Chess Set – The Atlit Detention Camp, 1940

Chess Set – The Atlit Detention Camp, 1940
Wooden chess set made by Josef Rosenblum, a prisoner at the Atlit detention camp. Atlit, 1940.
A chess board and chess pieces in a wooden case inscribed with a dedication. The lid reads "S.I. Koegel / As a souvenir / by: Josef Rosenblum" (Hebrew). Additional inscription etched on the inside of the lid: "Made in Atlit 5700" (Hebrew). The black squares on the chess board and the black pieces were painted black, but the inscriptions, the place and the date, and chess board pattern on the lid were etched into the wood.
The "Bintivey Haapala" database lists Josef Rosenblum as an illegal immigrant who immigrated to Palestine on board of the illegal immigrant ship SS Hilda. The recipient, Koegel (Kogel) Shraga Iser (Filip) of Prešov, Slovakia, was also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda as well as a prisoner of the detention camp in Atlit together with Josef Rosenblum. After his release from the camp, he enlisted into the 51st Middle Eastern commando unit of the British Army and fought in World war II.
The SS Hilda left Sulina, Romania, in January 1940 carrying refugees from European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. The ship was intercepted by the British when arriving at the shores of Istanbul, held in high seas and after prolonged negotiations, during which the British threatened to deport the illegal immigrants to Paraguay, the ship docked in Haifa, where the women were taken to an immigrants' house while the men were sent to the detention camp in Atlit. The women were released after three weeks; but the detained men in Atlit remained there for about six months, during which they celebrated Passover, writing a special Haggadah telling their personal Exodus story – The Haggadah of the Atlit Illegal Immigrants, 1940.
The conditions in the British detention camps varied between camps; but in every one of them the problem of inaction and boredom was most bothersome. In many camps, the detainees kept themselves busy in various ways including handcraft and art. Art workshops guided by artists existed in several camps, including the detention camp in Atlit, where artist Isidor Ascheim, also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda, was active and contributed his talent to the Haggadah of the illegal immigrants of Atlit; alongside the "high" art, the prisoners at the various camps made an abundance of useful and decorative works of applied art with wood, stone and metal.
Sawn, glued, painted and etched wood; hinges and nails. Chess board: 33.5X34 cm. Case: 23.5X16X7 cm. One white piece is missing; replaced by a wooden cube. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes. Minor fractures. Stains.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.