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Archive, which came to Jerusalem in several stages in the late Sixties and early Seventies. The many purchases and the need for precise documentation brought about a new innovation: "the Purchases Book." Anyone who reads the book can be impressed by the impressive rate in which materials were received.
In 1957, a film archive of the Jewish Agency's Public Relations Department was established and the Zionist Archive began depositing in it the films that it possessed.
Dr. Bein, who had initially worked as an archivist in the German Reich's Archive in Potsdam, brought with him a new and modern approach for the role of the Archive in the state and society, and accordingly the characteristics of the archivist's duties as well. Bein believed that the archive had a key role in exposing the information curated therein and in promoting the research and viewed the training of the archivist as "a scientific worker" as a central tool for promoting this goal. In his articles and in the lectures he gave in the university and conventions of the Union, he spelled out his doctrine. He believed that in exposing the treasures of the Archive via exhibits intended for the general public, it could promote its goals and consequently the historical research as well. He therefore directed resources to establish large and small exhibits and present them. Some of them were presented in the corridors of the National Institutions Building and some of the larger among them were also presented in other places in Israel.
The list of exhibits is long. In total, dozens of exhibits were presented in the period between 1937 and 1970. The most prominent of them were "Atchalta" (Beginning) (1941), "the Jewish State" (1946), "On the Way to the State of Israel" (1949), the jubilee exhibit for the First Congress and others commemorating the birth and death of Herzl, a selection of original certificates during the various congresses, "Forty Years to the Balfour Declaration" (1957), the photograph exhibit of Zvi Oron (Orushkes) (1961), "Bringing Jabotinsky's Remains" (1964), "The Soviet Union Jewry" according to the Zenzipper Collection (1967) and more. The exhibits drew a large and diverse crowd and many guests noted their impressions in the visitors' book. The Zionist Archive was also one of the initiators of the Herzl Museum on Mount Herzl and for over a decade, it supervised the exhibits there.
Bein dedicated a great deal of concerns and efforts to acquiring a suitable permanent residence for the Zionist Archive. Bein, who as was noted wore additional hats, conceived of the establishment of a joint city for the three large archives he was involved in – the State Archive, the Archive for the History of the Jewish People and the Central Zionist Archive. Over the Sixties, he continuously pressured the relevant institutions and initiated executive decision making in the Zionist Executive and in the government's public housing office. The project led in the latter half of the 1960s to the allocation of a large lot in a (then) open field that was north of the Knesset (currently the Knesset's helipad), and to a modular architectural plan that would allow for execution in stages according to the resources each of the partner entities would acquire. An important public landmark in the project should have taken place in July 1965, when many were invited for the placing of the cornerstone to the Archives City. However, the sudden death of Moshe Sharett (then the Chairman of the World Zionist Organization) caused the event to be delayed while the project itself was later cancelled due to budgetary difficulties.
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