Figure 1.--These Jewish youths were among the first Youth Aliya participants arriving in Palestin in 1934. Thgey are headed to Kibbutz Ein Harod by a mule deiven waggon. Many of them had prbably never seen a mule before. Notice the mud and other youth walking in the front.

The YA youth were assigned to kibbutzim for 2 years to learn farming skills and Hebrew. Kibbutz Ein Harod in the Jezreel Valley was one of the first kibbutzim to host the youth. One wonders what went through the minds of the young people. By the time the young people were first arriving in Palestine, all would have had terrible experiences in Germany. Widespread killing had not yet begun, but the children would have had humilitaing expriences, the loss of friends, been subjected to taunts and threats, and expelled from their schools. Their prents would have lost jobs and fiund it increasingly difficult to mke a living. Many would have lot property. On the other hand they were city children. They came from modern, well-organized urban Germany to very backward Palestine and were thrust into farming, something they had virtually no knowledge of or experience with. The Hachschara preparation program attmpted to deal with this, but in no way could really prepare them. Thus we do not know just how the youth seprate from their parents and at least at first still confortable homes suddenly fiund thmselves in very basic kibbutz farms. There must be some personl mrnoirs, but we hve not yet found them.

Created: 5:25 AM 6/25/2017
Last updated: 5:25 AM 6/25/2017