Shifting Landscapes, Changing Perspectives: The Founding of Kibbutz Lochamei HaGeta’ot

Abstract

Since its establishment, Kibbutz Lochamei HaGeta’ot has stood as a living memorial to the Holocaust. This is reflected in its name, the timing of its foundation that coincides with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and the establishment of the first Holocaust museum, the Ghetto Fighters’ House. This article focuses on the early phase of the kibbutz’s history, from September 1948 to April 1949, which predates its official founding. During this time, the kibbutz relocated from the Jezreel Valley, where it had initially settled on land that had belonged to the Templer colony of Waldheim, to its current location in the Western Galilee, on land from the abandoned Arab village of al-Sumayriyya. The article traces the journey of the founders across these two locations, examines their shifting perspectives both at the time and in retrospect, and demonstrates how these evolving views reflect broader attitudes within the kibbutz regarding Israel-Germany relations and the Palestinian tragedy of 1948.