The tragic pre-1948 history of Jerusalem’s now-posh Mekor Haim neighborhood
The Jewish enclave south of the capital was subject to brutal Arab attacks, and holds a memorial for 12 men killed fighting for it in the War of Independence
A very modest memorial stands in the front yard of a synagogue in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Mekor Haim. Erected by the residents in the 1990s, the memorial is dedicated to 12 men who lost their lives defending the neighborhood during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
Each name on the list tells a tale of heroism, selflessness and a passionate eagerness to defend their beleaguered little country — stories that mirror those of our brave soldiers who have fallen in the current war with Hamas.
Few Jerusalem guidebooks (including our own) include even a mention of Mekor Haim — even though in 1930, the first-ever peace agreement between Arabs and Jews was signed between representatives of Mekor Haim and the neighboring Arab village of Beit Safafa. And not only did it make history, which is enough of a reason to mention the neighborhood, but scattered among a mass of attractive new apartment buildings remain several of Mekor Haim’s original early 20th century single-story red-raftered houses.
Located south of Jerusalem and surrounded by Arab villages, the first plots of land for Mekor Haim were purchased in 1913. They were bought through Zionist organizations with money donated in honor of wealthy European philanthropist Haim Cohen.
Nothing happened on the land, however, until the Jewish National Fund added more property to the parcel in 1923. Houses finally went up a year later, and at a ceremony in 1924 the cornerstone for the first synagogue was laid. Famous German-Jewish architect Richard Kaufman, responsible for planning over 150 of Israel’s country’s towns, farming villages and garden neighborhoods, designed Mekor Haim.
The first houses were built along a narrow dirt road just a few dozen meters east of the train tracks that ran between Jerusalem and Jaffa. However, as it was completely isolated from Jewish Jerusalem, it was a prime target for hostile Arabs during riots set off in 1929 after someone blew a shofar (ram’s horn) at the Western Wall on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana. Despite the peace agreement with Beit Safafa, Mekor Haim was constantly targeted by sniper fire for three years in the late 1930s, placed under siege for five months during the War of Independence, and endured almost daily attacks until the Israeli army secured southern Jerusalem.
Life wasn’t easy for the several dozen families that settled Mekor Haim. Water was only available only twice a day, from faucets on either side of the neighborhood. There were no trees or gardens; outside the homes were only rocks and thorns. A horse and buggy were needed to travel anywhere. But the settlers were an interesting lot, including the owner of a cow barn, carpenters, rabbis, a watchmaker, shoemakers, and a butcher.
Among the remaining buildings are a guesthouse from 1925 that served as the neighborhood command headquarters in 1948, two homes coated with silicate bricks — which was very unusual in Jerusalem — an early house that today offers free dental services for the poor of Jerusalem, and a home built in 1930, almost lost below one of the new apartment buildings. Because it was prohibited by the British to own arms in pre-state Israel but supremely necessary in such an area, this house had a secret weapons cache that, fortunately, was spirited away just before a British raid. Also still standing, and in daily use, is the original synagogue.
The Zisserman family plot boasted the largest cowshed in the neighborhood — and was the spot where Mekor Haim lost its first defender of the War of Independence. His name was Avraham Zisserman, and he had lived in the neighborhood from the age of 3.
In 1936, when Arab riots broke out in Palestine, there just weren’t enough people to defend the isolated Jewish neighborhoods. Although he was under the legal age for service, Zisserman managed to join the Jewish Auxiliary Forces — a special division of the British Police — so that he could carry a weapon.
When the War of Independence began in late November of 1947, Zisserman was put in charge of several defensive positions. In January of 1948, during an attack on the neighborhood by Arab gangs, he moved with two others to a position at the edge of Mekor Haim. After the two comrades abandoned him, he remained alone, firing his weapon until he was shot in the head and mortally wounded.
Heavy losses
Mekor Haim suffered greatly during the War of Independence, remaining under siege by the Arabs for five months and the object of repeated assaults. Like Jerusalem-born garage mechanic Yitzhak Getler, the other 11 fallen defenders of Mekor Haim were not from the neighborhood. While preparing fortifications in the border neighborhood of Yemin Moshe, Getler demanded to take part in the fighting. Sent to Mekor Haim, he was mortally wounded in the stomach during a horrific attack.
Tuvia Ordang was born into a die-hard Latvian Zionist family in 1907. Once as a child he ran away and when found declared that he was trying to get to Israel. An agricultural engineer who immigrated to Hadera and was active in putting down riots in 1929, Ordang moved to Jerusalem in 1937 and became active in the Hagana, the paramilitary force that would soon become the IDF.
Too old to be recruited during the War of Independence and father to three young daughters, he joined the pre-state army nevertheless. On June 3, 1948, he stepped on a mine planted just outside of Mekor Haim. Ordang and two other soldiers were killed.
Diamond specialist David Welber, born in Jerusalem in 1912, joined the Jerusalem battalion during the War of Independence. Like most of the others listed on the memorial, he was vastly proud of his part in a number of battles meant to liberate southern Jerusalem. On June 3, he was killed by a mine that blew up as he was helping an injured comrade-at-arms.
Born in Germany in 1881, Heinrich Landshot was a chemical pharmacist who owned pharmacies in Strasburg and in Frankfurt. During World War I, he was in charge of the German Army Medical Service. He was also an ardent Zionist.
In 1933 he immigrated to Jerusalem, and when the war broke out he was already 63 years old. But he immediately joined the pre-state army and was sent as an officer to defend Jerusalem. Killed by enemy sniper fire in Mekor Haim on October 17, he used to say that it was better to risk the lives of older people than that of the young generation who would have to rebuild the country after the war.
Metalworker Hanan Seri, born in Tel Aviv, joined the Haganah at 16 and took part in its actions. Once he was even captured by the British. During the War of Independence he was sent to the defense of Makor Haim. At one point he headed a unit setting up an ambush for the attacking Arabs.
Although seriously wounded during their skirmish that followed, he refused to leave the battlefield. The Arabs were held off, but he fell from a second bullet that hit him in the head.
Born in Berlin in 1909, Gad Brickman received a doctorate in physics from a German university. In 1933 he moved to Israel and joined the Haganah while working in research pharmacology in Tel Aviv. Eleven years later he took part in setting up the pharmacology department of the Hebrew University.
Brickman joined the army at the onset of the War of Independence, becoming a commander in different parts of the city. His last post was as commander of the defense of Mekor Haim. On July 14, 1948, he led a unit heading for an enemy position near Beit Safafa and was killed when he stepped on a mine.
A great many homes in Mekor Haim were destroyed during the war, and only a few people returned to their old neighborhood. Sniping continued until the Six Day War, when southern Jerusalem was developed and Mekor Haim was no longer alone.
Seventy-five years later, the worm has turned and Mekor Haim is a much-desired location. Not only will the Jerusalem light rail be accessible from Mekor Haim in a few years, but this quiet neighborhood is adjacent to the restored original train station that ran from Jerusalem to Jaffa. Full of shops and restaurants, it even offers over seven scenic kilometers (four miles) of bike/pedestrian walkways which end in the once hostile, now friendly, Beit Safafa.
Aviva Bar-Am is the author of seven English-language guides to Israel.
Shmuel Bar-Am is a licensed tour guide who provides private, customized tours in Israel for individuals, families and small groups.
