אוסף אשר ואירה קוך, ובתם יהודית קרן

Asher Koch: Asher Koch was born in 1888 in Szeged in southern Hungary and moved, with his family,to Budapest. In 1910 when he was 22 years old, he received his degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Technical University in Budapest. He later specialized in this field in London. After completing his studies he worked for the Hungarian Train Company until 1914. During the First World War Koch was drafted into the Hungarian army and sent, as an officer, to the Russian front. He was wounded and captured at the beginning of the war and was transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Siberia. In the camp he was 'employed' as a mechanical engineer responsible for the training program of the Russian drivers. Hispositiongave him certain privileges in his imprisonment. He had two failed escape attempts. However in 1918 he succeeded to escape and he crossed the border andreached Shangai-hai, China. He found work as a mechanical engineer in a factory that produced pumps. In 1920 he returned to Hungary and went back to work in the train company. Asher Koch felt close to Judaism and Zionism. In Hungry, at this time, there were many anti-semitic outbursts and one evening Koch was attacked on his way home. He was wounded and taken to the hospital. This experience, as well as a meeting with other Jewish engineers who had similar violent experiences, caused him to decide to move to Israel. Asher Koch, along with other Jewish engineers, arrived at the Jaffa port on May1, 1921. Due to the uprisings on that day, the boat was re-directed to the Haifa port. As they got off the ship, all those who were eligible were drafted to defend the city of Haifa. At first Koch worked in Shemen Industries, Ltd., and then in the Department of Public Works. Aftera short while he was appointed as the water engineer in the Jerusalem municipality.In this capacity, Asher Koch rehabilitated Solomon's Pools and the aqueduct from it to Jerusalem, installed pumping installations and installed pipes to bring additional water to the city from Ma'ayan al-Aruv and Ma'ale Kelt (Prat) and others. He met his wife, Ira Kotik, in Jerusalem. He served as the Director of the Department of Water in the Jerusalem Municipality during the years 1922-1933. After completing his work in the municipality, he opened a private agency for engineering works and technical equipment. At the same time, he was active in the Engineers and Architects Union in Jerusalem, in the Free Masons and other organizations. Ira Koch nee Kotik In 1941 she came to Israel, by herself. She was 17 years old. Ira Kotik was born in 1897 in Bessarabia. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Fishman Maimon, a relative, accompanied her aliyah to Israel. With the outbreak of WWI she bought, with the little remaining money she had, an Ottoman passport, which enabled her to remain in Israel. Ira lived in Tel-Aviv, in the home of the Shlosh family. She worked as a nurse in the Turkish Hospital in the city. She was forced to run away from the hospital, in the middle of the night, due to someone reporting her activities in the NILI Underground. She succeeded in reaching the home of Avraham Shapiro in Petach Tikvah. During the First World War (1918) she moved to Jerusalem and worked as an arts and crafts teacher in the girls' school, "Evelina de Rothschild". In 1919, at the end of the war, she returned to her family in Bessarabia. A few months later she returned to Israel with her younger sister. They lived in Jerusalem. During the following years other members of her family, including her parents, moved to Israel. Some of them moved in to live with her. Ira met Asher Koch in Jerusalem and they married. As a young couple they lived in Talpiot in the Southern part of the city. Afterwards they moved to Prince Mary Street (today, Shlomzion Hamalkah) in the city center. Their business was also located there. They had three children, two daughters and one son: Yehudit (Alexandra), Leah (later Adler) and Sami (Shmuel). The family picture album was given to the Shoshana and Asher Halevy Photographic Archives in Yad Ben-Zvi by Yehudit Keren Koch, the daughter of Asher and Ira Koch. The album consists of pictures of his wanderings in China, photographs of the years he was the water engineer of Jerusalem and other ventures in which he participated, alongside personal and family photographs. اقرأ أكثر