A collection of miscellaneous photos from the family archive.

Assortment of photos from my paternal grandparents, some with links - even if merely tangential - to their lives, others without an obvious direct connection to the family history. Posting them here to help make sense of how these pieces may fit in the larger family history.

Some of these photos help provide a better sense of their environment. Others are more mysterious - maybe someone, someday, will come across some of them and will provide some insights.

Palestine - 1910's

There are a few photos from Palestine in the family collection. Six are from Ronya's visit to Palestine in 1909-1910. Three other photos seemingly from the same time but taken by three different photographers: one taken by a friend of the family, Dr. Wallisch, one unknown who wrote a caption in Hebrew, and another unknown who captioned his photo in English.

Turkish policeman in Hebron holding keys to Jewish houses.

Turkish policeman in Hebron holding keys to Jewish houses. Undated.

The photo is inscribed in the back (in Hebrew): "A picture of a policeman in Hebron, carrying the keys to the Jews houses."

I don't know who took this photo, when, or why it is in the family collection. It could be related to the voyage my grandmother Ronya Datnowsky took in Palestine in 1909-1910, however the other photos from that trip are printed on different paper, and none have inscriptions in Hebrew. Based on the quality of the photo, I assume it was taken by an amateur, probably a traveller. The handwriting doesn't seem to match Haim Abraham's.

Children of the Dead Sea. Photo Dr. Wallisch.

Children of the Dead Sea. Photo Dr. Wallisch.

Assuming ca. 1910

"Dr. Wallisch" might be a misspelling on my grandmother's part and be the same person as "Dr. Wellisch". Dr. Wellisch was Herzl's unofficial representative in Constantinople ca 1903, also Turkish Ambassador in Vienna and Permanent Board Member of the Education Ministry. See his calling card in the family collection.

ICA colonists in meeting party at frontier of colony.

"ICA colonists in meeting party at frontier of colony".

Undated, assuming ca. 1910

Surprisingly, the caption on the back of this photo is in English. It's not clear who took it, or what the connection is with Ronya or the Abraham brothers.

ICA provided help to independant settlements including Gederah, Haderah, Nes Ziyyonah, and Mishmar ha-Yarden. Between 1900 and 1903 ICA created 4 new moshavot, Kfar Tavor, Yavniel, Melahamia (Menahamia), and Bet Gan. In addition, it established an agricultural training farm at Sejera (Ilaniyyah).

This family history project started September 2009.
All photos and documents belong to the author and are © Daniel Abraham, except for maps and where indicated.
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This is a work in progress. Please contact me if you have any more information to contribute.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 20, 2024