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ERETZ ISRAEL & PALESTINE MANDATE government documents, papers and ephemera
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Eretz Israel "Knesset Israel" receipt, 1931: a receipt paid in the sum of 250 Palestinian Mils to the Rabbinate Office of the "Hebrew Community Committee of Yaffo-Tel Aviv, Knesset Israel" (the "Va'ad Ha'Kehila") for a Rabbinical Court judgment ("psak din"), dated by the Hebrew calendar "T'u Tamuz Tartza" - 30 June 1931, and stamped by the Community Committee.
"Knesset Israel" was the first organized administrative organ of the Jewish community in Palestine (the "Yishuv"), formed in 1920, and providing for the education, social-welfare and religious needs of the Yishuv at large; in 1928 it was recognized as an official administrative organ by the Mandatory Government and issued guidelines for its operation. Knesset Israel oversaw the Chief Rabbinate, composed of one Ashkenazi and one Sephardic Chief Rabbi, who in turn oversaw the "Community Committee" in whose name this receipt was made out. When the State of Israel was established the new government absorbed the functions maintained until then by the Knesset Israel. A scarce example of early Eretz Israel governance; in excellent condition.
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Item Code: 0070010 Price: $12
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Eretz Israel / Palestinian citizenship order, 1929: issued in the name of the then High Comissioner for Palestine, (Sir) J. (John) R. (Robert) Chancellor to a Shmuel Kroz of Machane Brenner in Tel Aviv, originally from Russia and now a "merchant" in Palestine, married to Sima and the father of Ze'ev. The document dated 6 January 1929 bestowed "the status of a Palestinian citizen" to Shmuel, his wife and child. The document is in the three main languages of the Mandate - English (in stately font), Hebrew and Arabic, with the fields filled in with English and Hebrew.
With tragic irony, it was much easier for Jews to enter and settle in Palestine during the 1920's than during the '30s when Jewry was under much greater threat - a document like this had a high premium only a year or two after the date it was issued here. Sir Chancellor served as the Mandate's High Comissioner from 1928 to 1931, and during his tenure, while in London, the Arab riots of 1929 broke out. A fascinating document little seen and in good condition (several creases from vertical and horizontal folds, and some frays to the bottom edge).
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Item Code: 0070011 Price: SOLD
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Austerity period food ration booklet, mid-1950s. This is the "Bet" version, issued in Haifa to Nava Ben-Herut (born 1951); booklet # 158052. A more 'advanced' version of the austerity period rationing booklets, now using IBM punch-card technology and printed personal data. Issued by the Food Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Stamped on the cover "Consumer # 6765, Rommema 'Alef'", with yellow pages and black/green print.
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Item Code: 0020010.4 Price: SOLD
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Scarce membership card of the Association of the Labour Zionist Party / Poale-Zion (Z.S.) - Hitachduth in Germany, 1947 - issued shortly after the Holocaust and Second World War. A simple folded card with a blue and white stripe across a red background on the covers; written in Hebrew and English, with some transliterated German in Hebrew letters (i.e. no German text). Issued on 1 June 1947 to Leah Zuckerberg (born 1919) in the Ulm (Hindenburg) party branch; the Party was headquartered in Munich. The card contains a 12-box grid for monthly Party dues, ironically ending in May 1948 (Israel's Independence period), and a place for the card-holder's picture (since removed). The card bears the stamps of the "Head Office of the Zionist Organization in Germany" as well as of the Ulm branch of the Labour Zionist Party. In very good condition with some frayed edges, and wear to the creases.
Modern Israeli politics is a complicated galaxy of personalities and movements: in this case, the Poale-Zion (meaning "Zionist Labourers" - Labour Zionists) originated as a movement of Marxist Zionist Jewish workers founded in various Russian cities at the turn of the 20th Century, which in turn split into three tendencies, thence into 3 separate parties in 1906 - Zionist-Socialists (to which this card-holder was a member), Jewish Socialists, and the Poale-Zion - and finally into one main Poale-Zion party. The party began its activities in Eretz-Israel in 1904 (with the Second "Aliya" - immigration movement), which eventually included the founding of the first Kibbutz, the foundation of the "Ha'Shomer" guard movement to protect Jewish settlements, and the movement for the ideological "conquest" of Jewish-Zionist labour ("Kibbush Avodah", in Hebrew). The Party was also active in the creation of the Jewish Legion of the British Army in the First World War. David Ben-Gurion, the future first Prime Minister of Israel and member of the Poale-Zion from Poland, in Eretz-Israel as head of the Zionist Labour Federation - the "Histadrut" - merged the Poale-Zion with the "Achdut Ha'Avoda" ("Work Association") Party, which in later years became the Mapai ("Mifleget Poalei Eretz-Israel" - Israel Workers Party) Party and in turn the basis of the present Israeli Labour Party.
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Item Code: 0010212 Price: SOLD
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Certificate of Immigration ("Teudat Aliya"), 1935. Issued by the Central Office of Immigration to Eretz Israel, of the Jewish Agency in Warsaw to Yitzhak Kramer (b. 1907); # 3507. He left Warsaw on 24 June 1935 and arrived in Palestine on 30 June 1935 on the ship "Polonia". According to the notation in his booklet, his sole means were £2, and the costs of his immigration were borne by the Lvov branch of the Eretz Israel Office whose stamp is on that page. The certificate contains an ornate lable of the Jewish National Fund, as well as printed instructions and procedures on the inside covers for the prospective New Immigrant.
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Item Code: 0020010.9 Price: SOLD
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The following 5 sets items are from the estate of Paul Mortge and Yehudit Lave.
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ARP (Association for Protection against Gas and Air Attacks) Haifa membership booklet. Hardcover in dark-green and printed in Hebrew and English. This is the membership card of Paul Mortge (aged 18, born 1924) of Hillel Street #52, in the position of a warden, issued in July 1942, in Haifa. It appears that Mortge joined the ARP in 1940 and that this membership was either renewed or the booklet re-issued in 1942. The booklet contains the stamp of the ARP (probably from 1942) and the stamp of the Association for Civil Defense, Haifa, of the [pre-State] National Guard (Mishmar Ha'am), probably from 1946. The pages are loose, but booklet and pages in good condition.
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Item Code: 0020010.10 Price: SOLD
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Identity Card, [Mandatory] Government of Palestine, 1946. Issued to Paul Mortge, this is the second issue of this document to him. The document is light pink hard paper, issued in Haifa and stamped by the district authorities. Paul's occupation is listed as "Clerk". One interesting stamp states that "possession of this card in no way constitutes evidence of legal residence in Palestine". One unusual omission from the card's template is its holders date of birth - but we know from other documents that Paul was 22 at the time this card was issued. All fields are printed in English but all are hand-written in both English and Hebrew (including the date of issue).
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Item Code: 0020010.11 Price: SOLD
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Wireless receiving licences, [Mandatory] Government of Palestine - 3 licenses, 1944-47. All three licenses were issued to Paul Mortge, the first in February 1944, the second in February 1945 and the third in February 1946, all from the Hadar HaCarmel branch office in Haifa. The first license was written out on the form based on the Wireless Telegraphy Ordinance of 1924, which was out of date by the time it was issued - the correct price of 1 Palestinian Pound was paid instead of the 750 Mils as printed on the form, and the payment was stamped a few times on this document. The other two licenses were issued as per the Ordinance of 1943. The interesting thing about these documents is that all three are "Renewals" (the 'N' in 'RN' at the top has been struck out per instructions on the form), and the license holder - Paul - was just 20 years old at the time the first document was issued. Given the relative uniqueness of possessing a wireless license and of the holders young age, it is possible that his station was used by the pre-State underground organizations for their communications purposes. Documents have crease-marks, thinned in places or frayed at the edges.
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Item Code: 0020010.12 Price: SOLD
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Marriage documents, Israel, 1954. Eight documents relating to the marriage of Paul Mortge to Yehudit Lave, on 26 October 1954. There are two copies of the Marriage Certificate issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and stamped by the Chief Rabbinate of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, along with a pre-printed cover letter from the city Rabbinate confirming the issue and congratulating the young couple. There are two letters on official stationary from invitees - one from the Canada-Israel Central Bank and another from the Agricultural Association, and a letter of greeting in German to Paul from a well-wisher of the Beit Israel Religious and Cultural Association in Haifa. There is also a confirmation of payment from the catering company(?) (Bejarano Bros.) and a visiting card of the wedding hall (Ron).
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Item Code: 0020010.13 Price: $12
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Bank documents (2), Barclays Bank, Israel & Palestine, 1946-56. A Debit Note issued by Barclays Dominion, Colonial and Overseas services to Paul Mortge in May 1946, in the amount of 35 Palestinian Pounds. Also the savings account book written in the name of Paul's son, Eliyahu, a soft plastic-cover booklet issued by the Hadar HaCarmel branch of Barclays DC&O service in 1956, and stamped several times by the bank itself. The transactions were entered by hand from 1956 to 1970. At the time of issue, Paul was still living on Hillel Street #52, but now his occupation is listed as "Driver" - a prestigious public position in those days.
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Item Code: 0020010.14 Price: $10
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Early Israeli "Certificate of Immigration", 1948. The 'Te'udat Aliya' is a central document in the course of making immigration to Israel and effectively fulfilling the 'Zionist Vision'. This 6-page booklet is unique for the reason that it was issued just 2 months after Israel's declaration of independence, in July 1948, and at the height of the War of Independence (1948-49). This document was issued by the Jewish Agency for Palestine's Absorption Department of the Division for Immigration, to Moshe Shulman. Shulman, aged 32 from Poland, was issued his immigration certificate on 8 July 1948 in Pardes Hannah. He arrived on the ship "Von Breshchen" (sp?) with his wife Rebecca and listed relatives in the country who were living in Kfar Blum. The certificate documents certain events for Shulman: he left the immigrants' home on 12 July 1948, and on 10 February 1949 the customs house in Tel Aviv stamped that is released 3 packages (containers) representing all of Shulman's delivery. A unique document representing the earliest wave of new immigrants following the establishment of Israel, as well as the establishment of the new state's bureaucracy for absorbing and assisting immigrants. In used but well-preserved condition.
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Item Code: 0010006 Price: SOLD
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Early Israeli identity booklet, 1949. An early version of the State's first 'Te'udat Zehut' (certificate of identification). This 10-paged booklet ('Pinkas'; with a stylized Menorah and "State of Israel" background template on the pages) represents a combination of legal identity in the new-born State, a confirmation of voting rights, as well as a form of official entitlement to services under the austerity regime of the period 1948-60. This document was issued on 9 January 1949 - towards the end of the War of Independence - to Leah Melnik of Kfar Blum. Bearing her photograph, the document described Melnik as being 33 years old, Jewish, blue-eyed, brown-haired of medium build and measuring 165 cm.; married, and living in Kfar Blum since 1947; she was born in Latvia but is listed as a "citizenless person" whose profession is as an agricultural worker.
The heavily-stamped document includes these notations: a stamp of the "Ministry of Interior of the State of Israel" - on the photograph; membership in the union of assembled machinists; registered as voting for the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th Knesset and for the 43rd Zionist Congress; registered as receiving her ration book for 1949, her points card for 1951, her food card for 1951 and again for 1953-54 and 1955-56; registered as receiving a special purchasing card for pregnant women, in 1952. All the pages are now stamped "Cancelled". A remarkable document attesting to the early bureaucracy and order of the new Israeli state; a document representing all the rights and privileges that many Jews fought (and often lost their lives for) before, during and after the Second World War.
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Item Code: 0010007 Price: SOLD
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Mandatory Palestine permanent curfew pass issued during the "Great Uprising" (or "Arab Revolt") of 1936-39, to Dr. M. Rachmilevitz - a doctor at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem - by the Jerusalem police authorities, in October 1938. According to the document, stamped by Hadassah hospital and by the Jerusalem Commissioner's office, Rachmilevitz is entitled to move between his home and the hospital during curfew hours. An unusual and interesting document, in used (Fine) condition.
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Item Code: 0010054 Price: SOLD
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Pre-State Israeli bureaucracy: original typed memorandums from the Jewish National Fund's ('Keren Kayemeth Le'Israel') head office in Jerusalem to the JNF's Lithuanian offices in Kovno, September 1924 (i.e. on the eve of the Jewish New Year), on official letterhead stationary. The first letter, from 2 September is an invoice for the shipment of booklets of JNF labels (i.e. stamps produced by the JNF), of various images. The labels were sold to raise funds for the JNF, and as this letter exhorts, "as per our conclusions in letter L/A 2161 from 18/8, we propose increasing the sales [of labels]".
The second letter from 8 September, to Kovno, is a 2-sided document confirming various issued raised in past correspondences: Jerusalem's receipt of news clippings about the JNF from the Kovno office; compliments on August (1924) being a record fund-raising month for the JNF's Lithuanian office - a pen-written comment indicates that Jerusalem forsaw record months occuring following [Menachem] Ussishkin's (the JNF's chairman 1923-41) visit there. Another point mentions the production of pocket calendars in Kishinev (Moldova), and that only a certain amount (2000) were sent to Lithuania in Hebrew because they're more relevant for use in Eretz Israel. A further point lists a series of correspondences by code number for which Jerusalem was still awaiting replies from Kovno. Both letters are replete with bureaucratic filing codes, hand-stamps and JNF labels - the stationary is even marked with form codes. Remarkable documents of Israel's original establishing bodies.
The Jewish National Fund was established in 1901, during the Fifth Zionist Congress (in Basel), as a mechanism to purchase land in Palestine to enable Jews to immigrate there and establish the communities which would enable a Jewish state to rise in the future.
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Item Code: 0120001 Price: SOLD
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Israeli radio license document, 1952-58. This fold-out card was issued to Zvi Mishori of Shtand street in Tel Aviv, in November 1951. Every year the holder of this document would go to the post office to pay the annual fee to possess a radio: the card is franked with both the 1st and 2nd series revenue stamps, and all are cancelled. According to the dates set in the form, the annual licensing for Mishori was valid until the end of October, though to judge by the counter-stamps it appears that he paid the fees early one year (1956) and late the following year (1957). The actual license card was issued at that time by the Ministry of Transport, Mail, Telegraph, Telephone and Radio.
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Item Code: 0010177 Price: SOLD
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