Three underground Hebrew broadsides issued by the Haganah Organization. Haifa District, [1948].
1. "HaChomah, matters of security and defense", a broadside calling the Jews of Haifa not "to disturb the protectors while they are doing their duty by gathering, obstructing traffic and spreading frightening rumors" and not to leave their houses without an authorized order.
2. "HaChomah, matters of security and defense", a broadside with updates on the course of the battles after the British had left Haifa – the progress of the forces, gaining control of key positions, transport routes and action bases, the attack on Tira, and more.
3. "To all units of the Haganah in the area of the Carmel", a broadside issued by the commander of the Haganah in the Haifa District. Haifa: "Omanut" Press, 23.4.1948.
The broadside congratulates the fighters of the Haganah on their success in conquering Haifa and asks them to prepare themselves for additional battles in the Haifa district and elsewhere.
Approx. 22x34cm to 32x47cm. Condition varies.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Two handwritten ledgers and a printed legal codex which had belonged to the Jewish policeman Shmuel Yankovitch. Haifa, Beit Lechem and elsewhere, 1947-1953
1. "A Ledger of the Tasks of the Police" – a handwritten notebook (presumably written by Yankovitch during his training) with interesting information about the Palestine police during the British Mandate: the ranks and badges, instructions for using weapons, arrests, searches and more. Dated on the first leaf: 8.10.1947, Beit Lechem.
Approx. 100 written pages, approx. 20 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. The front binding and first leaves are partially detached. Spine missing, with cloth strips mounted along it. Several handwritten notes are inserted among the leaves.
2. A policeman-ledger with hundreds of handwritten entries (numbered and dated), documenting Yankovitch's work during the years 1948-1953 (most of them from the 1950s): complaints, unusual events, stakeouts, special operations, notes handwritten by senior officers and more.
Approx. 13.5cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and creases. Binding missing.
3. "The Criminal Law… as it came into force on December 1, 1948", a legal codex. Tel-Aviv: S. Borski, 1948. A copy that served Yankovitch in his work, with handwritten comments, notes and leaves stapled and inserted between the leaves. On the first leaf there is a handwritten Hebrew inscription: "Shmuel Yankovitch… the district of Haifa".
110 pp, approx. 23.5 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains, creases and blemishes. The gatherings are detached one from the other. Restored tears at the inside margin of the title page. Binding detached, worn and damaged, missing spine.
Enclosed: two additional ledgers (small, only the first leaves are filled in).

A Photograph of a report on the use of carrier pigeons during the War of Independence and a photograph of the "Monument for the Anonymous Pigeon", bound together. [The 1950s?].
1. A photograph of "The report of the deputy of the officer responsible for securing the road to Jerusalem Bab al-Wad", to the commander of the Jerusalem-Bab al-Wad (Sha'ar HaGai) road, from 23.12.1947.
The report describes information that was received by means of two carrier pigeons about an attack in the area of Sha'ar hagai: "At 10:45 I received an announcement in Kiryat Anavim that two carrier pigeons had arrived from the field. The first pigeon had a note in which it was written that the force was attacked from different directions, there is one wounded and need for reinforcement… The note contains additional details we could not decipher since the writers did not have pencils and used matches instead… In the second note that was sent at 10:30 it was written that the force is located in the final post above Bab al-Wad…".
The event described in the report is an attack of Arab snipers on a convoy that was on its way from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv on 23.12.1947. One of the witnesses to the attack was the British High Commissioner Sir Alan Cunningham, who was driving on the same road, behind the convoy. During the shooting, the High Commissioner commanded his escort guards to fire back at the snipers (see enclosed material).
2. A Photograph of the "Monument for the Anonymous Pigeon" which was placed in Bahad 7, the IDF Training Camp of the Command & Control, Communications, Computers and Information Corps, during the early 1950s.
The two photographs are bound together in a hard binding (mounted on the inner sides of the binding, with tissue guards between them).
The Haganah Organization and later, the IDF, had active units of carrier pigeons.
The person who formulated the idea of using carrier pigeons to serve the Haganah was Avraham Etz-Hadar, who established the "Pigeon Communications Department" in 1939. The first dovecot was built in Jerusalem and later, additional ones were built in Tel-Aviv, Kefar Menachem, Yagur, Givat Brener and other settlements. The pigeons were used for communicating news between settlements and for various other activities of the Haganah. With the establishment of the IDF, a pigeoneer unit of the Communications Corps was established, which was active until the mid-1950s.
Photographs: approx. 24x18 cm. Binding: 26 cm. Good condition. Stains on the tissue guards and on the binding.

List of the fallen of the 33rd Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade and two official announcements that were sent to families of soldiers who had died in battle during the War of Independence. December 1948.
1-2. Two official handwritten announcements that were sent to the families of Chaim Weisszand and Uriel Goldfarb, of the 33rd Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade, who had died in battle on 20.12.1928. Were sent on 24.12.48. Signed by the welfare sergeant.
3. "The losses of the 33rd Battalion in the battle over Iraq Menashiya on 28.12.48" (Hebrew) – a list of names of the soldiers of the 33rd Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade who died in the battle over Iraq al-Menashiya ("Operation Chisul"). Three typewritten leaves, with handwritten corrections and additions. The list before us contains the names of approx. 70 soldiers and the names of family members who should be informed of their death. The list was presumably made close to the battle and after it was printed, it was discovered that some of the listed soldiers survived the battle (these names are erased by pen).
"Operation Chisul" was carried out by the Alexandroni Brigade on December 28, 1948. The goal was to wipe out the Al-Faluja Pocket, where there were thousands of besieged soldiers of the Egyptian army. The operation was one of the greatest, blood-soaked failures in the history of the IDF – the attack was held back and 90 Israeli soldiers were killed.