Page 300 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

The new building contains all the modern means to serve the Archive's purposes: 16 underground climate-controlled storehouses with shelves that are 12 thousand meters long, comfortable work rooms for employees and a spacious reading hall for the users' convenience. Dr. Heymann, who was meticulous and covered everything, left behind a thick folder with comments for the planner, which dealt with all types of details: from the optimum storage method to the rest area of the cleaning crew and the need for master keys. On November 10, 1987, the Archive's building was inaugurated in a celebratory ceremony attended by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the Chairman of the Zionist Executive Arieh Dulzin and many others.
"An Active Partner in Strengthening the Zionist Bond"
Dr. Heymann retired in 1990 and his deputy Yoram Mayorek succeeded him for eight years. The largest acquisitions that were added during this period included the materials of the World Jewish Congress – The London Office, the WIZO World Executive, the Settlement Department (1948-1985), JCA materials in Israel and EMICA, the Department for Aliya of Children and Teenagers in the Agency (1949-1971) and more. Alongside this routine, Yoram Mayorek's years as Director of the Archive were characterized by three primary innovations:
A. Locating and gathering materials in the archives in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc: Yoram gathered and photographed important materials regarding the Zionist activity in Lviv (Lwów) and in the central archive in Moscow.
B. Developing awareness of the importance of genealogical materials: The matter of Jewish property that was lost during World War II in Europe and tracing its owners was put on the agenda and required specialization in the use of genealogical materials in the archives. The intensive handling of these materials, the joint activity with the Trustee, receipt of the materials from the Search Bureau for Missing Relatives (S6) – These were all the first signs that marked the establishment of the Genealogy Bureau in the Archive.
C. The Archive and the community: Yoram Mayorek led the concept that the Archive serves the broader community, in which he also included students. As a result, he promoted directed educational public relations activity in the Archive, renewed the production of exhibits, this time determining the issues in accordance with the annual plans published by the Ministry of Education once a year. The Archive's lobby hosted many exhibits including "the Great Aliyot," "the History of Zionism in Russia and Prisoners of Zion," "the Jews of Peki'in" and "Going with Herzl to Jerusalem." For the first time, the periodical "Me'et L'et" ("from time to pen") was produced.
From Yoram's retirement in 1998 and for the next 14 years, the Archive was headed by Matityahu (Matis) Drobles, as an Active Chairman. During this period, the routine archival activity and its quality was maintained thanks to the actions of the bureau heads – Rachel Rubenstein, Batya Leshem, Simone Schliachter, Anat Banin and Nehama Kenner, who had gained a great deal of experience by then and successfully covered for the absence of a professional director in the
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