Page 33 - big friday
P. 33
Zionist Congresses, preparing and decorating the hall and so on, and over
the past weeks he had prepared the hall of the Jewish National Fund building
in Tel Aviv as a meeting room for the People’s Council. He had a reputation as
someone who could "turn a hall around", but he had never been faced with so
exalted a task, and he had just one day in which to carry it out.
At the Tel Aviv Museum the managers already knew that they were to place
the hall at Wallisch's disposal – and not to ask questions. The main wall of the
great hall was covered with huge paintings utterly unsuited to the occasion. Also,
it would be necessary to place a dais and to plan the placement of every chair so
as to make maximum use of the narrow space. At Sharef and Kedar's instruction,
Wallisch called Dr. Rivkind of the Keren HaYesod [The Foundation Fund] (today,
a director of El-Al) who was in charge of invitations to the ceremony. Rivkind
had a long list of invitees, and Wallisch had to wage a short and fierce battle "to
cut the list as short as possible". At the Keren HaYesod the advertising agent
carried out an urgent financial transaction, borrowing a hundred pounds (lirot)
to cover the estimated costs of the "museum operation". (The actual expenses
totaled 150 pounds.) The next stop was the HaMashbir haMerkazi storehouses to
purchase wood and fabric…
F our hours after the brief meeting in the Jewish Agency building, the hall of
the museum had turned into a workshop, the workers in a nerve-wracking race
against a clock that was ticking far too quickly. Shimowitz, the décor man, and
his assistant were busy covering up the pictures. Yisrael Diamant, the carpenter,
and his assistant were constructing the dais. Meanwhile Wallisch had bought a
number of strong lights, and had taken a carpet on loan from the Shtampf store
in Tel Aviv.
O n May 13 the war had not yet officially been declared in Palestine; no bombs
were being dropped, but "to be on the safe side,” the windows of the hall were
covered with black fabric. A naked statue standing at the entrance was covered up.
Towards evening, the "hall transformer" was once again summoned by Sharef,
and he was told to be ready to commit the declaration of the establishment of
the state to writing. In other words, he was to prepare parchment and black ink.
T he story of the parchment and the laundering of the flags
A lthough looking for parchment in Tel Aviv was a seemingly hopeless task,
Wallisch was lucky and managed to find some. But there were questions: what
was its quality? Was it worthy of the purpose for which it was intended? Wallisch
hurried to the offices of the engineering association. Owing to the late hour, only
one worker was there. Wallisch asked him to conduct a "test" on the parchment,
but for obvious reasons could provide no details concerning his strange request.
A State is Born 31
the past weeks he had prepared the hall of the Jewish National Fund building
in Tel Aviv as a meeting room for the People’s Council. He had a reputation as
someone who could "turn a hall around", but he had never been faced with so
exalted a task, and he had just one day in which to carry it out.
At the Tel Aviv Museum the managers already knew that they were to place
the hall at Wallisch's disposal – and not to ask questions. The main wall of the
great hall was covered with huge paintings utterly unsuited to the occasion. Also,
it would be necessary to place a dais and to plan the placement of every chair so
as to make maximum use of the narrow space. At Sharef and Kedar's instruction,
Wallisch called Dr. Rivkind of the Keren HaYesod [The Foundation Fund] (today,
a director of El-Al) who was in charge of invitations to the ceremony. Rivkind
had a long list of invitees, and Wallisch had to wage a short and fierce battle "to
cut the list as short as possible". At the Keren HaYesod the advertising agent
carried out an urgent financial transaction, borrowing a hundred pounds (lirot)
to cover the estimated costs of the "museum operation". (The actual expenses
totaled 150 pounds.) The next stop was the HaMashbir haMerkazi storehouses to
purchase wood and fabric…
F our hours after the brief meeting in the Jewish Agency building, the hall of
the museum had turned into a workshop, the workers in a nerve-wracking race
against a clock that was ticking far too quickly. Shimowitz, the décor man, and
his assistant were busy covering up the pictures. Yisrael Diamant, the carpenter,
and his assistant were constructing the dais. Meanwhile Wallisch had bought a
number of strong lights, and had taken a carpet on loan from the Shtampf store
in Tel Aviv.
O n May 13 the war had not yet officially been declared in Palestine; no bombs
were being dropped, but "to be on the safe side,” the windows of the hall were
covered with black fabric. A naked statue standing at the entrance was covered up.
Towards evening, the "hall transformer" was once again summoned by Sharef,
and he was told to be ready to commit the declaration of the establishment of
the state to writing. In other words, he was to prepare parchment and black ink.
T he story of the parchment and the laundering of the flags
A lthough looking for parchment in Tel Aviv was a seemingly hopeless task,
Wallisch was lucky and managed to find some. But there were questions: what
was its quality? Was it worthy of the purpose for which it was intended? Wallisch
hurried to the offices of the engineering association. Owing to the late hour, only
one worker was there. Wallisch asked him to conduct a "test" on the parchment,
but for obvious reasons could provide no details concerning his strange request.
A State is Born 31
