{"id":146182,"date":"2023-12-18T16:10:01","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T14:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=146182"},"modified":"2024-01-30T10:49:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T08:49:59","slug":"hoi_nirim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/hoi_nirim\/","title":{"rendered":"We Shall Return: The Spirit of Kibbutz Nirim Will Prevail"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

“Three elements came first to Nirim in the desert: the cows, the babies and the library. The cows \u2013 a testament to the growth of the farm, the babies \u2013 a testament to faith in the future, and the library \u2013 a sign and parable of high culture.\u201d (Shula Ram, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nirim, in her introduction to the book The First Fifty Years<\/em>, 1946-1996<\/a> (Hebrew), published in honor of Nirim\u2019s fiftieth anniversary)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nirim\u2019s beginnings were very modest \u2013 just four shacks comprised the first settlement point for Kibbutz Nirim (then Dangur), on land just a few kilometers from its current location. The kibbutz was set up before the State of Israel had even been born, just after Yom Kippur in 1946, as part of the “11 points” plan, when 11 new settlement points were established overnight and under the nose of the British authorities, most of them in the southern Negev region.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Aerial photo of Kibbutz Nirim at the Dangur settlement point, 1946. Unknown photographer. Source: National Photographic Collection, Government Press Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nirim is a kibbutz established by Jews born in Israel, or “sabras” (the nickname refers to a desert cactus known to be prickly on the outside but sweet and soft on the interior). They were alumni of the Hashomer Hatza\u2019ir youth movement affiliated with Labor Zionism, who also served in the Palmach, a branch of the Haganah. Later, they were joined by additional groups of immigrants from various countries, but some of that rough and stubborn “sabra-ness” stuck to all the members of the kibbutz’s founding generation, and helped them overcome the many difficulties they encountered over the years.<\/p>\n

39 young men and women lived in the small outpost that comprised Kibbutz Nirim at the time, cultivating and protecting it. They worked in agriculture, in difficult conditions where water was brought in wagons and handed out sparingly. Aware of the dangers of residing in a border community, the kibbutz members fortified their location as much as they could, building bunkers and defensive trenches.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kibbutz Nirim members on their way to work in the fields, 1947. Photo: Zoltan Kruger. Source: National Photographic Collection, Government Press Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their difficult and heroic battle during the War of Independence, members of Nirim faced an attack by hundreds of Egyptian soldiers who stormed the simple fence erected around their settlement point in Dangur. Somehow, someway, they managed to stop them. With the few weapons they had, they systematically and intelligently fought in order to create the impression that they represented a far larger force than they actually were. They suffered casualties, but so did the Egyptians, who were apparently stunned by the ferocity of the fighting, which they did not expect from such a small outpost and which led them to flee. 11 of the members of the young kibbutz, almost a third of the male and female fighters, were killed in that attack.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Members of Kibbutz Nirim digging trenches before the War of Independence, 1948. Unknown photographer. Source: National Photographic Collection, Government Press Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before the battle, a celebratory sign was hung over the shack serving as Nirim\u2019s dining hall, an expression of the spirit of the times: \u201cIt is not the tank that will win, but the human being in it.\u201d After the battle, the destruction left behind was so great that hardly anything remained in Dangur. The entire shack was destroyed. Only the wall and its sign remained standing, a symbol of the spirit of the members of Nirim, who survived that difficult day of battle.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sign on the wall of the dining room shack, the only one standing at the end of the battle: \u201cIt is not the tank that will win, but the human being in it\u201d \u2013 left from a celebration of May Day, 1948. Photo courtesy of Dr. Eldad Haruvi of the Palmach Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
This article from Davar<\/em> describes the mourning process of the members of Kibbutz Nirim, a year after the battle. The headline quotes the slogan on the sign in the previous photo. May 16, 1949<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hardly a year passed, and the bruised but proud kibbutz published a special commemorative booklet in May, 1949: \u201cNirim Against the Enemy,\u201d telling the story of the attack on Nirim and its fallen. This booklet is an early example of the cultural activity and spirit that would yet develop and flourish in the kibbutz in the years to come. This booklet includes the first appearance of a unique memorial Yizkor<\/em> prayer, which would serve Kibbutz Nirim throughout its existence during Israeli Memorial Day services:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe will remember our comrades \u2013 our finest members who saturated the parched ground of the Negev with their blood.\u00a0 A malicious hand plotted against the little we built, which we planted and sowed, it could not defeat us for before it stood the faces and arms of the builders of the Negev, of the liberators of Jerusalem, brave soldiers \u2013 of eleven comrades who swore: They shall not set foot on our land!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
“Nirim Against the Enemy”, published a year after the Battle of Nirim in the War of Independence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the 1949 memorial booklet, members expressed both mourning over the destruction and the loss along with hope and determination to press on:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beautiful Dangur with its red thatched roofs, which we so often took pride in, was destroyed and burned, shack by shack. Everything above was burned, but the Egyptians didn\u2019t penetrate the [settlement] point. Nirim in Dangur was destroyed and another Nirim will be built. In a place close to the place where our comrades fell, we will erect our homes. And there in our new place, we will erect a monument, a dear living witness to our comrades who fell.\u201d (Benny, p. 39)<\/p>\n

Members wanted to preserve the memory of their fallen comrades as a living, vital thing, not as a silent monument. The flourishing of the kibbutz was their monument, as they promised in the memorial booklet:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA year passed. Months passed \u2013 and we were not healed. The signs of the disasters that befell us in just one year were etched deep in our hearts. Correct are those who say that everyone carries a small cemetery inside them.<\/p>\n

We need a monument bearing witness to the lives that were cut down. We want a home which will preserve their image, with their smile.<\/p>\n

We will erect a house of culture. A house of culture which will be for the leisure of a comrade after his work is done. A place of emotional and cultural refreshment \u2013 such as they, our comrades who are not with us in this hour, would want it to be.<\/p>\n

Not a memorial monument alone, not a silent stone. A house thrumming with life, a house for generations and for our children after us.<\/p>\n

And in this house their image will be preserved, everything that was and remains alive in our hearts and all they had will be preserved. For them to be with us day after day, hour after hour, and for the expression of our shared lives to be deeper, more honest.<\/p>\n

This needs to be a good, warm and pleasant house of culture, a house which will bind to it the parents, the relatives and friends. This is the project which will be erected in their memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The first decade was also hard on the members of Nirim, who had to deal with innumerable challenges of survival in the impossible conditions of a desolate wilderness, little water, blinding sandstorms, and impassable access roads.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kibbutz Nirim members opposite a work chart, showing their assignments for the coming day or week, 1955. Photo: Moshe Fridan. Source: National Photographic Collection, Government Press Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Nirim children taking a walk through the kibbutz\u2019s defensive trenches, at the entrance to the shelter adjacent to the children\u2019s home. Likely early 1960s. Photo<\/a>: Benno Rothenberg. Source: the Meitar Collection, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although life in Nirim was never entirely peaceful when it came to security, the hardships didn\u2019t dampen the spirits of the kibbutz members. They remained proud of their heritage, and lived up to the vision of the kibbutz\u2019s early members. This was expressed in the songs which were a central part of Nirim’s culture.<\/p>\n

When the kibbutz decided to print its own song book, the members chose the unequivocal title – This Is How We Sing Here – Nirim 1956-1967<\/em>. The songs were collected by Orah Chasin, a kibbutz member who eventually departed Nirim, for whom this collection was a sort of farewell gift for those she left behind. It was likely published around 1967, before the Six-Day War, when things were relatively quiet on the kibbutz. The booklet is an example of the unique and wide-ranging culture which developed in Nirim, which strengthened the sense of pride and belonging its residents felt.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cover of This Is How We Sing Here – Nirim 1956-1967<\/em>, copy held at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first song appearing in the collection is a local Nirim version of Shir HaShalom <\/em>– \u201cThe Song of Peace\u201d – a song that was well-known throughout the kibbutz movement and which was written by Nirim member Tziki Dinstein during the Sinai Campaign of 1956. The song courageously expressed the striving for a shared, peaceful life with Arab neighbors, which seems like a distant dream now but which was sung innumerable times in Kibbutz Nirim. The opening verse could be translated as:<\/p>\n

\u201cSee gentlemen, there will be a new order,<\/p>\n

There will yet be peace on our border<\/p>\n

And we’ll travel to Khan Yunis to see a move flick,<\/p>\n

With Abdul Wahab, in spoken Arabic.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
The Lyrics of Shir HaShalom<\/em> – \u201cThe Song of Peace\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The booklet ends with the representative statement:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou will yet see what kind of kibbutz there will be here in Nirim! The kind that others will come to from other Kibbutzim to learn their lessons [Hebrew: shi\u2019urim <\/em>– lessons]!!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Over the years, the kibbutz was considered one of the undisputed pillars of Jewish settlement in the Western Negev and the Gaza border region. A well-known joke in neighboring Kibbutz Nir Oz demonstrates this nicely:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhen you ask a Kibbutz Nir Oz member where he\u2019s from, the answer is \u2018next to Nirim\u2019\u2026when we were kids, we tended to make fun of the children of Kibbutz Nirim who thought they were the center of the world; so we said that we are \u2018next to Nirim.\u2019 Or in other words: we are next to the center of the world (important, but less so).\u201d<\/p>\n

-Hadar Rubin, on her Facebook page<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

T-shirts printed at Kibbutz Nirim also express this sense of local pride, a pride which even the events of October 7 could not trample. They were all designed by Arnon Avni, an illustrator, graphic artist, and caricaturist and a member of Kibbutz Nirim. On this shirt, the first to be printed, the kibbutz is placed among the largest, most famous cities in the world:<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cParis, New York, London, Nirim.\u201d Photo courtesy of Yinon Hefetz, from Kibbutz Nirim. Design: Arnon Avni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The shirt below, printed to mark the end of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, reads: \u201cNot Giving Up on Nirim.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ela Bargil of Kibbutz Nirim, with a shirt reading – \u201cNot Giving Up on Nirim\u201d – printed in Nirim in August 2014 to mark the end of Operation Protective Edge. Design: Arnon Avni. Photo: Arnon Avni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the October 7 Massacre, five people were killed in Nirim \u2013 three kibbutz members and two guests. Four kibbutz members and one guest were also among those kidnapped to Gaza. Now, with 2023 nearing its end and after the tragic events which struck the kibbutz and the whole western Negev region, the strong spirit of Kibbutz Nirim is being felt once more, and a new shirt (not yet printed) now bears the simple message – \u201cWe Shall Return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Proposed shirt design by Arnon Avni. Regarding the thought process behind the shirt, Avni writes: \u201c\u2026it features an anemone [type of flower] which is a kind of symbol of the whole [Gaza] border region which we are all part of and also two petals which have wilted. Those who choose to see them as drops of blood or a kind of broken heart \u2013 will not be missing the point. The words \u2018We Shall Return\u2019 are the journey we have begun. They are written in a freestyle which can be seen as a signature, as a guarantee.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The shirts are a moving testament to the kibbutz members\u2019 sense of belonging to their land and the amazing project they built on it, despite the enormous difficulties. It’s the kind of local pride which strengthens those who remain. It\u2019s perhaps not surprising that Nirim was the first kibbutz to publicly declare that its members have decided to return home as soon as this becomes possible.<\/p>\n

We will end with the final lines of that Yizkor<\/em> memorial prayer from 1949:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe will remember them, their nicknames, the times of comfort and pain that they lived through with us. For in all that we will build and erect, their name will yet arise and be remembered. Without words \u2013 in the founding of a building, in every dunam of land we sow and reap \u2013 for that was the yearning of their soul, in life and in death.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

May the kibbutz recover its former glory in our own day, as well, with the same speed and the same passion that was felt after the War of Independence, a passion to build and grow. May the memory of the murdered serve as fuel for rebuilding, for pioneering activity and cultural creation, things they know so well in Kibbutz Nirim.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nIn the preparation of this article, we made use of Galia Heller Kramer’s seminar paper: <\/em>\u00a0\u05d9\u05e6\u05d9\u05e8\u05d4 \u05e2\u05e6\u05de\u05d9\u05ea \u05e9\u05dc \u05d7\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9 \u05e7\u05d9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e5 \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05e9\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d7\u05de\u05d9\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05e9\u05d9\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd<\/a> <\/em>[Hebrew].<\/p>\n

We would like to thank Kibbutz Nirim members Bar Hefetz<\/a> and Anat Marla, for their help in preparing this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This article is part of our special series: \u201cLife on the Border: A Tribute to the Communities of the Gaza Border Region\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to see all of the articles and stories<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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