In August 1946 the British established displaced-persons internment camps in Cyprus, a bitter affront to those who had just survived the concentration camps in Europe. Industrialist Pinhas Rutenberg set up a seminar to prepare the newly interned for eventual aliyah, teaching them Hebrew and art, among other subjects. The young artists Naftali Bezem (1924-2018) and Chana Lieberman (later to be married) arrived in 1946 and helped organize exhibits and the printing of this album, each of whose pages was designed by a different student. The album, 27 linoleum cuts on paper of poor quality, is rare and fragile, yet it evocatively depicts everyday life in the camps, as well as the desire of the survivors to overcome their hardships, sustained by the belief that they will be able to settle in Israel. The Mishkan Museum of Art at Ein Harod has a copy of the album. (Images from the Collection of the Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel)
