Miller - Galstein Family

Bluma Miller was born in Lanovtsy, Poland, in 1912, to Yoel and Etel Miller, the fifth of eight children: Eliyahu ( died in the Holocaust), Tesherna ( emmigrated to Argentina), Berel, Yosef, Hana (Gapeman) Bluma (Galstein), Beila ( who died in childhood), and Yona (Yoeli). Her parents lived a religious life stlye. The father was a rabbi and a ritual slaughterer. He died in 1920 and part of the family were 'smitten' by the Zionist philosophy. Hana moved to Kibbutz Yagur in Israel in 1931. Following in her footsteps, her sister Bluma, who was already active in the Zionist Movement in Poland, moved to Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar. Hana Miller Gapeman was born in 1907 in Lanovtsy, Poland. She moved to Israel and married Avraham Gapeman. The couple lived in Kibbutz Yagur with their children: Yoel, Ben-Zion (1944 killed in the Six Day War where he served as a pilot) and Atalia Weiner (1948-2017). Bluma married Tzvi Galstein who was born in Verba, Poland to Itzhack and Haya. She came to Israel as a pioneer. The couple had three chldren: Hila (1938) Shai, Yigal (1942-2006) and Atalia (1948) Bekman. Tzvi worked in the fields in Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar. Bluma worked in agriculture, in the shoe repair, the children's house and the kitchen and also served as a signaller in the Haggana during the British Mandate. They lived in the kibbutz in a red hut, which served as headquarters for the Haggana during the War of Independence (This album also contains memoirs which Bluma wrote on this period). Bluma sang and played on the harmonica and the accordion. She organized 'Song Nights' with the younger generation of the kibbutz and Palmach members who were in the kibbutz. She worked as a child care worker, laundress, in agriculture and in the shoe repair shop in the attempt to have Jewish workers in various fields of work. At the time of the Establishment of the State of Israel, the kibbutz sent her to 'Efal Seminar' to strengthen the ideological principles of the kibbutz. She was drafted to work with new immigrants to encourage them to join the kibbutz communities. At the beginning of the 1950's, at the time of the split in the Kibbutz Movement (Bluma was a member of Ahdut Havoda while her husband was a member of Mapai), the couple decided to leave Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar after 18 years. At first they moved to Kfar Varburg to try living on a Moahav, however in 1953 they moved to Kibbutz Yagur, where her sister's family lived- Hanah and Avraham Gapeman. Tziv passed away in 1971. Bluma wrote booklets "The taste of Life", based on her life abroad and in Israel, songs and poems for children, accompanied by sketches that she dedicated to her grandschildren. Bluma Galstein passed away in 1996. Read more