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Alonei Abba

Coordinates:32°43′46″N35°10′18″E/ 32.72944°N 35.17167°E/32.72944; 35.17167
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Alonei Abba
אַלּוֹנֵי אַבָּא‎
Hebrewtranscription(s)
• officialAllone Abba
Alonei Abba is located in Jezreel Valley region of Israel
Alonei Abba
Alonei Abba
Coordinates:32°43′46″N35°10′18″E/ 32.72944°N 35.17167°E/32.72944; 35.17167
Grid position166/237PAL
CountryIsrael
DistrictNorthern
CouncilJezreel Valley
RegionLower Galilee
AffiliationHaOved HaTzioni
Founded1948
Founded byAustrianandRomanianJewish immigrants
Population
(2022)[1]
990
Websitealoneyaba.org.il

Alonei Abba(Hebrew:אַלּוֹנֵי אַבָּא,lit. 'Abba'sOaks') is amoshav shitufiin northernIsrael.Located in theLower GalileenearBethlehem of GalileeandAlonim,in the hills east ofKiryat Tivon,[2]it falls under the jurisdiction of theJezreel Valley Regional Council.In 2022 it had a population of 990.[1]

The modern village was founded in 1948 on the site of the historical Arab village ofUmm el Amad,later theGerman Protestant ColonyofWaldheim.

History

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Archaeological investigations indicate that this was an industrial agricultural processing area in theHellenisticandRomanperiods. Among the remains found are Roman-period industrial oil press and a winepress, in addition to a paved path from the same era.[3]

Ottoman era

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Umm al-Amed

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Umm al-'Amadwas mentioned in theOttomandefterfor the year 1555–6, asMezraaland, (that is, cultivated land), located in theNahiyaofTabariyyaof theLiwaofSafad.The land was designated asZiametland.[4]In 1799 it appeared as a villageZebedon theCarte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)ofPierre Jacotin,and in the 1880s asUmm el Amed(Arabic:ام العمد) on thePEF Survey of Palestine.The 1799 Jacotin map had not surveyed the area; it was drawn based on the notes of an inhabitant ofShefa-ʻAmrand some parts are incorrect.[5]

In 1859 the British consul Rogers stated that the population of Umm al-Amed was 100 and the tillage was tenfeddans.[6]In 1875Victor Guérinfound Umm al-Amed situated on a small plateau, surrounded by gardens. In spite of its name Umm al-Amed, which meant "The place with the columns", Guérin could find no columns.[7][8]

In 1881 thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestinedescribed it as standing in oak-woods on a hill-top. There was an ancient rock-cutsepulchreon the east side.[6]A population list from about 1887 showed thatUmm el Ahmadhad about 55 inhabitants; allMuslims.[9]

Waldheim

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In 1907 the colonyWaldheim(German:"Forest Home" or "Forestville") was founded by German Protestants affiliated with theOld-Prussian State Churchon land purchased from the village of Umm al-Amed. Most of the colonists came from theGerman Colony (Haifa),which was founded by theTemplers.In 1874, theTemple Societyunderwent aschismand envoys of theEvangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provincessuccessfullyproselytisedamong the schismatics. Thus the Haifa German Colony became home to two Christiandenominationsand their congregations.[10]While in Germany the Templers were regarded as sectarians, the Evangelical proselytes gained major financial and ideological support fromLutheranandUnitedchurch bodies.This created an atmosphere of mistrust and envy among the German colonists in Haifa.[11]Due to population increase and the ongoing urbanisation of Haifa, they searched for land to found new monodenominational colonies. Thus the Protestants founded Waldheim, while Templers settled in the neighbouringBethlehem of Galilee.

The purchase price of 170,000 francs was financed by a Haifa-based bankDarlehenskasse der deutschen evangelischen Gemeinde Haifa GmbHand completely refinanced by the Stuttgarter Gesellschaft zur Förderung der deutschen Ansiedlungen in Palästina. The colony comprised 7,200,000 square meters (7,200dunams).[12]

The settlement was inaugurated on the occasion ofHarvest Festivalon 6 October 1907. At this time, the new Waldheimers were still living in the simple clay huts purchased from the previous owners. The Haifa engineer Ernst August Voigt presented the plan of the streets and the 16 allotments around a central plot reserved for a church. In 1909 theJerusalemsverein[de](Jerusalem Association), a Berlin-based organisation supportive of Protestant activities in the Holy Land, contributed money for the development of a water supply. By 1914, the residents planted 5,000 square metres of vineyard and more than 500 olive trees.[13]In December 1913 the farmers of Waldheim and Bethlehem keeping dairy cattle founded a common dairy cooperative to pasteurise milk and deliver it to Haifa.

British Mandate era

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Umm el Amad and Waldheim 1918–1931

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In the1922 census of Palestineconducted by theBritish authorities,Umm al Amad had a population of 128; 63 Christians and 65 Muslims.[14]Of the Christians, 62 wereProtestantand one was Greek Catholic (Melkite).[15]This had increased slightly in the1931 census,when Umm el Amad had a population of 231; 163 Muslim and 68 Christians, in a total of 76 inhabited houses.[16]

Waldheim Germans 1932–1945

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Most of the residents bore German citizenship. In the course of the 1930s some Waldheimers joined the Nazi party, indicating the fading affinity to the Evangelical ideals. Until August 1939 17% of all gentile Germans in Palestine were enrolled as members of the Nazi party.[17]

After theNazi takeoverin Germany, the new Reich government adapted foreign policy to Nazi ideals, based on the idea that Germany and Germanness were equal toNazism.International schools of German language subsidised or fully financed with government funds were asked to redraw their educational programs and employ teachers aligned to the Nazi party. The teachers in Waldheim were financed by the Reich so that also here Nazi teachers took over. In 1933 German Gentiles living in Palestine appealed unsuccessfully toPaul von Hindenburgand the Foreign Office not to use Swastika symbols for German institutions. Some German Gentiles pleaded the Reich's government to drop its announced plan toboycott shops of Jewish Germanson 1 April 1933.[18]Later the opposition of Gentile Germans in Palestine acquiesced. A Palestinian branch of theHitler youthwas built up by the help of German government subsidies. By 1935 the Nazis had succeeded to streamline the municipal bodies of the settlements of Gentile Germans in Palestine. On 20 August 1939 the German government ordered the recruitment of Gentile German men into theWehrmacht.350 followed the call. According to one Nahalal resident, until the outbreak ofWorld War IIthe German community had good relationships with local members of theYishuv,sold stock to them while the Jewish farmers went there to study agricultural methods, and the Germans would bring them gifts of bread on the last day ofPassover.[19]

After the start of the war, all Germans in Palestine were classed asenemy aliens.TheBritish authoritiesdecided to intern most of the enemy aliens.Sarona,Bethlehem of Galilee,Waldheim, andWilhelmawere converted into internment camps. Most enemy aliens living elsewhere in Palestine—comprising Gentile Germans,[20]Hungarians and Italians—were interned in one of the settlements, while the inhabitants of the settlements simply stayed where they were. In summer 1941, 665 interned Templers from all their settlements, mainly young families with children, were transported toAustraliafor internment. Many of the remaining Germans were either too old or too sick to leave. The internees could maintain the agricultural production to feed themselves and supply surplus to market in return for supplies not available within the camps. In 1941, 1942 and 1944, by way of internee exchanges, another 400 Evangelical and Templer internees, mostly wives and children of men who had followed the call for recruitment, were repatriated, via Turkey, to Germany forfamily reunification.[21]

Umm el Amad and Waldheim in 1945

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In the1945 statistics,the population of Waldheim/Um el Amad consisted of 260 people, and the total land area was 9,227dunams,according to an official land and population survey.[22]There were 150 Muslims and 110 Christians.[23][24]170 dunams of land were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 4,776 for cereals,[25]while 102 dunams were built-up areas.[26]

Final years of Waldheim, 1945–48

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After the war thePalmachstaged provocative operations, with hit squadskilling several Germans,two involving members of the Waldheim community (Mitscherlich and Müller),[27]against the German communities to impress upon them that they were unwelcome in Palestine.[28]In 1946Moshe Shertokon behalf of theJewish Agencyrequested that Palestine's German colonies be liquidated, and their properties turned over to the Agency as part of reparations Germany owed the Jewish people.[29]

According toMeir Amitwho led the operation, a decision to take over the villages, which were considered friendly to the Arabs, was taken in March becauseAmin al-Husaynihad had contact with the Nazi government during WW2.[30]The two Templar villages, the other being Betlehem, were under British protection, and both considered 'unreliable' by Jewish forces.[31]There was a perception that the British, who were due to evacuate Palestine in May, tended to hand over areas under their control to local Arabs, and the area was strategic because close to the main axis leading to theNahalalpolice station.[32]According to Hagai Binyamini, the German estates were very neat, and emblematic of german order and efficiency. with housing made of stone in contrast to the sheet metal, old pipes and wiring used to build local Jewish settlements.[33]

At 04:00 on 17 April 1948 a unit composed of three platoons ofGolanitroopers from the Dror and Nafat Levi Battalions, drawn from members of the Nahalal,Alonim,Kfar YehoshuaSde Ya'akovandSha'ar HaAmakimsettlements and backed by armoured trucks mounted with machine guns. penetrated into Waldheim via the woodland. Some of the soldiers were Holocaust survivors, and many were fresh from combat atMishmar HaEmek.[34]The Germans put up no resistance, and shots fired were attributed to Arabs.[35]The few British soldiers under camp commander Alan Tilbury were unable to impede the attack during which two colonists, Karl and Regina Aimann, were shot dead, 'before they could even say 'good morning',' in the words of Meir Amit.[36]Newspaper accounts the day after reported they were shot when they resisted arrest while armed, and that the action was taken to intercept plans by 'Arab gangs' to take over the property.[37]The killings occurred in front of their eldest son Traugott. Having ordered their three children, Traugott, Helmut and Gisela to hide in a bedroom, the couple went to the door when two Jewish soldiers began knocked loudly and were cut down when they opened it. The family had reportedly taken refuge close to a British defensive position.[38]A third woman, Katharina Deininger (65), who was milking in the cow shed at the time, suffered a severe wounding when she was shot in the head.[39][40]

Medical assistance was denied to the father, who was still alive, and the community once rounded up was locked up in a building and later subjected to a long speech in which they were all denounced as Nazis. They also underwent a body search to discover, without success, whether anyone bore SS tattoos.[41]One trooper assured the internees that "we are not like the Germans, we will not behave like the Germans".[42]The internees were given 20 minutes to collect what remained of their belongings, all their valuables and good clothes having been looted in the meantime, together with ploughs, disks and tractors.[43]The Germans were then stripped of any documents and some books they recovered, before being handed over to the British, who evacuated them to Haifa.[44]The soldiers who shot the Almanns were reprimanded,- one of them, Chummi Zarchi from Nahalal, had angry memories of several Ukrainian relatives killed in the Holocaust -[45]and the looting deplored not on moral grounds but because it endangered operative priorities.[46]

This incident and the end of the Mandate forced the British to hasten the resettlement, thus all the internees, 51 Germans and 4 Swiss, as well as those from the other settlements, were transferred toCyprus,into a camp of simple tents nearFamagusta.By 14 May 1948, when Israel became independent, only about 50 Germans, mostly elderly and sick persons, were living in the new state. They voluntarily left the country or were later expelled by the government.[47]

Alonei Abba

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Map of Alonei Abba, 1956, on the previous sites of Umm el Amad and Waldheim

On 12 May 1948 a group of young Zionist pioneers fromCzechoslovakia,Austria andRomania,members ofHaNoar HaTzioni,establishedkibbutzBaMa'avak (In The Struggle) in the abandoned colony, after four years of agricultural training inHerzliya.Three years later, the kibbutz became amoshav shitufiand the name was changed toAlonei Abbain memory ofAbba Berdichev,who was parachuted into Czechoslovakia in 1943 to assist clandestine British forces, but was captured and executed in 1945.[48]

Landmarks

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Waldheim Evangelical Church,built between 1914 and 1921 by Haifa-based architectOtto Lutz.

Hans Martin Kuno Moderow(1877-1945), pastor of theHaifa Evangelical Congregation(1908–18),[49]also provided services in Waldheim, at the beginning in the living room of the new house of Waldheim's then mayor Gottlob Weinmann. The Waldheimers saved funds for a church of their own and could thus lay thecornerstonefor the church in early 1914. The Haifa-based architect Otto Lutz led the construction works. In 1921, the Evangelical church at Alonei Abba, which still stands today, was inaugurated.[50]The Alon winery, surrounded by a grove of oak trees, is located in the former dairy cooperative (est. 1913).[51]

Alonei Abba nature reserve

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In 1994, a 950-dunamnature reserve was declared close by, to the north.[52]The reserve is home to Valonia oak trees (Quercus macrolepis) and Palestine oak (Quercus calliprinos). Other flora in the forest includesterebinths(Pistacia terebinthus), storax trees (Styrax officinalis),carobs(Ceratonia siliqua), buckthorns (Rhamnus palaestinus), and Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum). Most of the reserve is open for experimental grazing by cattle from the moshav.[53]

Notable residents

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References

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  1. ^ab"Regional Statistics".Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.Retrieved21 March2024.
  2. ^Yet to Be Discovered: The Jezreel Valley20 Nov 2006,Haaretz
  3. ^Alexandre, 2008,Alonēy Abba
  4. ^Rohde, 1979, p. 101
  5. ^Karmon, 1960, p.162Archived22 December 2019 at theWayback Machine
  6. ^abConder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p.273
  7. ^Palmer, 1881, p.117
  8. ^Guérin, 1880, p.394
  9. ^Schumacher, 1888, p.175
  10. ^Eisler, 1998, p. 84
  11. ^Eisler, 1998, pp. 99seq.
  12. ^Eisler, 1998, p. 97
  13. ^Eisler, 1998, p. 98
  14. ^Barron, 1923, Table XI,Sub-district of Haifa,p.33
  15. ^Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p.49
  16. ^Mills, 1932, p.97
  17. ^Sauer, 1996, p. 17
  18. ^Ralf Balke,Hakenkreuz im Heiligen Land: Die NSDAP-Landesgruppe Palästina,Erfurt: Sutton, 2001, p. 81.ISBN3-89702-304-0
  19. ^Goldman, 2009 pp.163,169-170.
  20. ^Jewish Germans living in Palestine had mostly given up their German citizenship or were successively denaturalised by the Nazi government. Even if they were still German citizens, the Britons did not regard them as potential supporters of Nazi Germany. All Jewish Germans living outside the extendedGreater German Reichstill holding German citizenship were denaturalised by ordinance (Elfte Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz), decreed on 25 November 1941.
  21. ^Sauer, 1996, pp. 18 seqq.
  22. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.49Archived24 September 2015 at theWayback Machine
  23. ^Village Statistics April 1945,The Palestine Government, p.12Archived9 June 2012 at theWayback Machine
  24. ^Department of Statistics, 1945, p.15
  25. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.92Archived24 September 2015 at theWayback Machine
  26. ^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics.Village Statistics, April, 1945.Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.142Archived2 June 2015 at theWayback Machine
  27. ^A certain Mitscherlich and Rolf Müller were shot dead in November 1946. In addition Wilfred Schumacher and a certain Ruppert were beaten to death in Haifa. Heidemarie Wawrzyn,Nazis in the Holy Land 1933-1948,De Gruyter2013ISBN978-3-110-30652-1p.127.
  28. ^Goldman 2009, pp.172-173.
  29. ^Goldman 2009, p.171.
  30. ^Goldman 2009 p.156.
  31. ^Goldman 2009 p.156.
  32. ^Goldman 2009 p.157.
  33. ^Goldman 2009 pp.163, 169:' The conditions here were rough. It was unpaved, dusty, dirty, thorns… over there it was all spic and span, every German family had an Arab family to serve them..'
  34. ^Danny Goldman,'Waldheim, April 1948: the Warrior's Silence, and the Courage of Frankness,'in Horst Blaich (ed.)Exiled from the Holy Land,ISBN978-1-425-13891-2Trafford Publishing 2009 pp.146-177, pp.146,157, 161,163,164
  35. ^Goldman 2009 p.157.
  36. ^Goldman 2009 pp.157,159.
  37. ^Goldman 2009 pp.160-161.
  38. ^Goldman 2009 pp.147,149. 150-151
  39. ^Sauer, 1996, p. 19.
  40. ^Goldman 2009 p.147.
  41. ^Goldman 2009 p.151
  42. ^Goldman 2009 p.161
  43. ^Goldman 2009 p.158.
  44. ^Goldman 2009 pp.153,155.
  45. ^Goldman 2009 pp.168-169.
  46. ^Goldman 2009 p.158.
  47. ^Sauer, 1996, p. 20.
  48. ^"Zionist Parachutists - Zionism and Israel -Encyclopedia / Dictionary/Lexicon of Zionism/Israel/".Zionism-israel.Retrieved14 March2014.
  49. ^Curt Prüfer (2017).Germany's Covert War in the Middle East: Espionage, Propaganda and Diplomacy in World War I.Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN9781786733184.
  50. ^"JPost | French-language news from Israel, the Middle East & the Jewish World".Fr.jpost.Retrieved14 March2014.[permanent dead link]
  51. ^Saversky, By Ronit (20 June 1995)."Galilee takes visitors back in time - Israel Travel, Ynetnews".Ynetnews.Ynetnews.Retrieved14 March2014.
  52. ^"List of National Parks and Nature Reserves"(PDF)(in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 October 2009.Retrieved27 September2010.
  53. ^"Alonei Abba Nature Reserve"(in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2011.Retrieved27 September2010.

Bibliography

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