Diary – Emissary of Mizrachi Movement and Bne Akiva to Displaced Persons Camps – Germany, 1946-1947

Diary – Emissary of Mizrachi Movement and Bne Akiva to Displaced Persons Camps – Germany, 1946-1947
Diary written by an emissary of Mizrachi – Tora VeAvoda and Bne Akiva in Displaced Persons Camps in Germany. Hasenhecke, Fritzlar, Aschau and elsewhere, 1946-1947. German and some Hebrew.
The diary is typewritten on separate leaves (some printed on both sides) and it describes the experiences of the writer between December 1946 and September 1947. Mentioned in the diary are, among other things, a meeting with the camps' directors and representatives of UNRRA organization; the difficulty to find Kosher food; Jewish education in the camps; conflicts with Polish displaced persons in Fritzlar; riots by inmates protesting against the rationing of food, clothing and cigarettes; Psalms reading in a Jewish cemetery which survived the war; searching for volunteers for an agricultural training farm of Bne Akiva in Aschbach; numerous descriptions of the tough life in the camps; and other subjects. One of the diary's pages is printed in Hebrew, describing a spontaneous festivity in Aschau camp. On top of the leaf appears the title "the entire camp dances", and on the bottom - "Yosef Mayer" (presumably the author of this diary).
Enclosed: • A long letter (six pages), typewritten (with handwritten additions) on official stationery of "'Relig. Cion. Org. Mizrachi' – 'Tora W'Avoda' in Germany" and the Jewish Agency, by Yosef Mayer to his mother, dated 23.10.1946, branch of the Jewish Agency in B.A.O.R. (British Army of the Rhine) in Frankfurt. • Circular letter on behalf of "World Organization of 'Tora W'Avoda' Movement" addressed to emissaries of the movement asking them to submit material about the mission for the publication of a book. Dated 19.2.1950.
[20] leaves (32 printed pages. Errors in paginations), approx. 30.5 cm (some leaves are smaller). Good condition. Small tears at margins. Minor creases, stains and blemishes. A number of handwritten notes, some in Hebrew.