The Palmach Museum in Ramat Aviv's archive is a world in its entirety. Photos, documents, memorial books and videos documenting the military organization marking 80 years since its establishment. Its contents tell the fascinating story of the dove unit that operated during the Palmach period - male and female combatants whose job it was to raise mail pigeons in 68 nests that were scattered in cities and kibbutzim around the country, to train them, and during combat they were responsible for sending them with important messages. Walkie-talkies, telephones and in general advanced technology used today by soldiers of the Communications and ICT Corps.
Among the many instruction booklets used by the warriors - including a booklet written in the late 1930s by Avraham Etz Hadar, who is considered the father of pigeons in Israel - and testimonies from that period and lists of participants, the Red Pocket Notebook, whose yellowing pages are full to the brim. Place in dense lines of innocent and round writing written in pencil: "The virtues of the dove: to return to its place, unlike the other birds that are not gifted in this virtue. The virtues of the dove: Only with the help of animals, so the pigeon is very useful.The pigeon passes through all geographical conditions, it can be used in secret, as opposed to a radio that can be listened to.The speed of the flight depends on the age of the pigeon, the nature and manner of training.
"Its average speed is about 60 km / h, and its flight distance in the first year is 7.5 km, in the second year 300 km. A three- or four-year-old pigeon is best suited for the job. It is difficult to hunt it because it flies at great speed and altitude, and even if it is tired it does not move to another nest. Its power of orientation has the ability to return to its base, and it is able to function even in the cold of minus degrees. But Jonah drawbacks: she can not maneuver, it can be eaten at night by owls, and bad weather is not flying. "
Later pad specified types of ions, the difference between pigeons and doves transactions Theory feed the dove, the requirements from the tower of the pigeons and how Manage proper registration in your home.
The name "Ora Zeitzov" was written on the cover of the notebook, and I decided to try to locate Ora and hear from her firsthand about the course for growing e-mails in which she participated. Through a letter she left together with the notebook she sent to the Palmach archives, I was able to reach her, and it is clear that returning to the Palmach period moved her greatly. Zeitzov-Davidovich is 90 years old today. She was born in Ness Ziona in 1931. The days were the days of the British Mandate. She is the third of four daughters to Father Pardesan. In her Tel Aviv apartment on Dizengoff Street, Ora clarifies with excitement that the notebook is 75 years old and recreates her years as a teenager: Defense ', and we had courses and trainings all the time.We were very proud to join the defense of the homeland.
"I still remember the transmissions in the light and buzz I learned in the Morse wireless course which was top secret and classified. Constituted the mobilized arm of the 'defense', I was offered to join a course for raising mail pigeons, and I, who chased chickens in our yard and took care of them, did not shy away from dealing with pigeons, on the contrary. It should be understood that the year is 1945, and all communication was disguised: there are no radios, there were no landlines in the houses at all. The houses that had radios were considered the 'houses of the rich'. To send a message quickly from city to city, from place to place, use only June mail. They were an important part of the media during times of war. "
Offer you to join the course and you immediately agree?
"Sure, there was no question at all. I was only 15 but I was disciplined, I had iron discipline. They say I should go to a June mail course, so I do not ask unnecessary questions. Have to go out then have to go out, and everything is secret. You asked me if I have "Photos from the course - how will I be? What if I had to be photographed during the course? Everything was so secretive there."
And what did the parents say?
"One must understand the spirit of this period. The parents did not ask unnecessary questions, and it was important for me to prove that even though I was a girl - and I was blonde then - I was no less good than the boys. I said I should get out, and I went to the bus stop."
Where did the course take place and how long did it last?
"The course took place at Kibbutz Givat Brenner. There was a large and central nest there. I remember they came without a khaki uniform so as not to attract unnecessary attention, and bring a small notebook and pencil. Do you understand why a pencil, yes? So that at any given moment we can delete all information. Time to repeat the instruction not to tell anyone about this training, God forbid the British find out it takes place.I remember I had a Yake guide with a heavy German accent, and everything he taught during the week of training I wrote in this notebook.I did not miss a word.In the course I realized how much The pigeons were fully recruited for the defense of the country and were no less important female combatants in the war for the country. From us, the pigeon breeders, demanded to be punctual, careful, persistent and patient. For us, the pigeons eat more than they should, they really went down with us for subtleties. "
Ora's notebook lists all the nutrients that pigeons need to eat, and these include "proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, mineral foods, and of course clean water that is replaced daily and a stimulant feed of dried bread dipped in egg yolks and sugar."
The next page details the pigeon's food composition: "The amount of food for 25 pigeons and for 13 days will include 7.4 kilos of kia, a kilo of wheat, a kilo of corn, two kilos of dura, half a kilo of millet, half a kilo of flax and 100 grams of hemp seeds."
To train pigeons is like training an athlete, only they "run" in the sky.
Zacks (right) and Wolf in your home on Kibbutz Givat Brenner, Photo: Efrat Eshel
Wait, is it serious that they mixed hemp seeds with them?
A relative of cannabis, from which marijuana and hashish are extracted?
Ora laughs out loud: "Apparently it was their incentive to return to the nest. There is a chance that these seeds had a role in distraction or masking the fear. Maybe. I well remember the call 'Come, come, come' that we would call pigeons, and they would come to eat .
"In addition to the course taught us not to send pigeons, but shippers. We practiced the precise grip for shipping, which needs to be smooth and secure so that it can take off properly. We were also taught exactly how to tie the drips. "In her notebook, Ora wrote," How do you catch a pigeon? "Grasp the pigeon with your toe and forearm, place your hand on your back, bring it closer to your chest, and stop your fingers and grab the legs to which the drippers were actually tied."
The drip attached to the pigeon's leg with a thin belt was actually a small case made of aluminum. Inside the drip was a container designated for "note" - the combination of "note" and "dove" - or "ionogram" ("dove" and "telegram", telegram). These two names characterized the letter carried by the dove, in which were written very briefly the messages that had to be conveyed.
After successfully completing the pigeon course - still hiding this fact from her parents - Ora waited for her placement on your home in her hometown, but unfortunately it did not happen. "I know that the trained pigeons were attached to all the Palmach expeditions, especially in the south of the country, in order to be sent by soldiers if, God forbid, they get into any trouble. In 2006, when I read Meir Shalev's Dove and Boy ', I was thrilled to find out how all my course experiences are described one by one in the book, and I decided to transfer the notebook I had kept with me to the Palmach Museum archive - because that's its place. "
The postal June was also used in the period before the establishment of the state to contact the illegal immigrant ships, which approached the shore at a time when wireless silence was required to know how many people were on the ship. On the night of the bridges, June 17, 1946, it became clear again that although the white dove had become the undisputed symbol of the coveted peace, it had played a very significant part in the fight for the restoration of the homeland and its defense.
That night, members of the Palmach embarked on an operation during which 11 bridges connecting Israel and its neighbors were blown up at the same time. In the Palmach archives is the testimony of the late Esther Kantor, who was a pigeon, in which she refers to a question that has long been discussed regarding the Achziv Bridge Squad - did the pigeons betray the fighters?
"I trained the mail pigeons that were in your home in Kibbutz Yagur. I got to the point where they were flying back and forth from great distances. For example, when the guys went on trips to the Judean Desert and Masada, they would take pigeons with them, and they would come back to me all the way with updates and messages.
" The Bridges I was approached by Nehemiah Shane, who was in charge of blasting the Achziv Bridge, and asked me to prepare two post offices for him. I had a special backpack for this purpose, and I chose the most trained pigeons. Sadly, what happened there happened (in the explosion 14 fighters from the attacking force were killed, including the commander of the operation), and the pigeons did not return. "After a few days, one of the commanders said that he had read in the newspaper that the British police had captured a backpack with mail pigeons but no notes, but three days later one of the pigeons returned to your home."
Cantor was called to the battalion headquarters at Kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakim, where it was made clear to her that there was a great fear that the second pigeon would lead the British to Kibbutz Yagur. "They told me 'you must destroy the nest immediately', and I burst into tears. I was tied to pigeons, I knew each and every one of them. I replied 'I can not kill chicks.' "The second pigeon will not return to its nest in Yagur. The next day the British did break into the Yagur farm and start turning every stone in it. This time there was no choice, and under cover of darkness they destroyed the nest with hammers and axes, and hid the planks in the wadi."
In the past year, probably due to the fact that in many places we marked the round date of the organization's establishment, the Palmach archive has been flooded with inquiries, following which many bring the estates of those who were members of the Palmach forces. These are sorted and filed for honor in the spectacular Museum Archives, which offers experiential tours that include 3D scenery, films and many effects that combine documentary material. Eldad Harubi, the museum's archive director, is himself the son of a Palmach fighter, and dedicates his work to preserving the heritage. "Sons and daughters of, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of - all want to return to the work of the previous generation, learn about it and especially preserve it."
The virtues of the dove in fulfilling its missionary roles have been known since the dawn of history, due to its unique ability to return to its starting point.
It was Noah who was wise enough to send the dove to check "lighten the water," and she did indeed return to the ark in the evening, "and here came a prey olive in her mouth."
Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Marco Polo, Napoleon - all used this clever beast to convey messages.
In our country the pigeons were recruited to the Nili underground, and in early September 1917 the Ottomans seized a mail pigeon sent by Sarah Aaronson. Attached to the pigeon was an encrypted message, which the Ottomans could not decipher. For sure there is a spy network operating in the country, and the underground activists were forced to slaughter all the pigeons and destroy all the documents.
"Buzz around the Palmach." Harubi,
Dove of peace and war
After the establishment of the state, the nest in Kibbutz Givat Brenner was transferred to the responsibility of the IDF communications unit, which continued to operate until 1954, when advanced radios came into use and the nest was abandoned and neglected for 60 years. It was officially inaugurated after it was renovated and pigeons were brought in. The
one who comes to the pigeons every morning and does so voluntarily is a member of Kibbutz Haim Wolf, who has been dealing with the wing owners since childhood. "Food, food, food," Stays highlighted with repetition of the word three times, and the pigeons do gather around it immediately.
"The pigeon chicks are being trained for aviation from the age of 28," Wolf explains. At first the nest is opened, and the chicks come out and fly over it. It is feared that it will migrate because mail pigeons do not migrate. A mail pigeon will only know to return to its mother's nest, or to its nest brought to it at a very young age. 50 percent of this miraculous ability of hers is acquired during training, and fifty percent is genetics "And so it can navigate the existing magnetic field on Earth. The training of the pigeons is a long process just like the training of an athlete. There is no difference except that they 'run in the sky' and not on asphalt."
"You should know that if life does not come in the morning, they are all sad here," David Zacks, the kibbutz's heritage coordinator and one who guides visitors who come to tour the kibbutz's sites and the post office in particular, emphasizes.
"Pigeons determine their trajectory according to three factors: the magnetic field, the position of the sun and the direction of the wind. They have the genetics, the ability, and live here to train them. Today these pigeons mainly participate in competitions."
"Lovebirds"?
not exactly
At the sight of a pair of pigeons that do not touch each other, or vice versa, Wolf laughs: "This phrase 'pair of pigeons', meaning living in love and harmony forever, is not so accurate here. Here in your home, and then after a while they become a couple. But the pigeons are like humans in all areas. ".
Critics of the Brenner Hill hut will hear from Zacks the kibbutz's ethos dating back to March 1948, when its members embarked on an action aimed at harming Arab transportation from southern Birch. The fighters gathered at Kibbutz Yavne on the eve of the battle (March 29), and sent their first unogram at 5:45 PM, announcing their arrival at the scene in this language: "We arrived fine."
At night the warriors moved towards the Arab village of Bashit, however the rainy weather made it difficult for them to disguise themselves and the next morning they were discovered. In a battle that took place there, three members of Givat Brenner were killed. The news of their deaths reached the kibbutz members by a mail pigeon sent on March 30. Totf was tied to her leg, and the note he briefly announced: "Killed in battle: Berthold Levy, Oded Yarkoni and Hanan Peltz. For the rest - peace. It is not known when we will return." The pigeon delivery time was 9:30 in the morning, the time of arrival at your home was two in the afternoon.
"Such a road, between Bashit, Moshav Ten today, and the kibbutz, is supposed to take 20 minutes for Yona," Zacks clarifies. "For some reason the road took her almost five hours, maybe because there were shots that made it difficult for her, maybe because of the weather. Another pigeon came later with the message 'We are coming home with the three dead'."
Samson Ben Asher (86) was a 13-year-old boy from Kibbutz Givat Brenner who worked at the post office in June, and was the one who received the three ionograms taken out of the drippers.
"All the children of the kibbutz worked in the various branches and I chose to take care of the mail June, because the person who set up the entire post office in the kibbutz was Shimon Handler (Avidor), who was both a neighbor and a friend of my parents. As a teenager in Kibbutz Givat Brenner Well the day of the battle for the village in Bashit. I was on duty at your home, and during the morning and afternoon of that day I was greeted three times by the mail pigeons who went with them to the battle. Three times I rode a bicycle to look for the man and get the letter. Of course, as a curious 13-year-old child, I read each of the letters before delivering them to their destination, and of course the tears were not long in coming. "
To transport the pigeons to the battlefield or to the points from which they set out for activity, the pigeons would take the pigeons in a mobile or portable nest. The mobile was a trailer that contained all the needs of the pigeons, similar to a permanent nest. The pigeons were trained to return to it, wherever it was found. The carrying nest was basically a basket or box, usually with handles for the shoulders, that were used to carry pigeons to a site far from the nest where they lived.
During the visit to the Palmach Museum, a group of soldiers from the Communications and Information Technology Corps, which was officially established with the establishment of the IDF after the War of Independence, toured there.
In 1948, the liaison corps contained a technical system, liaison offices but also a pigeon unit.
The corps - which began as the liaison service of the Haganah and the Palmach in 1937 through sight signals, mail junctions and makeshift wireless stations - is now at the forefront of communications and computing technology and at the center of the cyber campaign for supremacy in information. Technologically, the central and significant place of the smart mail pigeon in the rebirth of the state will forever be engraved above the pages of history.
