"Nitzanim Chamama." Issue marking the cornerstone laying of Kibbutz Nitzanim. Elul, 1945. Rare

"Nitzanim Chamama." Issue marking the cornerstone laying of Kibbutz Nitzanim. Elul, 1945. Rare
Internal issue published by Kibbutz "Nitzanim Chamama," marking the laying of its cornerstone. Issue dated the 10th of Elul, 1945. Stencil. "On Thursday, the 30th of Av 1945, the 9th of August, we laid the cornerstone for this house, the first permanent home in our "Nitzanim" kibbutz on the land of "Chamama."
A few copies of this issue was published, with the label "internal," for the 70 members of the settlement. It includes an expansive review of the establishment of the kibbutz: "We, the members of Nitzanim, as part of the Zionist camp, are happy to be part of those who are taking possession of the land between Ashdod and Ashkelon and we will set out our tents...and this village, of which we are starting its construction today, will serve as one of the many houses for the absorption of future Jewish residents for which we are preparing..."
The issue relates to the Holocaust victims at length, it even ends: "The destruction has come on the House of Israel, complete communities were slaughtered, were burnt alive or suffocated with poisonous gas by Hitler the Nazi enemy..." It also includes declarations regarding the future: "We will not bring ourselves to slaughter, we will no longer be trampled and destroyed. We will raise the the flag of self-protection...may the decision of the Zionist camp and settlements be of strength - we will continue the project...we will expand and strengthen the building of our nation."
The reader can feel the excitement of the kibbutz members who first established the settlement: "For ten years we have been waiting for this day, since the group was established in Poland, a group for "hachshara"...Six years ago, our members immigrated and stuck a peg in a temporary camp...we are happy that we are building a home in this wondrous corner - a corner of early Israeli strength ...today we placed the foundation for a Jewish village in a "forbidden" area...we will yet sing and cheer for the land of Chamama that is being rejuvenated...it is light for us today...a holiday...Chamama is opening its doors to the refugees of the Diaspora."
Kibbutz Nitzanim was established by a few families from Romania and Poland who illegally immigrated to Palestine in 1939. The group supported themselves by working in the orchards near Ben Shemen and Kfar Meir, while waiting for an opportunity to establish an independent settlement. They were offered three areas of settlement, and chose JNF land purchased in 1924, near Nitzanim. The settlement was surrounded by Arab villages. The closest Jewish settlement was Beer Tuvia, which was about 8 kilometers away. According to the Partition Plan, the settlement would have been in the Arab State.
During the War of Independence, on May 14, 1948, the Egyptian army attacked the settlement with tanks and artillery, while the fighters of Nitzanim were armed with light ammunition. Many fighters were killed during the battle and the others were taken as prisoners of war by the Egyptians. Near the end of the war, in December 1948, the IDF recaptured the area, and about three months later the settlement was moved about 3 kilometers south of its original location. The story of the settlement that stood on its original location for only three years and whose members died during the War of Independence, became a legend in the history of the State of Israel. In the 1960s, Nachum Zolotov, whose brother Bezalel died in the battle, designed a memorial for the killed Nitzanim fighters, that was established in Nitzanim.
Rare, important issue that is not in the National Library and is not listed in the ULI. 
[1] 20 pages. 
16x21 cm. Illustrated paper jacket. Original postmarked stamp on the back, pasted when the issue was mailed.