Auction 84 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art

Including: Items from the Estate of Ruth Dayan, Old Master Works, Israeli Art and Numismatics

Large Collection of Photographs – WWI Palestine – Apparently from the Photo Album of a Soldier in the Jewish Legion – Soldiers at the Western Wall and on the Temple Mount, "Jewish Soldiers' House, " Encounters with Local Jews, and More

Opening: $700
Sold for: $1,250
Including buyer's premium
Some 300 photographs (pasted onto loose album sheets), apparently from a private photo album of one of the soldiers of the Jewish Legion. Jerusalem and additional sites in Palestine, [ca. 1918-1919; some photos possibly from other countries and/or from later years]. These photographs show soldiers in the uniform of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF) in a wide variety of sites throughout Palestine, many of them with a strong Zionist or Jewish connection. One photo features a soldier wearing an epaulet adorned with the Star of David – the insignia of the Jewish Legion – standing in front of the Western Wall. Included among the photographs: Soldiers entering the Temple Mount plaza; a number of photos of soldiers at the Western Wall; soldiers at the entrance to the Jewish Soldiers' House (established for the benefit of soldiers of the Jewish Legion with the support of the Council of Delegates and funded by James de Rothschild); wooden grave markers to fallen Jewish soldiers (including a marker over the grave of Joseph Arditti, an officer in the French Army's Legion d'Orient that took part in the conquest of Jerusalem); roll calls; tent camps; boxing matches; Zionist and other Jewish sites and buildings (including Haifa's Technion, the Bezalel School, and the Tombs of Absalom, Zechariah, and Benei Hezir); deck of SS Kaisar-i-Hind, that served in transporting British army units from 1917 to 1921; and more. A small part of photographs most probably document the life of the soldier and his family in the postwar years, either in the US or Europe. Approx. 300 photographs, size and condition vary. Most of the photos are grouped and pasted onto loose album sheets, approx. 26.5X18 cm. Overall fair-good condition. Stains, creases, and blemishes. Tears, including open tears, to edges of some photos. Many photos blurry or faded. Some photos detached, with remnants of glue on back. Leaves crumbling, with multiple open tears and blemishes.
WWI and WWII – Jewish Soldiers
WWI and WWII – Jewish Soldiers