Tel Chai kibbutz

An extraordinary phenomenon in the ghetto was the continuity and the growth of the Tel Chai kibbutz (commune). This kibbutz, which was founded before the war, was enlarged and strengthened by the arrival in the ghetto of member-refugees from other places. The com- mune consisted of young people of various pro-Zionist organizations and was supported by the Labor Zionist Party. Members of the kibbutz secured an abandoned house in which to carry on their activities. In time, the commune organized its own kitchen, and planted a garden that generated a significant quantity of vegeta- bles. The kibbutz in the ghetto also continued training exercises, just like before the war, preparing its members for eventual settlement in Israel. Moreover, seminars and indoctrination sessions were conducted. One writer described the kibbutz as a “‘bright corner of the ghetto in which people sang in the evenings, joined together in gatherings and managed to forget their trou- bles for a while.” ...