אוסף עתניאל מרגלית

Otniel Margalit was born in Berlin, Germany in 1916. His parents were Heinriech Margolis (Margalit) and Nani nee Aurbach. He had two siblings: Raphael (1921) and Esther (1924). Otniel grew up in a secular Zionist home. In his youth he studied in a Jewish school in Berlin that was located next to the big synagogue on Pazanan Street. His parents were active Zionists: His mother was a gymnast in the Jewish sports club 'Hakoach Berlin' and his father was a member of Martin Buber's group. In 1923 the family moved to Milano, Italy after the father was appointed deputy director of a factory for the production of beer, 'Angellhart'. In 1924 Heinriech met Chaim Weizman and George Halpern (from London, one of the heads of the JNF and the Anglo – Palestine Co.) at the Zionist Congress. With their help, the family was able to move to Israel in 1925. The father was appointed deputy director of the Anglo –Palestine Bank. The family spent their first two weeks living with an uncle, Eli Aurbach and then moved to 18 Yochanan Hasandler Street in Tel Aviv. Heinriech served under Mr. Hofyan who was the director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank in Yafo. He founded a department of loans for industry in the bank (before the bank gave loans only for agriculture). In addition he wrote books-that were never published, and studied Acadian. Nani, the mother, took part in volunteer activities in the management of WIZO, and was in charge of publicity and editing the organization's newsletter. As a youngster, Otniel studied in the 'Herziliya Gymnasia' in Tel Aviv, which was run by Dr. Baruch Ben Yehuda, in the science track. Two of his classmates were Gideon Hauzner and Yosef Nedava. He joined the Scouts Youth Movement (1929), near the water tower on Mazeh Street. In the summer of 1929 there was an Arab uprising. Otniel and his classmates were working in Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim at the time. Due to the uprising they were evacuated. After completing his studies in 1933 Otniel worked at odd jobs. After a chance meeting with the Director of the Palestine-Egypt Lloyd tourist company (later known as Pal-Tours), Walter Torkovsky, he began working as a clerk in the company. In 1935, together with Aharon Vershavsky, he moved to head the company branch in a city in Iraq. They replaced Theodore Tahun (the son of Yaakov Tahun), the previous director, who wanted to return to Israel. During the two years he served in Baghdad there was a military coup which brought Bachar Sadki to power. Upon his return to Israel in 1936 Otniel joined the Hagannah and served in the Jewish Police Force. At the end of 1938 and the beginning of 1939 Otniel was in a training course of the Special Night Squad under Ord Wingate. During the course he participated in an ambush on Mount Tabor to catch Arabs returning from a massacre in Tiberias. During the clashes Wingate called for assistance from the RAF- the British Air Force. The pilot spotted figures carrying weapons and dropped grenades on them. But these were Otniel and his friends. Luckily the shrapnel didn't injure the fighters. Upon completion of the course Otniel was assigned to the Field Corps and served on the Southern Line: Gedera-Kfar Menachem-Be'er Tuvya, and afterwards in the area of Netanya and further North. Because he was fluent in German, Yaakov Dori, the Hagannah Commander (later the first Commander in Chief of the Israeli Army) requested his transfer to the Hagannah headquarters. There he translated professional brochures into Hebrew and ran training courses. After one year in this position, he returned to civilian life. In 1940, after 5 years of friendship, Otniel married Shulamit Melotek. In 1941 he volunteered in the British Army in the Buffs Regiment. During his service he was appointed sergeant and later he became a Major and commandeered a division. In October 1944 with the formation of the Jewish Brigade within the British Army, Otniel went with his soldiers to Italy and fought against the Germans. On their time off the Jewish soldiers looked for Jewish refugees to try and help them. Raphael, Otniel's brother, was drafted into the British army in 1942. They met twice during the war: the first time was in the Libyan desert, when Raphael was on his way to Palmyra in Syria and Otniel to Kassesen, Egypt; the second time was in Italy when Otniel was in Florence and Raphael was serving in a unit that was mapping the area. Michal, the eldest daughter of Shulamit and Otniel, was born in 1945. In 1946 Otniel was discharged from his army service with the rank of Major. He began to work in the Industrial Bank and afterwards in the Anglo-Palestine Co., like his father. Between the years 1944-1950 he worked in the bank in Tel Aviv. In 1955 he was appointed Branch Manager in Hadera and he moved there with his family. During their five year stay in Hadera, their son, Doron, was born. In 1968 Otniel was appointed to head a subsidiary of Bank Leumi in Zurich, Switzerland (Cifico Company International). Among other responsibilities, he was put in charge of shipments of medicines and equipment to Israel in the sum of half a million Swiss Francs. While in Zurich, Otniel held a Bible class that was based on research that he did since 1955. In addition, he gave lectures at different institutions in his capacity of Director of the bank and an Israeli. Doron completed his university studies in Switzerland in 1965 and continued living there until 1973. With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 he returned to Israel and volunteered in the IDF. Their daughter Michal also served in the army at this time. The Margolis Family returned to Israel at the end of 1973. Otniel worked in the field of stocks and bonds. In 1978 he became the Director of the Company 'Treasure for Industry' (a subsidiary of Bank Le'umi) and "Ya'ad" – funds for the rural Arab sector. (This fund led to the establishment of the Israeli-Arab Bank in 1979). Otniel was appointed as a senior assistant to the CEO. He retired in 1981. Otniel studied intermittently at Tel Aviv University during the 1970's and after 20 years he completed his Master's degree in Bible Studies and Classics. He published many academic articles in journals in Israel and abroad, lectured on Biblical subjects and wrote a book on the sea people in Israel during Biblical times. He attempted to prove that the Bible was a paraphrase of the Greek mythology. Otniel Margalit passed away in October 2013. This photo collection includes personal photographs as well as historical pictures that teach us about the history of Israel from the 1920's until the beginning of the 21st century. The collection includes special pictures from the daily life in the vibrant city Baghdad during the 1930's, the officer's course in the Hagannah and the Special Night Squads of Wingate, from the years of his service in the British Army and the Jewish Brigade in Italy and more. اقرأ أكثر