Zvi Schwartz and Rachel nee Klimaker and Ruth (Dayan)

Zvi Schwartz (1896-1991) was born in Novoselitsa in Western Ukraine (Czernowitz District) to Miriam (Mintza) and Yechiel Schwartz. Zvi moved to Palestine in 1911 as a young boy. He studied in the Herziliyah Gymnasia in Tel-Aviv. After completing his studies he worked as a teacher in Merhavia. He was a master's student at the London School of Policy and Economics and a Rabbinical student there. Under the auspices of the London Municipality he started Hebrew language night classes, teaching there from 1920-1926. In addition he was a member of the "Poalei Zion" Committee and one of their delegates to the British Workers Party Congress in 1925; he served as the London correspondent for the newspapers, "Cuntras" and "Davar"; and was a member of the editorial board of "Praclit"- the journal of the Israeli Lawyers' Association. In Jerusalem he served as the personal secretary of Leib Yaffe, the head of the Keren Hayesod, as well as studying at the Center for Judaism and the Law School at Hebrew University. Upon completion of his studies he worked as a lawyer. He was very active publicly in the community, the Israel Bar Association and the Friends of the University. Rachel Schwartz nee Klimaker (1897-1994) was born in Kishinev, Russia to Penina Rosen and Dov Klimaker, a sister to David and Daniel. In 1903 she came to Palestine with her family and settled in Rishon LeZion. She completed her studies at the Gymnasia Herzeliyah (the third class) before the beginning of WWI. In her youth she used to join her father in his lab and work with him. Immediately after finishing high school she married Zvi Schwartz who was a classmate of hers. She studied to be an early childhood teacher at Merhavia. Rachel and Zvi lived in the home of Hugo Kaminsky in Merhavia and there their first child, Ruth, was born. In 1919 they went to London to continue their studies and lived there until 1926, when their second daughter, Reuma, was born. When they returned they lived in the Musrara neighborhood in Northern Jerusalem. Most of the inhabitants were Arabs. In 1929, after the uprisings, they moved to Rehavia. When they returned, Rachel worked in the Ministry of Education in informal education. She established the first Gugenheimer playground, intended for both Jewish and Arab children, on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. She also dealt with placing children into educational frameworks, started the Youth Hostel Organization on behalf of the Ministry of Education and was the chairperson of the organization. Ruth Dayan studied at the Hebrew Gymnasia in Jerusalem and was active in the "Machanot Olim" Youth Movement. At the age of 17 she moved to the Nahalal Moshav where she studied in the Agricultural Girls School. There she met Moshe Dayan, who was born on the Moshav. In 1935 they married and had three chidren: Yael (1939), Udi (1942-2017) and Asi (1945-2014). In 1945 Ruth and Moshe moved to Tel-Aviv. Moshe was in the military, Chief of Staff, Knesset member and a Minister in the Government. Ruth established and ran the Government Company "Maskit" for many years. It specialized in Israeli textiles, jewelry and fashion. This photo collection was given to the archives at Yad Ben-Zvi by Ruth Dayan. The album includes family photographs of the Klimaker, Schwartz and Dayan families. Additional pictures can be found in the Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, "Israel Revealed to the Eye" in the Ruth Schwartz Dayan Collection 5000.0482. Read more