Page 57 - big friday
P. 57
Dr. Herzl Vardi (Rosenblum) signs the Declaration
sign my name as Rosenblum. Only rarely did I use my pseudonym "Vardi," and Mr.
Ben-Gurion knew this. When I came up to sign, Ben-Gurion said to me, "Sign as
'Vardi'!" Had I been in a more "balanced" frame of mind, I might perhaps have added
"Rosenblum" in parentheses, but at that moment I obeyed him unthinkingly, and
to this day there are people who don't know who that "Herzl Vardi" is, whose name
appears on the Scroll of Independence. Later on I did officially change my name, but
I don't use it. I leave that to my son.
The ceremony ended and we were all left in a state of tremendous tension. We were
waiting for the offensive to begin."
13. Zerach Warhaftig: Signing "in between sieges"
"In those days I was still a new immigrant. I had arrived in the country only in 1947,
and I was greatly privileged to sign the Scroll of Independence. During the ceremony
itself we gathered in Jerusalem, in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's house. We didn't hold any sort of
ceremony, since it would have been difficult to do so while being shelled…
I signed the declaration in the days "in between sieges," during the first lull in fighting.
That's when we got to Tel Aviv - Ben-Zvi, Eliyahu Berlin, Yitzhak Gruenbaum, and
myself - in a Piper which felt as though it could crash at any moment. When we
A State is Born 55
sign my name as Rosenblum. Only rarely did I use my pseudonym "Vardi," and Mr.
Ben-Gurion knew this. When I came up to sign, Ben-Gurion said to me, "Sign as
'Vardi'!" Had I been in a more "balanced" frame of mind, I might perhaps have added
"Rosenblum" in parentheses, but at that moment I obeyed him unthinkingly, and
to this day there are people who don't know who that "Herzl Vardi" is, whose name
appears on the Scroll of Independence. Later on I did officially change my name, but
I don't use it. I leave that to my son.
The ceremony ended and we were all left in a state of tremendous tension. We were
waiting for the offensive to begin."
13. Zerach Warhaftig: Signing "in between sieges"
"In those days I was still a new immigrant. I had arrived in the country only in 1947,
and I was greatly privileged to sign the Scroll of Independence. During the ceremony
itself we gathered in Jerusalem, in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's house. We didn't hold any sort of
ceremony, since it would have been difficult to do so while being shelled…
I signed the declaration in the days "in between sieges," during the first lull in fighting.
That's when we got to Tel Aviv - Ben-Zvi, Eliyahu Berlin, Yitzhak Gruenbaum, and
myself - in a Piper which felt as though it could crash at any moment. When we
A State is Born 55
