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building on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, as a member of the orchestra." The family
has kept the entry permit to this day.
Lucien Salzman arrived at the museum - previously the home of Meir Dizengoff, the
first mayor of Tel Aviv – with two assistants: Fedor Shanon and Giora Hanokh. "I helped
him to carry in the equipment, to set it up, and to bring him whatever he needed," recalls
Giora Hanoch – then a 16-year-old high school student. "He offered me to assist him,
and I was happy to accept his offer." The three of them laid two microphones on the
dignitaries' table. "My father wrapped a fabric ribbon that had 'Tslil' written on it, on one
of the microphones," says Baruch Salzman. The letters show up clearly in the photographs
of the event, in which the microphone is positioned in front of the seat where Ben-Gurion
stood and delivered his words. In the photograph another two microphones are seen at
the table. One was there for the purposes of the radio broadcast, while the other was –
apparently – for amplification inside the hall. The three men installed their recording
equipment – acetate disk cutting machines – in a small room on the upper floor, where
the orchestra was located.
Owing to the lack of space, the orchestra had been asked to keep the size of the ensemble
to 30 musicians, to be conducted by George Singer, and at the end of the ceremony the
orchestra played HaTikva. This was the first time that the playing of the anthem on a radio
broadcast was no longer considered a crime, even though officially the British Mandate
was still in force.
Ralph Hellinger recounts that Arthur Holzman, a reporter for an American broadcasting
network who had been in on the secret and knew of the time and venue, had informed him
in good time about the important event. "Two days before the declaration," says Hellinger,
"Holzman came to us in great excitement and said, 'Don't tell anyone, but in two days' time
Ben-Gurion is going to declare the state, the Jewish state. Can you be ready to do my four-
and-a-half minute spot, on a 30 centimeter record?' Of course, my dad said, 'Fine, okay,'
but after Holzman left, he said, ‘Ralph – you know what? To record just four-and-a-half
minutes of such an important ceremony is simply a shame; we have to do the whole thing,
from beginning to end.' We had another old machine; I sat and fixed what could be fixed,
and in fact it was ready, two days later. We arrived at the museum with two machines that
weighed a hundred kilograms." Hellinger remembers that the reporter arranged entry
permits for himself and his father. The permits, which he was unable to show later on, said
– or so he claims – that he and his father were "members of the Philharmonic Orchestra".
Long after, he said that ten days later, Ben-Gurion and his wife came to his parents' home
to listen to the recording. Ralph and his father played the 24 minutes of recording that
were in their possession. "It was the first and last time," Hellinger testifies, "that I saw
Ben-Gurion in tears, he was weeping. Paula, meanwhile, was interested to know where
my mother had obtained sugar cubes, because this was during the period of austerity; we
happened to have received packages from an aunt in Australia."
A fter the ceremony was over and all the important guests had dispersed, Zvi Luria went
down to the museum basement and transmitted from there his address as the first director
102 The Friday That Changed Destiny
has kept the entry permit to this day.
Lucien Salzman arrived at the museum - previously the home of Meir Dizengoff, the
first mayor of Tel Aviv – with two assistants: Fedor Shanon and Giora Hanokh. "I helped
him to carry in the equipment, to set it up, and to bring him whatever he needed," recalls
Giora Hanoch – then a 16-year-old high school student. "He offered me to assist him,
and I was happy to accept his offer." The three of them laid two microphones on the
dignitaries' table. "My father wrapped a fabric ribbon that had 'Tslil' written on it, on one
of the microphones," says Baruch Salzman. The letters show up clearly in the photographs
of the event, in which the microphone is positioned in front of the seat where Ben-Gurion
stood and delivered his words. In the photograph another two microphones are seen at
the table. One was there for the purposes of the radio broadcast, while the other was –
apparently – for amplification inside the hall. The three men installed their recording
equipment – acetate disk cutting machines – in a small room on the upper floor, where
the orchestra was located.
Owing to the lack of space, the orchestra had been asked to keep the size of the ensemble
to 30 musicians, to be conducted by George Singer, and at the end of the ceremony the
orchestra played HaTikva. This was the first time that the playing of the anthem on a radio
broadcast was no longer considered a crime, even though officially the British Mandate
was still in force.
Ralph Hellinger recounts that Arthur Holzman, a reporter for an American broadcasting
network who had been in on the secret and knew of the time and venue, had informed him
in good time about the important event. "Two days before the declaration," says Hellinger,
"Holzman came to us in great excitement and said, 'Don't tell anyone, but in two days' time
Ben-Gurion is going to declare the state, the Jewish state. Can you be ready to do my four-
and-a-half minute spot, on a 30 centimeter record?' Of course, my dad said, 'Fine, okay,'
but after Holzman left, he said, ‘Ralph – you know what? To record just four-and-a-half
minutes of such an important ceremony is simply a shame; we have to do the whole thing,
from beginning to end.' We had another old machine; I sat and fixed what could be fixed,
and in fact it was ready, two days later. We arrived at the museum with two machines that
weighed a hundred kilograms." Hellinger remembers that the reporter arranged entry
permits for himself and his father. The permits, which he was unable to show later on, said
– or so he claims – that he and his father were "members of the Philharmonic Orchestra".
Long after, he said that ten days later, Ben-Gurion and his wife came to his parents' home
to listen to the recording. Ralph and his father played the 24 minutes of recording that
were in their possession. "It was the first and last time," Hellinger testifies, "that I saw
Ben-Gurion in tears, he was weeping. Paula, meanwhile, was interested to know where
my mother had obtained sugar cubes, because this was during the period of austerity; we
happened to have received packages from an aunt in Australia."
A fter the ceremony was over and all the important guests had dispersed, Zvi Luria went
down to the museum basement and transmitted from there his address as the first director
102 The Friday That Changed Destiny
