Phenomenon: Abandonment of transitions
On November 12, 1951, the Jewish Agency's Absorption Department issued a notice regarding the decision "not to allow more immigrants to move from place to place."
In this way, the public received confirmation of a rumor circulating in the country, according to which immigrants are leaving remote crossings around the country and want to move to crossings near cities.
"Here I have greater opportunities for a decent livelihood," an immigrant from Warsaw told the newspaper Davar, who was touring the "Camp Israel" transit camp north of Lod.
"When we arrived in Israel, we were thrown into the Ashdod transit camp, where there is only sand and sand. In Warsaw I had a clothing store and we were used to city life, and in Ashdod my wife had a nervous breakdown."
Although the Jewish Agency initially welcomed the settlement of immigrants near the cities - when it came to those who due to their age or other family circumstances did not fit into village life, but in the huge influx of immigrants who came to Israel in the few years since the establishment of the state many were sent to remote transit camps.
The abandonment of the transit camps began with a drip of immigrants who approached the institutional bodies inside the transit camp and asked to move to another transit camp.
For the most part, establishment officials worked to locate applicants from an alternative pastime.
But the drip soon became a flood, and waves of immigrants from all over the country made their way to the center, locating a transit camp for themselves and settling in it, a matter that caused many quarrels between them and the older residents of the transit camp.
A large number of the immigrants organized together, one or more families, sent a representative to the city near which they wanted to live, then rented a van that took them to an apartment rented by the representative, and went out to work the next day - which he also located for them.
The immigration of immigrants to the cities caused a rapid rise in rental prices, a matter that added to the tension between the older immigrants and the newer immigrants.
Austerity in dance: flourishing in dance schools in the country
Sami Dance School Ad, which was the most famous at the time,
"A new and refreshing phenomenon is coming to our small country, when recently 'dance school' signs like mushrooms after the rain have appeared on the streets of the cities. Rhythmic sounds emanate from these schools, different from the sounds that accompany the parent dances we are familiar with."
Thus, in mid-November 1951, the author of the newspaper "Maariv", Tikva Weinstock, reported on the considerable flourishing in the field of dance studies in Israel.
For many years, when most of the public attention was focused on subsistence needs and security issues, residents had no leisure to engage in light-hearted topics such as learning to dance.
In 1951, however, although the country's austerity regime still forced most citizens to lead a simple and limited lifestyle, openness to the West and its way of life began to stand out in some settlements, and dancing in foreign styles began to be popular at private parties and even official or business events.
"Ballroom dancing is now becoming a social debt," Weinstock wrote in an article.
"Those who display a pair of left legs on the dance floor, or do not notice the difference in dance pace between the different styles, may find themselves ashamed at a time when the dance is becoming bon ton. The dance floor, if he is not interested in isolation from various social events. "
According to estimates given to the newspaper by "Social Circles" in Tel Aviv, it became clear that "there are currently eight dance schools in the big city, and not including a number of dance teachers who are quickly looking for places that will be suitable for starting their own dance business."
"Like in Europe" equipment for Geva films
Geva Diaries News Logo, Photo: Yaakov Gross Archive
In November 1951, after a year of preparation and running, the Geva Films Company began to provide the Israeli film industry with cinema services at a European level.
A year earlier, in 1950, particularly sophisticated machines arrived at the company's offices, located in Givat Rambam in Givatayim - including a device for recording sound on the film strip, along with state-of-the-art equipment related to creating the film itself, developing and translating it into Hebrew. Also full equipment for a laboratory for developing color films, which until then had to be brought from abroad and paid for in foreign currency.
With the machines, experts came to Israel from abroad who taught the 12 lab workers the secrets of the profession, and at the end of a year of running, the company, this month 70 years ago, opened its doors to provide service to all.
Geva Film Company was founded in 1949 by Mordechai Navon and Yitzhak Aggadi (the brother of the mythological producer Baruch Aggadi), and initially produced documentary and publicity films.
Beginning in 1952, the company began producing film diaries that were screened in theaters before the film, and covered news events from Israel and the world.
The diaries became popular with the public, who made sure to show up at the cinemas on time "so as not to miss the diary" - but with the start of state television broadcasts in 1968, their horn dropped.
In the 1960s, Geva was acquired by a group of businessmen led by Yitzhak (Izo) Shani and Yosef Diamant, changed its name to "Lightning Pata Humphries" and continued to provide services in the production of hundreds of films, including about ten produced by the company itself.
Immigrant killed by gunfire at border: "No warning signs"
The Jerusalem police, who investigated the death of a new immigrant from gunfire on the border with Jordan, concluded that the victim, Eliyahu Sarouya, who arrived in Israel just two days before the incident and lived in the Talpiot transit camp in Jerusalem, was unaware that he was near a border with a hostile country.
"This tragic death could have been prevented if the state had put up warning signs in several languages, warning of a 'border in front of you,'" the incident investigator concluded in a November 1951 report. For those who do not know how to read and write. "
"You can buy shoes again in the slip book"
Family notebook (coupons), Photo: From Wikipedia
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated on November 11, 1951 that "following the regulation of the shoe manufacturing industry, and the stabilization of supply to the satisfaction of manufacturers, marketers and buyers, any household may now purchase shoes using up to 17 point slips from the family slip book, which were previously frozen."
The freeze came due to clutter that raged in the footwear industry for several months, and included a shortage of leather for shoe production, low quality of leather that has arrived, and problems in calculating the subsidized price to the consumer and compensating manufacturers.
Now, as mentioned, the troubles have been resolved, and shoes can be purchased again.
Tel Aviv Municipality: We will soon demolish the Nordia neighborhood
In mid-November 1951, the Tel Aviv Municipality announced "the intention to approach the processing of a plan to establish a new neighborhood to be built on the land of the Nordia neighborhood" (at the intersection of Bograshov and King George streets).
A month later, the municipality issued a tender for architects who were asked to develop a plan, including the evacuation of the neighborhood barracks, the construction of new streets, residential buildings, schools and a commercial center.
Although all this happened in 1951, in practice, the demolition of the Nordia slum only ended after 21 years.
In 1972, the last hut in the neighborhood was demolished, and Dizengoff Center was built on the ruins - opened to the public in 1977.
The missing / cinemas that were
Tel Aviv Winepress
Photo: Yehoshua Yosef,
For 58 years, the Gat Cinema served the residents of Tel Aviv, and was the last to operate within the city - until it also finally passed into the arms of real estate people. The cinema was established in 1957 in the southeast corner of Kings of Israel Square (now Rabin Square), and is considered a movie theater Classic, which also in one of its last years showed one film for weeks or months. It closed its doors in 2015. Now there is a branch of the Pharm chain.
The grocery store / products from the past
Toothpaste oil
Photo: "Wind-Strusky",
Like the car manufacturer Henry Ford, which allowed "to purchase a Model T in any color, provided it was black," so it was possible to buy any toothpaste in Israel - provided it was "oil".
The factory, founded in 1924, produced fine products based on olive oil, and from the 1930s enjoyed immense power, selling its produce to stores that purchased their products exclusively from it.
In 1943, "Shemen" became the property of the Histadrut, and later changed hands and was even issued on the stock exchange.
"Transportation in Tel Aviv - not in a terrible situation"
Photo: Fritz Cohen, GPO,
An international transportation expert from the Netherlands, Leo Cohen, hired by the Tel Aviv Municipality to review the state of transportation in the city, submitted his concluding report on November 12, 1951. "Tel Aviv residents see too black, but the situation is not hopeless." He wrote. "In my examination, I came to the conclusion that even during the busiest hours, transportation delays at intersections on Allenby Street (in the photo: Star of David Square in 1950) do not exceed one minute.
This is not a bad thing, considering the fact that you have almost no traffic cops, and electric lighting signs (traffic lights; DS) operate in the city in only two places. "
Do you have pictures or souvenirs from the first days of the country? Write to us: Yor@ShimurIsrael.Org