11 Arrival In Palestine
After five days on the Mediterranean Sea, we approached the coast and soon saw the port of Haifa with the Carmel mountain in the background. It was in the latter part of the month of October, a beautiful day, and whoever came by boat to Haifa on a clear sunny day knows the feeling we had, looking at the scenery. For Friedel, especially, it was something difficult to express. After disembarking from the boat, we had to go through all the formalities of new immigrants, taking nearly the rest of that day.
We were welcomed by one of Friedel's relatives, Shmuel Sturm, who lived in Haifa, and were invited to stay for the weekend, before proceeding to Tel Aviv. I also met many friends, some from the Army and others whom I knew from Europe. It was a very happy time for us. But we hadn't just come for a holiday, we were going to settle down in Tel-Aviv.
First we looked for an apartment. With the help of Friedel's uncle who lived in Tel Aviv - Norbert Sturm - we found something to our liking, and as it was also in the vicinity of most of our relatives and friends we decided to take it and move in. Other than some personal belongings which we brought with us, we had no furniture. Nevertheless we were still in good spirits. We bought some folding beds, a kitchen table and a couple of chairs, and made the best of it. Most Shabbatot we were invited by relatives. During the week Friedel became a housewife and I started to look around for work.
Times were not easy here in 1947. Tension between Jews and Arabs on the one hand, and the Jewish population and the British authorities on the other, increased from day to day. On the evening of the 29th of November, we were walking on the main street of Tel Aviv and we stopped to listen to a loudspeaker van in the square announcing the YES and NO votes at the UNO in New York, for the establishment of the Jewish State. It was a most memorable experience and every minute was getting more exciting. It was very close until, finally, the voting was in our favour. When they announced the end result, for a moment or two, people were stunned. Then excitement broke out; complete strangers embraced and kissed each other and many were crying for joy. After that dancing went on during the whole of the night.
However, after the sunshine comes the rain. By the next morning, Arabs had started sabotage by throwing bombs and shooting wherever they found Jews unprotected. Of course, the Hagana replied in kind, and the British Army intervened. All this caused tension and, alas, victims. Places of work and factories found themselves very often in the fire-line, and some had to close down. This happened to the place where I worked in diamonds. Altogether the diamond trade went into a crisis because of difficulties in export, and I had to look for something else.
By sheer chance, while I was waiting in a cafe for someone, to discuss diamond business, I met my old friend, Jimmy Friedland, from the British Army and POW camp. We discussed old times and new problems, and it turned out that we were both thinking of ways to make a living. Jimmy had already started carrying out a bit of work in interior decoration, specialising in curtains. With a lot of building going on, prospects were good, but he needed someone to assist him, as this kind of work involved discussion and signing of work agreements with the customers, as well as executing it. We decided to become partners and work together. We celebrated the partnership with a cup of coffee and a handshake, and began the next day. He already had a few customers, and I went to relatives and friends to offer my services, and asked to be recommended to whoever needed this particular kind of work.
Gradually the circle of our customers increased and we were fully occupied. Profits were still meagre as we had to buy materials with capital that we really did not have. Nevertheless, we worked hard, and, in order to carry out all the work we had, we put in long hours, sometimes until late at night. Meanwhile, both of us being ex-soldiers, we were called to register for army service. That made our work very difficult, because we knew that any day now, we would be called to serve.
After five days on the Mediterranean Sea, we approached the coast and soon saw the port of Haifa with the Carmel mountain in the background. It was in the latter part of the month of October, a beautiful day, and whoever came by boat to Haifa on a clear sunny day knows the feeling we had, looking at the scenery. For Friedel, especially, it was something difficult to express. After disembarking from the boat, we had to go through all the formalities of new immigrants, taking nearly the rest of that day.
We were welcomed by one of Friedel's relatives, Shmuel Sturm, who lived in Haifa, and were invited to stay for the weekend, before proceeding to Tel Aviv. I also met many friends, some from the Army and others whom I knew from Europe. It was a very happy time for us. But we hadn't just come for a holiday, we were going to settle down in Tel-Aviv.
First we looked for an apartment. With the help of Friedel's uncle who lived in Tel Aviv - Norbert Sturm - we found something to our liking, and as it was also in the vicinity of most of our relatives and friends we decided to take it and move in. Other than some personal belongings which we brought with us, we had no furniture. Nevertheless we were still in good spirits. We bought some folding beds, a kitchen table and a couple of chairs, and made the best of it. Most Shabbatot we were invited by relatives. During the week Friedel became a housewife and I started to look around for work.
Times were not easy here in 1947. Tension between Jews and Arabs on the one hand, and the Jewish population and the British authorities on the other, increased from day to day. On the evening of the 29th of November, we were walking on the main street of Tel Aviv and we stopped to listen to a loudspeaker van in the square announcing the YES and NO votes at the UNO in New York, for the establishment of the Jewish State. It was a most memorable experience and every minute was getting more exciting. It was very close until, finally, the voting was in our favour. When they announced the end result, for a moment or two, people were stunned. Then excitement broke out; complete strangers embraced and kissed each other and many were crying for joy. After that dancing went on during the whole of the night.
However, after the sunshine comes the rain. By the next morning, Arabs had started sabotage by throwing bombs and shooting wherever they found Jews unprotected. Of course, the Hagana replied in kind, and the British Army intervened. All this caused tension and, alas, victims. Places of work and factories found themselves very often in the fire-line, and some had to close down. This happened to the place where I worked in diamonds. Altogether the diamond trade went into a crisis because of difficulties in export, and I had to look for something else.
By sheer chance, while I was waiting in a cafe for someone, to discuss diamond business, I met my old friend, Jimmy Friedland, from the British Army and POW camp. We discussed old times and new problems, and it turned out that we were both thinking of ways to make a living. Jimmy had already started carrying out a bit of work in interior decoration, specialising in curtains. With a lot of building going on, prospects were good, but he needed someone to assist him, as this kind of work involved discussion and signing of work agreements with the customers, as well as executing it. We decided to become partners and work together. We celebrated the partnership with a cup of coffee and a handshake, and began the next day. He already had a few customers, and I went to relatives and friends to offer my services, and asked to be recommended to whoever needed this particular kind of work.
Gradually the circle of our customers increased and we were fully occupied. Profits were still meagre as we had to buy materials with capital that we really did not have. Nevertheless, we worked hard, and, in order to carry out all the work we had, we put in long hours, sometimes until late at night. Meanwhile, both of us being ex-soldiers, we were called to register for army service. That made our work very difficult, because we knew that any day now, we would be called to serve.
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