Some 380 printed and handwritten items of ephemera; hundreds of publications distributed by Jewish undergrounds and dozens of items of ephemera from British detention camps. Palestine, Africa, and additional locations, 1940s. Hebrew and additional languages.
Unusually large collection including hundreds of broadsides, proclamations, notices, placards, flyers, wall posters, memos, brochures, and pamphlets circulated by the three largest Jewish undergrounds in Palestine – the Haganah, Irgun (Etzel), and Lehi organizations – in the context of the struggle against the British Mandatory authorities; most of the publications bear the emblem of the relevant organization.
· Some 200 items published by the Irgun (Etzel – Irgun Tzva’i Leumi, National Military Organization): Warning broadside issued by the Irgun just prior to the so-called "Night of the Beatings" (1946), whereupon the organization abducted and flogged several British soldiers in an act of vengeance in response to the corporal punishment of their own members at the hands of the British authorities; a notice issued by the "Tribunal of the National Military Organization" regarding the execution of Jewish informants and individuals whose acts were deemed treasonous by the Irgun (1947); call-up order "on the occasion of the admission of the regiments of the Irgun into the ranks of the ‘Jewish Army’ [=IDF]" (June 1948?); and numerous other items.
· Some 60 items published by the Lehi (Lohame Herut Yisrael, Fighters for the Freedom of Israel; a.k.a. "the Stern Gang"): A wide assortment of brochures and leaflets ("Yair, " "Message to Every Loyal Hebrew, " "Words of the Convicted in the Cairo Trial" [of Eliyahu Bet-Zuri and Eliyahu Hakim, executed for their part in the assassination of Lord Moyne], "Cornerstones of the Doctrine of Jewish Freedom"; in Hebrew); a paper printed by the Lehi outlining their political platform following the establishment of the State of Israel (July 1948); and numerous other items.
· Some 50 published items issued by the Haganah and the leadership of the Jewish "Yishuv" in Mandatory Palestine – An early (Hebrew) broadside bringing attention to the existence of "a faction of deranged hooligans who call themselves ‘the National Military Organization’" (1939); a series of warning notices bearing photos and identifying details regarding suspicious individuals; and numerous other items.
· Some 45 items of ephemera from the British detention camps of Latrun, Atlit, Gilgil (Kenya), Sembel (Eritrea), and other camps: letters, photographs, issues of newspapers compiled in the camps, and more.
· Some 25 additional items of ephemera, including hand-drawn British military maps along with a sketch outlining attacks conducted by the Etzel; ten documents representing indictments on charges of possession of underground proclamations and broadsides, as well as journalistic photographs and more.
Size and condition vary.