אוסף גרטה ספירו

Greta Lina Henrietta Spiro nee Neuman was born in 1902 in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Dr. Alfred Neuman, was a lawyer. Her mother, Anna nee Silver, from Hamburg, Germany, worked in a medical laboratory. She was also a photographer. Greta came to visit Israel in 1934. She documented her trip with her photographs of the sites and places she visited. She also photographed portraits of local "types": religious Jews, Arabs etc. 140 photographs survived from her visit in 1934 and are brought here in this album. Before she left Germany she gave the pictures to her brother, who moved to England, for safe-keeping because of her fear that the German Nazi government would confiscate them. She came to Israel in 1942 and a few years later the pictures were returned to her in an envelope sent from London, and in it were 140 photographs from her visit to Israel. In 1935 Greta married Dr. Shmuel Sapiro (1885), originally Shapiro, from the town of Shenklengsfeld, in Berlin. Sapiro was a lung and tuberculosis specialist. He worked in the German Social Security in Berlin as the head doctor and consultant, and later as a doctor in the 'Israeli Office' in Berlin. He moved to Israel in 1938 after he understood that he was wanted by the Gestapo. His wife Greta and his two sons, Ralph Gideon Yaakov (1935) and John Gabriel (1937) remained in Berlin. She was to take care of the family property and then join him in Israel. A few months later was the Kristallnacht, however Greta and her sons were not harmed. Shmuel Sapiro joined the Youth Immigration (Aliyat Hanoar) under the direction of Henrietta Szold. He founded the medical service of Aliyat Hanoar and headed it until his retirement in 1957. Dr. Sapiro received the medical award of excellence from the International Organization for the Protection of the Child in Geneva for his contribution to the health of children specifically children who survived the Holocaust. He passed away in December 1960. Greta and their two sons, Gideon and John Gabriel came to Israel in 1935 and the family was re-united. Five months later World War II broke out. After Greta settled down in Israel, her brother sent the photographs back to her. On the back of some of the pictures Greta wrote where they were taken; on some of them is the stamp of the photographer. Greta passed away in 1987 and the pictures passed onto her son Gideon. Gideon Sapiro studied at the "Beit Hayeled" School in Jerusalem. His high school studies were in Kibbutz Merhavia. He was drafted into the Paratroopers unit and participated in the retaliatory operations in the 1950's and in the parachuted in the Sinai desert during the Sinai Campaign. In later years he became a journalist for the "Al Hamishmar" newspaper in the United States. The younger brother, John Gabriel studied in the "Beit Hakerem" High School and later became a reform Rabbi. He passed away in 1996. اقرأ أكثر