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Autograph Letter Signed, to Yitzhak Gruenbaum, May 10, 1949. In Hebrew, 1 p., on the verso of a postcard, 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. "It is our duty to establish some policy of rationing as the reality of the situation dictates. This will allow us to support the continuance of army operations. It will also help us to absorb tens of thousands of olim." Complete TranslationTo my dear Yizhak, It is our duty to establish some policy of rationing as the reality of the situation dictates. In this way, we will minimize our dependence on imports and foreign currency. This will allow us to support the continuance of army operations even though armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan have been concluded. It will also help us to absorb tens of thousands of olim (newcomers) arriving at an accelerated pace with greater speed and efficiency. blessing of comrades, D. Ben-GurionHistorical BackgroundOn May 15, 1948, as soon as Israel declared independence, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq attacked. The newly formed Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations and by December controlled most of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. During the first half of 1949, Israel concluded four armistice agreements (with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria), producing a "no-war, no-peace" situation. The preamble of each called it a preliminary step towards peace, but it was clear that the Arab states were still bent on Israel's destruction.During Israel's precarious early years of statehood, its economic infrastructure was woefully underdeveloped, while the country's population was doubling and its enemies were still under arms. The fledgling nation lacked food and foreign currency. War-related damage sustained by Israel's inchoate industries (such as the Dead Sea Works and the Haifa oil refineries) and the preoccupation of domestic industry with the needs of the army and of the growing local market, deprived the young nation of vital export earnings. Although wealthy Jewish supporters abroad and modest foreign loans provided some relief, they were inadequate to stabilize the nation's finances. In response, from 1949 to 1959, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion instituted rigorous austerity measures including rationing.A Ministry of Rationing and Supply, led by Dov Yosef, was established in April 1949, but closed in November 1950. Initially, rationing was only for food staples, such as oil, sugar, and margarine, but it later expanded to furniture and shoes. Each family was allotted a set amount of food, based on a 1,600-calories-per-day diet, with more calories for children, the elderly, and pregnant women. To combat a growing black market, the government established the Office for Fighting the Black Market in September 1950, but it was largely ineffective.The 1952 reparations agreement with West Germany compensated Israel for the confiscation of Jewish property during the Holocaust. This influx of foreign capital boosted the nation's struggling economy, and the government canceled most rationing in 1953. By 1956, only fifteen products were rationed, and three years later, the government abolished all rationing.Yitzhak Gruenbaum (1879-1970) was born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (Poland), and while studying the law, began a career in journalism on behalf of the Zionist movement. He won election to the Sejm (Polish parliament) in 1919 and by 1922 had helped to unite minority parties into a Bloc of National Minorities alliance. He moved to Paris in 1932 and then to Mandatory Palestine in 1933 after his election to the Board of Directors of the Jewish Agency. During World War II, he served on the "Committee of Four" that maintained contact with Jews in Poland and attempted to aid in their rescue. In 1946, Gruenbaum was among the Jewish Agency directors arrested by the British in Operation Agatha and interned in a detention camp at Latrun. As a member of the provisional government of Israel, he sig. (See website for full description).
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