Kalman Hermoni (Hanchinski)

Kalman Hanchinski (Hermoni) was born in 1903 in Lodz, Poland. In 1922, at the age of 19, he was drafted into the Polish army. Shortly afterwards he ran away with a friend and together they came to Israel. He passed through Czechoslovakia, Hungry, Yugoslavia and Lebanon where he stayed with the Jewish community. From there he continued on foot to Metulla by way of Har Dov and from there to TIberias. In Tiberias, Golda Meir, who later became the Prime Minister of Israel, gave him lunch. Kalman made his way to Tel Aviv where he settled. He worked in road construction. Inspired by Mount Hermon in the North he changed his family name from Hanchinski to Hermoni. In 1925 he joined the first unit of volunteer fire fighters in Tel Aviv. Their center was on Rothschild Boulevard. Abba Cohen, together with a number of friends, founded this branch. At its founding, the group numbered 73 members. Due to a lack of knowledge in this field in Israel, Kalman Hermoni and a few other volunteers were sent to Egypt for training. Kalman married Yaffa and they had two children: Aharella and Channa (Butbul). Towards the end of the 1930's he joined the Hagannah and became a 'gafir', a guard in the 'Settlement Police'. His personal number was 548 and he guarded in Sejra (Ilania). This photographic collection includes pictures from: trips in Israel that Kalman participated in his youth, with the guide Ze'ev Vilnai; the founding years of the Tel Aviv Volunteer Firefighters Unit at the end of the 1920"s; Egypt where he went for training as a fire-fighter and from the time he was a 'gafir' –guard- at the end of the 1930's in the Sejra Farm. Tel Aviv Volunteer Fire-Fighters Unit In 1925 after a number of fires broke out in Tel Aviv and Yafo, a volunteer fire-fighters brigade was formed. The organizers of the group included Abba Cohen and Shmuel Wilson who were fire fighter officers in Russia before they came to Israel, Chaim Halprin, head of the municipal police, Dov Gefen and the municipal councilman Rosenfeld. The first station was established in a small hut next to the Water Institute and the Municipality on Rothschild Boulevard. In 1928 they were given a plot of land next to the water tower where they were able to practice. Later the station moved to Basel Street in the Northern part of the city. In the first years of the Unit their funding came from contributions collected in movie houses, theaters and parties that were held for this purpose. In 1928-1929, due to the economic crisis, the financial situation of the brigade worsened. The British Mandate Government recognized them and the Tel Aviv Municipality budgeted funds for their activities. In 1930, after Tel Aviv was hit with an outbreak of fires, Mayor Dizengoff gathered a fire truck from the 'International Company' in Germany. It was given the nickname 'Yael'. A horn was placed on the roof of the Water Institute Building to sound an alarm in case of a fire. In 1935 another fire truck was bought from London. This one had a pump and a generator with foam. It was given the nickname, 'Meira' after Meir Dizengoff, the Mayor of Tel Aviv at the time. In 1942 after an outbreak of fires and aerial bombings, a new station was opened on Basel Street. In 1948 a fire truck was sent from New York. It was nicknamed 'The American'. An official visit of senior government officials to the Tel Aviv Fire Station was held in July 1930. Representatives of the Tel Aviv Municipality also participated. A large crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the fire-fighters demonstration. At the end of 1932 a large fire broke out in a sawdust factory in the Al-Salahi marketplace. Fire-fighters from the volunteer fire-fighters brigade of Tel Aviv were called to help fight the fire. If you would like to expand on this topic, we recommend reading Yael Hellman's book, "Or Yam - Tel Aviv Culture during the Mandate Period," published by the University of Haifa, the chapter on the volunteer fire brigade, pp. 231-237, as well as the article, " Jewish Firefighters of Tel Aviv in the Service of Jaffa during the British Mandate", by Tamir Goren, "Et-Mol", Issue 248, Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. Read more