Correspondence - Menachem and Yaffa Zaharoni - Displaced Persons Camps in Europe, 1947-1948

Correspondence - Menachem and Yaffa Zaharoni - Displaced Persons Camps in Europe, 1947-1948
About 160 handwritten letters, sent from and to Menachem and Yaffa Zaharoni. Salzburg, Milan, Rome, Strobl, Bad Gastein, Kfar Yehoshua and other locations. January 1947 to August 1948.
These letters were sent while Menachem Zaharoni was in DP camps in Europe as a teacher on behalf of the "Jewish Agency". During the first months of letters exchange Zaharoni expresses mainly his impressions about the refugees and their stories. In a letter sent on August 20, 1947, for example, he writes: "Here is a woman of about 40… came out of the ghetto prior to the riot. Her young son is 9 years old. He crawled out through the sewage pipes, but beforehand he was carried along the streets of Warsaw in a suitcase… and here is another mother with her daughter, who lived in a monastery and refused to leave it and live with Jews…".
Later letters, written after the Israeli Independence War broke focus mainly on the fate of the Yishuv and the development of the war. Due to problems with postal services in Palestine, most of the letters from this period are from Menachem. In a letter from January 31, 1948, Menachem reacts to the death of Tuvia Kushnir, one of the Convoy of 35, who was his student: "I knew Tuvia more than I knew all the others; I knew him as a boy, who started to like nature, friendly and a talkative… and later as a mature person who controlled himself and was very knowledgeable". In another letter, dated May 30, 1948, Zaharoni describes the reaction of Austrian press to the occupation of the Old City: "The Old City fell. The Austrian press announced it already 10 times at least…".
Four telegrams, two postcards and three original envelopes are included in the collection. Some of the letters were sent by official institutes of the Yishuv leadership, and by acquaintances in Palestine.
Enclosed: Ernährung der Tiere ('nourishment of animals'), a study booklet in German with an ink- stamp of "Education Bureau for She'erit Ha-Pletah in Austraia, Pedagogic Library no. 268" (Hebrew); Laissez Passer from Salzburg to Munich for Menachem Zaharoni, issued by the International Refugee Organisation (a printed form, filled out by typewriter, hand signed by the officer in charge and ink-stamped: "Area I HDQ. US Zone - Austria").
See items 146 and 235.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition. Folding marks, stains and creases. Small tears. Open tears to a few letters.