The Position of Memory: A Collection (A)

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This book offers a collection of studies on the history of public commemoration and national memory in pre-state and independent Israel. The first chapter offers insights into Zikharon and Ed (witness) in Biblical Hebrew. The second chapter tells the story of David Bader and his efforts to build tombstones on forgotten graves of Zionist pioneers throughout the Land of Israel. The third chapter details the history of dating Israel’s day of remembrance of the fallen to daleth be-Iyar, the day before Independence Day. This chapter also tells the unknown history of daleth be-Iyar 1940, a day that was marked as a national day of remembrance of the victims of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine. The fourth chapter explores the history of the constitution and development of Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem as Israel’s national cemetery. The fifth chapter, the longest in this collection, sheds light on the failed effort to commemorate the unknown soldier within the national remembrance of the fallen. The chapter ends with the Hall of Memory inaugurated in 2017 in the military cemetery at Mt. Herzl. The last chapter deals with Israeli and Arab memorials erected in Jerusalem following the Six-Day War.