Passover Haggadah – HeChalutz Movement in Holland, 1939 – Early Testimony of the Persecution of Jews in Europe – ...

Passover Haggadah – HeChalutz Movement in Holland, 1939 – Early Testimony of the Persecution of Jews in Europe – Hebrew and German
Passover haggadah. HeChalutz Movement in Holland, [early April], 1939. Hebrew, German.
Non-traditional haggadah, mimeographed (handwriting, typewriting and illustrations); printed for the use of members of HeChalutz Movement training kibbutzim in Werkdorp Nieuwesluis, in Deventer and in "the other training points".
This haggadah was printed five months prior to the beginning of World War II, yet it shows signs of the persecution of the Jews in European countries and the limitations placed on them. The texts related to the persecution in Europe are fused with texts concerning the 1936-1939 riots in Palestine, together drawing a glum picture of the imminent catastrophe of the Jewish people.
The first page reads: "…In the country of our hopes, infernal forces seek to destroy our national and socialist revival; and in the world – the sword of destruction is upon us! On this night, we, members of 'HeChalutz' and our brethren in Holland… together with all of Israel… are seated here to celebrate the holiday of spring and liberty, to express the yearnings for freedom that animate us despite the travails set upon our people in the German lands – the Amalek destroying us, our parents, and families and our brothers and sisters. Therefore we shall raise our voices higher for Aliya and renewal; we shall break through all the locked gates, for there is no stopping those hungry for freedom and building. And the great day shall arrive!" (the text is printed in Hebrew and German).
Printed at the end of the haggadah are excerpts (in German) from the writings of Ahad Ha'Am, David Frishman, Martin Buber and others. An illustration on leaf 15 shows a "tower and stockade" settlement with a barbed-wire fence; page 17 shows a map of Palestine marking the settlements founded in the 1930s (mostly tower-and-stockade settlements) under the title "Our Response to the Riots – the Expansion of Settlements".
Page 16 in this copy is different from the one known from a different copy of this Hagaddah (see Kedem catalogue 38, item 210) – instead of the text appearing there in memory of those murdered "while defending their besieged homeland…", page 16 (unpaginated) bears the title "Song Sheet / Hechalutz BeHolland, Passover 5699 [1939]", with songs such as "Hine ma tov", "Vihudah Leolam Teshev" and "Lamered". The haggadah is to be read from left to right.
[1], 2-23 leaves, 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Creases. Tears and open tears to cover. Spine reinforced with black tape. Tears to spine.