The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 18, April 30, 2006, Article 18

KIBBUTZ TRASH BIN YIELDS TROVE OF JEWISH MEDALS

The Baltimore Jewish Times published an article about the trash
bin rescue of a hoard of historic medals and molds which could
become the nucleus of a future museum collection.

"The workers were emptying the factory, moving a lot of heavy
objects," he says. "I asked my father about them and he said,
'Forget it, this is just old stuff.' "

Kretschmer began taking boxes out of the garbage at the factory
and going through them. He was amazed, and took everything that
was left.

"The early copper etchings from the early 20th century are pure
works of art," he says. "They are priceless works by a professor
from the Bezalel School, my grandfather, and I found them in a
garbage bin."

"There are round etchings of Zionist founding father Theodore
Herzl with his trademark beard. There are medallions of writer
Sholem Aleichem cast from clay for the Zionist Congress of 1921,
and of Chaim Weizmann, the first president of the State of Israel.

"You can stare at the faces of Herzl and Weizmann and Prime
Minister Ben-Gurion and they step right out of the copper and
bronze into real life," says kibbutz member Boaz Kretschmer, the
medallions' owner.

Kretschmer rescued the medallions, produced by his grandfather,
from an industrial garbage bin. He hopes one day to be able to
show them to the public in a museum he wants to build on the
kibbutz."

"There is David Ben-Gurion declaring the State of Israel's
establishment in Tel Aviv. The 1948 scene was etched in clay,
then cast in bronze and copper. All three round tablets are
on display."

"Kretschmer wants to build a museum on the kibbutz to attract
people to this part of the western Negev Desert."

"Meanwhile, people come from the region alone or in small
groups to see the medals, coins, insignia and etchings."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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