More about Old Jerusalem, in the picture – the pillbox and Emek Matzalava, in the late 1930s.
The pillbox, which in English means a box of pills, or bullets, was built by the British Army during the Arab Revolt in 1936. The pillbox is a reinforced concrete post in the shape of a cylinder about five meters high, measuring four meters in diameter. The purpose of the pillboxes, which were placed at strategic points, was to allow soldiers to control and observe major intersections and traffic arteries while safely staying inside these structures.
The pillbox has an armored steel door and includes a passage to the gallery that was used as an observation point. This construction also has firing holes and steel windows and allowed soldiers to fire using small guns. The pillbox also has an upper floor with firing holes that enables observation and defense.
Some of the Brits who used pillboxes probably suffered progressive deafness and damage to the eardrum as a result of being shot at and shooting from a small, enclosed place, as any fighter who ever shot from an enclosed space knows. Probably those British soldiers who worked in pillboxes were unable to hear the Beatles songs that were launched thirty years later.
There are eight pillboxes in Jerusalem, and they were all built at the same time. In the picture, you can see the pillbox that is currently located on the corner of Gaza and Herzog Tschernihovsky Street, across from Emek Matzalava, to the right of the emerging Rehavia neighborhood, then in the beginning stages of construction.
The donkey trail to the right is today’s Sderot Haim Hazez road, and the Knesset and the Israel Museum will later be built on the hills to the left of the Emek Matzalava monastery.
Today, some of Jerusalem’s pillboxes were restored, some of them were destroyed in the fight against the British before the War of Independence, and our example, the pillbox on Tschernihovsky Street was restored, repainted, and opened to the public in 2016, after being closed for 85 years. It is still a tangible reminder of the past, and of the glorious and rich history vicissitudes of our city.
This is our Jerusalem — pillboxes, the Arab Revolt, and the events of 1945, British soldiers risking their lives far from their homeland without earplugs, an old donkey path leading to today’s Knesset building. At least the donkeys reached their destination safely.
Shabbat of peace far and near Jerusalem
The photographer is unknown
