Two Tin Album Bindings – Handmade by Israeli Prisoners of War in Camp Umm el-Jimal in Jordan – The Israeli War of ...

Two Tin Album Bindings – Handmade by Israeli Prisoners of War in Camp Umm el-Jimal in Jordan – The Israeli War of Independence, 1948-49
Two photo album bindings, made from tin boxes by Israeli POWs in the War of Independence in Jordan. Umm el-Jimal (Jordan), [1948?]-1949.
The Umm el-Jimal ("Mother of Camels") camp was a Jordanian detention facility for prisoners of war during the Israeli War of Independence. The conditions in the camp were deplorable, and to improve them the captives produced equipment from the materials at their disposal – nails, boards, wire and tin biscuit boxes, manufactured by the English army – leftovers from the time of the World War given to the prisoners as food rations.
Before us are two bindings for photo albums made from tin boxes, with dedications and illustrations (drawn, presumably, with nails): • Binding with an illustration of the gate of the camp and the inscription "Umm el-Jimal, 1949" (Hebrew) and on its other side, an illustration of the Tower of David. • Binding with an illustration of a prisoner looking beyond the fence and the inscription "To father and mother from the Arab captivity" (Hebrew), and on its other side, an illustration of Rachel's Tomb. The inside of the two bindings is covered with leather-like heavy stock paper.
Two photographs mounted on the inside of one of the bindings: a young bride and groom, and a baby in a crib.
Approx. 11X16 cm and 12.5X20 cm. Good-fair condition. Minor blemishes and scratches on the outside of the bindings. Tears and blemishes to the inside cover with the photographs.
See: "Under siege and in battle, in the POW camp in Jordan, repatriation to the new state of Israel" (Hebrew), published by the Isaac Kaplan Old Yishuv Court Museum (Jerusalem, 2005).