The Industrial House during the War of Liberation in Haifa

In honor of Independence Day, we will tell about the battles around the House of Industry in the War of Independence. The building is located at 92 Herzl Street, near Gesher HaGivori or Gesher Rushmia at the time.

The Industry House, a building in the international style

The House of Industry was established in 1946, according to the plans of our acquaintance, the architect Moshe Gerstel. The building, at the eastern end of Hadar Carmel, was intended to be a center for small industry, workshops and offices. It consisted of 3 floors above a pillared floor and a basement floor below. Most of the days there was a shoe factory known as "Barma", a printing house, a pharmaceutical factory of the Histadrut Health Fund, a garage and more.

The building bears the characteristics of the international style (the Bauhaus). It consists of 2 simple symmetrical box wings and between them a rounded vertical body which is the central staircase. The facades are devoid of decorations and the continuous window bands emphasize the horizontal lines of the building. The sunken windows, which create shading and protection from the sun, testify to the architect's correct regard for the local climate. Also on the back side, the balconies are recessed and shaded for the same reasons and they even emphasize the horizontality of the building. The finish of the building is rough plaster in a light shade.

The House of Industry in the War of Liberation

The building of the Industrial House is weak on the only transport axis from Hadar Carmel to the east and overlooks the Arab Halisa neighborhood. The English understood the strategic importance of the building and therefore set up an observation post in it whose role was to secure traffic on the Rushmia Bridge. On April 21, 1948, following the vacating of the position by the British, the "Hagana" men occupied the Industrial Building. On this day, the decisive battle for control of the eastern entrances of the Hadar Carmel neighborhood took place.

A platoon of 31 "Hagana" fighters came out of the industrial house with armored vehicles and after a tough battle took over "Beit Hanjada" near the eastern end of the Rushmia Bridge. This house was in the hands of the Arabs who controlled the entrance to the bridge from the east. After the occupation of the house, the "Haganah" soldiers who were barricaded in it suffered from a lack of food and ammunition, being besieged by the Arab forces located in the Halisa neighborhood. Only the next day, on April 22, did the "Haganah" fighters manage to join the besieged soldiers and rescue them. In the battle, 7 fighters were killed and 21 were wounded. Following this battle, the flight of the Arab residents of the Halisa neighborhood began.

Moshe Gerstel, architect of the building

The architect Moshe Gerstel, as we know from previous writings, was born in Poland in 1886 and studied architecture in Vienna. Seeing what was born following the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany, and despite a successful career in Austria and Romania, immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1933. He settled in Haifa where he enjoyed great respect, from both his Arab and Jewish clients. The Industry House is the third public building designed by Gerstel in Haifa, besides the Talpiot market building and the old Carmel Hospital building.

The Industry House - a building for preservation?

The plaque on the wall of the building reads:
" This house was the extreme position for the "Haganah" in the war of liberation, on which the members of the Haganah fought and fell. The sign was placed in the fiftieth year of the State of Israel.'

There is no sign on behalf of the Haifa municipality that indicates the declaration of the building as a "building for preservation" despite being worthy of it according to any standard. As a result, the current occupants of the building alter it as they see fit and damage its original character. For example, in the eastern wing, the covered passage on the ground floor was closed.

Our thanks are hereby given to Mr. Y. Greiber and the staff of the Association for Haifa History for their help in obtaining essential information to complete this article.

Dear readers,

The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.