The Mizrahy family in Palestine

This photograph was taken in Ghivat Schmuel in 1946.  From right to left: Solomon Mizrahy, his wife, Odette Mizrahy, Paulina Mizrachi, then an unknown lady and an unknown gentleman, my cousin Emanuel Mizrachi, and my uncle Leon Mizrachi. The children next to Emanuel are his twin brothers, Theodor and Angelo Mizrachi; one of them is even standing on a barrel in order to be as tall as him, and is very proud of this newly-earned position.

Uncle Solomon, my father’s youngest brother, was born in 1909 in Bucharest. He was a chemical engineer, just like his wife, who became a PhD in chemistry in Israel. They emigrated to Palestine in 1944. Their only child, Alma Gal [nee Mizrahy], was born in 1946. Solomon was a Zionist and worked a lot for the Sohnut, being in charge of the integration of the newcomers to Israel. In this quality, he used to be sent abroad, to South America and Europe. He was the most religious of the Mizrahy brothers, he took a very active part in the religious life, but he never covered his head. 

Uncle Leon was born in 1899 in Bucharest. Until he left the country, in 1941, he was a lawyer and the president of the Zionist associations in Romania. I was very close to him. I was still in my early childhood, but I remember he often came to our place; he loved me and brought me presents. It so happened that I emigrated to Palestine at the same time with him and his family. Between 1941 and 1945 I visited him on a regular basis, first in Haifa, where he had built a house, then in Tel Aviv, where he tried to get in business with a diamond polishing workshop. He couldn't practice law, because he didn't manage to learn to express himself in Ivrit in such a manner that he could plead in front of an Israeli court. This hurt him. He had a very well shaped personality, his intelligence was doubled by a solid culture, and he was a sentimental nature.

He and his wife had four children, who were born at relatively big distances one from another: Emanuel, the Theodor and Angelo twins, and then Daniela. Emanuel Mizrachi [known as Bar Kadmah in Israel] was born in 1932 in Bucharest. He worked as a theater reviewer for many years; he also painted, becoming a well-known modern painter in Israel. He never got married. The Theodor and Angelo Mizrachi twins [known as Zvi and, respectively, Schmuel in Israel] were born in 1939 in Bucharest. They were one year and a half when they left the country. Sadly, Angelo Mizrachi caught the poliomyelitis in 1947 and passed away at the age of  eight. Theodor Mizrachi embraced the kibbutz idea. He has three children, two boys and a girl. Daniela Grunberg was born in Israel in 1946. She had an impressive career, reaching the top management of the company in charge with the irrigations in Israel. She has three wonderful children, two boys and a girl. My uncle, Leon Mizrachi, died in 1967 in Tel Aviv. His wife died in the early 1990s. Their children love one another deeply and they keep a very nice tradition: every Friday night they get together at Daniela's or Zvi's.

Photos from this interviewee