Passover haggadah. General Transport Coy. R.A.S.C. 178. Published by the unit’s cultural committee and edited by the soldiers Tzvi Ankori and Eliyahu Hazan. Drawings: Shur-Glazner. Benghazi (Libya), 1943.
Non-traditional haggadah, mimeographed, with illustrations. Printed on the reverse side of light blue telegram forms of the Italian General Government in Libya.
The haggadah includes the following text: "On this night, as we celebrate the Festival of Freedom… and we, the soldiers of the 178th Jewish Drivers’ Unit, recline together, our hearts rejoice and are in turmoil. Our hearts are in turmoil because the world has become our gallows. Let our blood never be covered over! In this year, the cry of our murdered brethren in exile in Europe rose to us, and there was none to save them. As we were in the desert, sent on a mission from our home, upon the heels of the accursed ones, news reached us of what had been done to us in the valley of killing…. This year, the year of the great terror the like of which our people has never known, we have known some small peace here on the soil of Cyrenaica and Tripoli, for the wretched communities of Israel have been freed from the hangman’s hands…" (pp. 3–4).
On page 14 is an illustration of the soldiers of Palestine Transportation Unit 178 reclining around the seder table. On page 22 is another illustration of the soldiers, with the caption: "Jewish soldiers encamped somewhere on the borders of the desert" (from the song "On the Borders of the Desert").
[27] pp. Missing front cover. 21.5X 15.5 cm. Good condition. Some stains. Page size is non-uniform. Resewn with thread.
Provenance: Rimon Family Collection.