Leo Ginovker with sport team during Maccabiade games

This picture was taken in Haifa in 1935 on the day of arrival of our group for the Maccabiade games. I am the third from the right. In 1935, the team of our Maccabi sports club was going to take part in 'Maccabiade' games in Palestine. Two of my good friends were in the team. One of them was a weight-lifter, the other a tennis player. I decided to go along as a supporter, all the more since it gave me an opportunity to meet our business partners in Lebanon and Egypt. The trip turned out very interesting. We took a train via Warsaw and Vienna to the Romanian port of Constanta, and then took a boat to Haifa. The Maccabiade games took place in Tel Aviv. The city astonished me with its non-urban image. There were sandy streets without sidewalks and no tall buildings. I was able to see my friend David Gershanovich and witness the tough life of our emigrants in Palestine - their long and hard work. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the games because just at that time I had to go to Beirut and then to Alexandria. I remember crossing the Palestine-Lebanon border illegally. One of our customers, an Arab, drove his car to Tel Aviv to pick me up. He 'smuggled' me under his car seat because I didn't have the permission to enter Lebanon from Palestine. I returned home on my own via Venice.