Haifa, due to its topographic complexity, demographic composition, and central position during the British Mandate, served as a vast area for the establishment of numerous secret weapons and ammunition caches (hidden weapons) by underground organizations, especially the Haganah. Many of the secret weapons were built under private homes, public institutions, industrial buildings, and schools.
Technical characteristics of the Sliks in Haifa
Camouflage mechanisms: The Haifa sluices were characterized by complex engineering solutions due to their construction in stone and concrete: openings that were opened using hydraulic mechanisms, sliding cabinets, or openings that were camouflaged within drainage cisterns and sewage systems.
Maintenance: The weapons and ammunition were placed in packaging tubes, smeared with grease ("brown grease") and wrapped in cloth to prevent rusting due to the high humidity that characterizes the Haifa and Carmel areas.
Below are examples of addresses and the exact locations of the main shopping malls and sites in Haifa and its immediate vicinity:
1. Slick "Reali" School - Hadar Branch
Address: 25 Shmaryahu Levin Street (corner of Yosef Street), Hadar HaCarmel neighborhood.
Details: The slik was built in the basements of the historic Reali building in Hadar. Today, the site serves as part of the school complex, and the historic openings are located in the lower area of the building.
2. Slicks at Beit Biram (Hari'eli-Carmel)
Address: 15 Abba Hushi Blvd., Ahuza / High Carmel.
Details: Several underground bunkers and silos were built on the Beit Biram grounds, which were used for "Hagana" training and as the core of the Gadna headquarters. Some of the underground structures are located near the historic grove on the campus grounds.
3. Historic Technion Slick (Propeller Building / Eshkol Building)
Address: 12 Balfour Street / 28 Shmaryahu Levin Street, Hadar HaCarmel.
Details: In the basements of the historic Technion building (now the "MedTech" Museum), secret weapons workshops and a central ammunition dump operated beneath the physics and chemistry laboratories.
4. Slick "Beit Aharon" – Mansion
Address: 3 Kela Street, Ahuza neighborhood.
Details: In this private home, an underground "Hagana" sewer was installed under the floor of the house, access to which was disguised using a mechanical mechanism.
5. Slick Cinema "May" / Historic Workers' House
Address: 20 Haneviim Street, Hadar HaCarmel.
Details: In the basements of the Haifa Workers' Council and the May Cinema hall, weapons and ammunition intended for ongoing security operations on the seam line of the lower city were hidden.
6. Slick Rothschild Hospital (now Bnei Zion)
Address: 47 Eliyahu Golomb Boulevard, Hadar HaCarmel / Golomb.
Details: During the Mandate period, weapons were hidden in the underground warehouses and service cellars of the hospital, taking advantage of the medical institution's immunity from frequent British searches.
7. The central clearing in Kibbutz Yagur (near Haifa)
Address: Kibbutz Yagur (about 10 km east of Haifa, at the foot of Mount Carmel).
Details: Located in the center of the kibbutz, under the floor of the old grain warehouse. The slake is now restored and open to visitors (recognized as a national heritage site).
8. Ramat Hadar and Carmel Center
In the courtyards of private houses, disguised underground pits were dug, the access openings to which were concealed by flower beds, double walls, or movable floors.
9. Slicks in the Downtown and Harbor Area
Because the lower city was a daily area of friction between the Jewish and Arab populations and the British, small tactical shacks were established:
Commercial buildings and warehouses: Weapons intended for the security of convoys and port workers were hidden inside the warehouses of Jewish merchants near the port.
Mobile/secret Slicks: Some of the ammunition and weapons smuggled through the port were briefly hidden in transit shelters before being transported to the countryside or the center of the country.
10. Slicks in Nesher and Kiryot (the peripheral area)
Sludge factory / Nesher factory": In the Nesher area near Haifa, particularly large checkpoints were established within industrial complexes, which helped secure the traffic route to the Jezreel Valley and the Galilee.
Do you think the Haifa Municipality and the Sites Preservation Council are doing enough to mark and make this secret historical memory accessible in the public space?
"Do you know of another Slick in your neighborhood that didn't make it onto the map, or did you grow up with a family story about Slicks in Haifa? Share it with us in the comments."
There is a cleanup at the old Basmat School, next to the octagonal library building.
There was a Slick in the cafe in Gan Binyamin. I was personally told by its owners at the time... the Harmlin family who lived in Pevzner and even operated all the municipal scales that issued a printed card with the weight... which the Bizitz Foundation found in them.
Greetings,
The article did not mention the slik at Tel Hai Elementary School in Neve Sha'anan and the surrounding area. A museum was built around the slik that tells the story of the neighborhood and the story of the slik and its discovery.
Down from Shoshanat Carmel Street, on a nearby street, there was a British army camp. There was a shack in the church. The priest cooperated.
With the defense.
It was from the Haganah/Mapai.
No to revisionists!
Who and what are they intended for?
We lived in a mansion on 4 Gideon Street, not far from a Real Estate Ahuza branch. In our house, a shed was built in the yard and a sandbox was built on top of it for camouflage. The sandbox was used by my brother and me for games.
I once collected pine seeds from the trees in the yard and sowed them in two rows in the sandbox. In the winter they germinated. One morning I woke up and all the sand in my box was empty and the rows of my pine seeds were torn and messy. I burst into tears.
Years later, my father, who was a member of the Haganah and an officer in the IDF, revealed to me that my litter box was covered in Haganah clear.
It was at Geula School, under the gymnasium.
There is a Slick at Tel Hai School in Ness
There was also a slick in Hanita 23.