Synopses & Reviews
In voices as plain as day, with memories as clear as dawn, the people of Israel offer their stories as TESTAMENT to the struggle to establish the Jewish state. Photographed on location in black and white, each face is a map, etched with the effort of fifty years. Each face is evidence, of the honor of battle, the horror of bloodshed, the heartbreak of loss. Each face is a witness to history.
American photographer and journalist Aaron Levin creates a TESTAMENT to the men and women behind the founding of Israel on its 50th anniversary. Transcribed from interviews, sometimes translated from Hebrew, the essays that accompany each portrait tell of the extraordinary events that transformed everyday lives. Shalom Massvari speaks nonchalantly of self-induced starvation, undertaken to make himself small enough to be smuggled out of prison in a suitcase. Eliahu Shavit crouches above the Jerusalem sewer holes he once crawled through as a saboteur, planting bombs. Munio Brandwein gazes at the olive trees he planted where three friends lost their lives.
Along with the ordinary soldiers, civilians, and kibbutzniks who contributed to the independence movement, notable dignitaries share their most personal anecdotes about this remarkable moment in history. Standing warily on the very street corner where he was arrested in 1946, former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir recalls disguising himself as a rabbi in an attempt to elude the British, only to be caught by an officer who recognized him by his eyebrows. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres sits surrounded by books in the library of David Ben-Gurion's house in Tel Aviv, once the center of so much military planning. Chaim Herzog, the former president and ambassador to the United Nations, pauses by the rough road he helped carve through the Judean hills to relieve the siege of Jerusalem. And the last two surviving signers of Israel's Declaration of Independence, Zerach Warhaftig and Meir Vilner, revel in the memory of dancing in the streets.
Synopsis
Aaron Levin heralds the men and women behind the founding of Israel.
Synopsis
Look at the faces. Listen to the words. These are people who helped form the state of Israel. Shalom Masswari speaks nonchalantly of self-induced starvation, undertaken to make himself small enough to be smuggled out of prison in a suitcase. Zelig Gonen stands beside the bicycle he used to traffic a basket of Molotov cocktails across an Arab war zone. Eliahu Shavit crouches above the Jerusalem sewer holes he once crawled through as a saboteur, planting bombs. Munio Brandwein gazes at the olive trees he planted where three friends lost their lives.
In Testament, American photographer and journalist Aaron Levin heralds the men and women behind the founding of Israel on its 50th anniversary. Transcribed from interviews, sometimes translated from Hebrew, the essays that accompany each portrait in Testament tell of the extraordinary events that transformed everyday lives.
Along with the soldiers, civilians, and kibbutzniks who contributed to the independence movement, there are photos and first-person recollections of such prominent Israelis as former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shimon Peres, and the former president of Israel and ambassador to the United Nations Chaim Herzog, now deceased.
About the Author
Aaron Levin's relationship with the landscape and people of Israel dates to 1969, when he lived and worked in a farming village while studying Hebrew. A professional photographer and writer who specializes in archaeological sites and artifacts, his work has appeared in several books about Roman and Near Eastern archaeology, and in such publications as The New York Times and Geo. A graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Baltimore, he lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Shimon Peres was director of manpower and later of arms procurement for the Haganah in 1947. During the War of Independence, he headed the naval department in the Ministry of Defense. He went on to serve as defense minister, foreign minister, and prime minister. Instrumental in Israel's struggle for autonomy, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1994.Shimon Peres was director of manpower and later of arms procurement for the Haganah in 1947. During the War of Independence, he headed the naval department in the Ministry of Defense. He went on to serve as defense minister, foreign minister, and prime minister. Instrumental in Israel's struggle for autonomy, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1994.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Shimon Peres
END OF THE MANDATE
"Even the children's houses were surrounded with barbed wire...An officer offered my son some chocolate, but he refused it, saying, 'I don't take candy from British soldiers.'" --Arieh Rotem
THE DAWN OF STATEHOOD
"The difference was that the war started, not that the state was declared...The first death in the family, the first grave, put an end to my childhood." --Yael Dayan
THE BRUNT OF BATTLE
"At that moment a bullet struck her straight in the skull. I found part of her brains in my shirt." --Yona Shapira
THE CITY AND THE ROAD
"The Arabs poured fuel on the armored buses. Seventy-eight people were burned alive: doctors, nurses, professors, workers." --Menashe Pinhasi
WAR AND SURVIVAL
"Singing with the soldiers was the important thing, reading stories, telling jokes. We lit the Hanukkah candles--actually kerosene in mortar shell casings--and sang songs." --Haim Hefer