This week, the Jewish world celebrates Jerusalem Day and marks 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem and the Six Day War. To honor the occasion, the Keren Kayemet Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) opened its archives and is presenting rare photos of Jerusalem from 1967 by KKL-JNF photographers in a photo exhibition in Safra Square, Jerusalem. The exhibition is open to the public on all hours of the day from now until June 11th.
The exhibition portrays unique moments from those early days, weeks and months after the city was reunited. Many focus on the Western Wall: the first wedding at the site; prayers there prior to the creation of the now-familiar large Western Wall plaza; soldiers dancing the hora beside the Wall; and prayers at the Wall before Tisha B’Av. Forgotten scenes of the ruined Jewish Quarter will also be on view.
These pictures, which form part of KKL-JNF’s remarkable photographic archive, were printed in a giant 5×2-meter format and displayed on the walls of the Jerusalem Municipality in Safra Square. The public is invited to view them free of charge.
These are some of the photos from 1967 from the KKL-JNF photo archive that are currently on display at Safra Square, including:
[David Tower – Credit Ze’ev Radovan_KKL-JNF Photo Archive.jpg]
Children walking towards the David Tower and the walls of the Old City across the area that, up to the Six Day War, had been no man’s land between Jordan and Israel (Credit Ze’ev Radovan, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
[Gathering at the Western Wall – Credit Warner Brown_KKL-JNF Photo Archive.jpg]
The Western Wall immediately following its liberation. The Mughrabi Quarter houses are still standing and there is no partition between the men and women (Credit Warner Brown, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
[Men Praying in the Old City of Jerusalem – Credit David Hirshfeld_KKL-JNF Photo Archive.jpg]
Men praying during the 3 week period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, mourning for the destruction of the Temple near the Western Wall (Credit David Hirshfeld, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
[Rothchild House in the Jewish Quarter – Credit Moshe Albert_KKL-JNF Photo Archive.jpg]
Rothchild House in Batei Mahse Square, as it looked in the summer of 1967, before restoration (Credit Moshe Albert, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
[Soldiers Dancing at the Western Wall – Credit Warner Brown_KKL-JNF Photo Archive.jpg]
Soldiers spontaneously form a ring to dance at the Western Wall, shortly after its liberation (Credit Warner Brown, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)
The Old City of Jerusalem – Credit Ze’ev Radovan_KKL-JNF Photo Archive
Gal Eliezer is KKL-JNF Foreign Press Adviser