of Health's announcement, the outgoing Minister of Trade and Industry, Eliezer Kaplan, announced that "caustic soda charges are already making their way to the port of Haifa."
Complaints: "Bad taste of bread"
In the "readers' writing" sections of the newspapers, letters of complaint began to be published from all over the country, regarding the "bad taste of the bread."
The newspaper "Maariv" researched and published its findings in mid-August 1951: "As is well known, flour should not be used before the end of ten days for grinding wheat grains. However, since there is no stock of wheat in the country, bakeries rush to bake bread "Not to create a bread shortage. The citizen is currently between a rock and a hard place, between a shortage of bread and a consumption of bad-tasting bread."
The Disappeared / Neighborhood Games since
Stone, Paper and Scissors
Or in short: "Scissors avenue".
A procedure designed to cast lots for determining turns before the start of a game, when a fist is closed, a stone mark, an outstretched hand marks a piece of paper and two fingers - scissors.
Participants would place a clenched fist behind their backs, say together "Avnihu Scissors, the winner between the two" - and reach out, each marking his mark, hoping to overcome the other's mark: the stone breaks scissors, the scissors cut the paper, and the paper wraps the stone .
The grocery store / items that were then
a freezer cup
On hot summer days, before the age of home air conditioners, the "freezing glass" was invented, which ensured that the drink in the glass remained cold until the last sip.
It was a thick plastic cup with a handle and double sides, between which was trapped water.
The glass was stored in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, where the trapped water froze, and when any beverage was poured into the glass (beer, juice, etc.) the frozen sides kept it cool.
"Shekel" to the first Zionist Congress in Israel
In mid-August 1951, the 23rd Zionist Congress convened at the Nation's Buildings in Jerusalem, for the first time since the establishment of the state.
Participation in the congress was allowed to anyone who purchased the Zionist shekel (pictured above) in the previous year, which expressed the free will of every Jew in the world to participate in determining the fate of the people of Israel.
The value of the shekel was determined according to the local currency in each country, and the funds raised financed the operation of the Congress, as well as the day-to-day activities of the Zionist Organization.
The 23rd Congress, which lasted three days, was attended by 1,700 Jewish representatives from all over the world.
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