Crying on the grass: heartbreaking plays in the splitting kibbutzim
At the end of May 1951, the kibbutz movement was divided on an ideological basis, between Mapai fans and Mapam fans.
"A great catastrophe befell our movement," David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary at the time, and indeed, the split tore the kibbutz movement from within and was enacted among some members as a traumatic experience.
Decades of friendships between close friends crashed on the altar of ideology, many families fell apart in the event that both spouses disagreed on one ideology, and children were torn from their parents.
As of the end of November 1951, some 1,600 members, adults and children, had abandoned their kibbutzim and moved to other kibbutzim.
At the beginning of December 1951, 120 Mapai members abandoned Kibbutz Beit Hashita, where there was a majority of supporters of Mapam's ideological line.
140 children from the age of two to 13 left with them, and all of them moved to Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar - most of whose members were Mapai supporters. Some of the abandoning women burst into bitter tears and hugged their friends who remained in the kibbutz, while the children frolic happily on the lawns of the acacia house, after being told by their parents that they were "traveling." .
Tax relief for citizens
Tin sign by a tax consultant, early 1950s (source: Bidspirit website),
On December 2, 1951, a national training conference for tax advisers was held in Tel Aviv, with the aim of updating them on changes that took place in the income tax regulations, and which came into force during 1951. Surprisingly, the changes were actually for the benefit of the common citizen.
A little background: In the three years since 1949, workers in Israel have received cost increases in their pay slips, to compensate for the continuing rise in the cost of living in the country.
These additions have inevitably shifted many workers from the status of "tax exemption" (the status of basic salary) to the status of "taxable taxpayer", which has painfully cut the net line of their wages.
Following this distortion, and to come to terms with the concerned taxpayers, the IRS changed the tax brackets, returning a large portion of the workers and officials to the original exemption status.
In addition, additional changes were determined in the tax calculations: it was determined that a new immigrant whose income is less than 1,500 pounds per year will be tax-exempt for a period of 18 months from the date of his arrival in Israel.
An employee with an annual income of less than £ 1,000 will be tax-exempt if he has a family and a father of at least two children.
In those days, for the purpose of tax calculations, the wages of working women were added to the husband's income, and so it turned out that in the general calculation, up to 80 percent of the wife's income was transferred to income tax (depending on the tax brackets).
"We are now approaching the working Hebrew woman," reported Aaron Bering, head of the Income Tax Training Department, "and now a married woman will be tax-exempt on income of up to £ 600 a year."
Another distortion that was addressed: Singles with an income of more than 2,100 pounds a year were rated at the maximum tax rate of 80 percent (!), And were now determined to pay the same tax as a married worker without children.
It was also reported that widows or divorcees would benefit from a tax exemption up to an income of £ 600 a year, as, according to Bering, "they need special expenses, such as paying a maid."
Wounded in the struggles of the printing press
Seder sheet ready for printing a newspaper, 1950s, Photo: Scleretz Archive on the "Beitmona" website
At the beginning of December 1951, the tension that had existed for several months among printing workers reached its peak, and a violent hand-to-hand brawl that broke out between the workers at the "Printing Aviv" in Tel Aviv led to the call of police and Magen David Adom services.
At that time, about 12 daily newspapers were published in Israel, and the source of the tension was related to the class war between the various printing workers: workers who worked in printing who specialized in publishing a daily newspaper saw themselves as more equal than workers who printed books, pamphlets and pamphlets.
The most difficult situation was recorded in particularly large printing houses, such as the "Spring Printing" in question, where both newspapers and books were printed.
About 1,500 printing workers from around the country (600 of them from Tel Aviv) were unionized in the "Hebrew Printing Workers' Section," and as early as 1951, printing press workers demanded that their wages no longer be linked to the wages of all printing workers.
This demand was rejected in a vote held at the section's annual conference in October 1951, in which there was a majority of voters who were "simple" printers.
In response, the newspaper's printers announced the immediate retirement of the printing workers' section and the establishment of a separate organization.
"How can one even compare the required skill from a newspaper printer to a booklet or discount voucher to a hairdresser," said contemptuously Moshe Arda, who was elected chairman of newspaper printers. Arda added that "from now on the 'insults' (business owners; DS) of printing The newspaper is asked to conduct direct negotiations with us, if they want to continue operating their business. "
A solution to meat shortages?
"Inkoda" poster, 1953, Photo: From the weekly "HaOlam Hazeh"
At the beginning of December 1951, the Ministry of Trade and Industry received a telegram from the entrepreneur Yaakov Meridor (later MK on behalf of Herut), in which he announced that "the first shipment of meat will arrive in Haifa port this coming Passover." He bought a cannery in Eritrea, changed his name to Inkoda, brought in slaughterers from Israel, set up a line of refrigerated ships to transport canned meat to Israel - and developed expectations among the leadership that Otto would reach the solution to the oppressive meat shortage.
In practice, however, the first shipment arrived in the country four months late, and later Egypt began to occasionally confiscate meat cargoes that made their way to Israel through the Suez Canal.
In April 1953, the Israeli government was forced to save Inkoda from bankruptcy by purchasing the plant's shares, and after years of losses sold it to private investors.
The Legion fires at Jerusalemites
On December 3, 1951, Jordanian Legion soldiers stationed at the East Jerusalem Police Academy opened fire on Shmuel Hanavi Street.
A bullet scratched the arm of Miriam Mizrahi, who was sitting on the windowsill and feeding her baby.
In response to a complaint filed by Israel, the Legion soldiers claimed that the fire was aimed at an Arab woman who crossed the border without permission, and the bullet that hit Mizrahi was lost.
A new port for Tel Aviv
At a meeting of the Tel Aviv City Council in early December 1951, the city engineer, Moshe Amiaz, reported on "two proposals received for the construction of a deep-water port around the city: one 30 km south of Tel Aviv and the other adjacent to the city - on Givat Aliya beach." The location of the new port in the area on which the city of Ashdod will be built in 1956, and in 1961 work began there to establish a port - the well-known port of Ashdod.
The missing / events that were
Poppy Day
Design: Rothschild and Lipman / Central Zionist Archive,
An annual memorial day in memory of the victims of the British Empire during the First World War, which was also celebrated in Israel during the Mandate and during the 1950s.
Remembrance Day was set for November 11, the end of the war in 1918.
The poppy flower, which was worn on the lapel of the garment on this day of remembrance, symbolized the poppy carpets that bloomed in full view in the fields of the province of Flanders in Belgium, during the difficult battles fought there during World War II.
The grocery store / details that were
Fuse for heater
From the archive of the Nostalgia Online website,
At the beginning of the winter, they made sure to clean the popular oil-fired furnace stove, which was manufactured by the Friedman factory in Jerusalem.
At the same time, each family made sure that they had at least one spare asbestos fuse in the house (pictured), which was essential for the operation of the stove, as Haim Hefer wrote in the well-known "patent song" performed by Uri Zohar: "Turn the knob first / Yeast .. yeah ... / it's burning it's burning it's burning! ".
who knows? who knows?
Reader David Mattello sent us an old photo album with many photos of a pair of twins, from birth to adolescence.
From the information provided behind some photos, it appears that their names are Aviva and Deborah.
They grew up in a Zionist home, traveled extensively throughout the country, were active in the GDNA and participated in shooting training held in 1955 in Givat Ya'arim. One of them (at least) played the accordion, and they may have lived with their parents (pictured) in Gan Shomron. Aviva and Deborah, who are now about 80 years old, so we can return the album to them. Write to Yor@ShimurIsrael.Org and we will update. Thank you!
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Do you have pictures or souvenirs from the first days of the country? Write to us: Yor@ShimurIsrael.Org
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