Why Was a Nazi Flag Flying from a Jerusalem Hotel FAST in the 1930's? - Jerusalem Pearl Hotel 1995 - Draiman Family
It was replaced by The Jerusalem Pearl Hotel in
1995 by the Draiman family. See picture at the bottom.
Posted: 30 Aug 2015 11:11 AM PDT
We recently published pictures from the British Library's Endangered Archives Program, including this incredible picture of Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City which we have dated to the mid-1890's. Only in 1898 was the wall near Jaffa Gate breached so that carriages could drive into the city.
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| Jaffa Gate and A(braham) Fast's restaurant. (Debbas Collection, British Library) |
We wanted to know more about the store on the left with the sign "A Fast. Restauranteur." Was this a tourist establishment of Abraham Fast, who in 1907 took over a large hotel several hundred meters to the west of the building pictured above and renamed it "Hotel Fast?"
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| German troops marching in Jerusalem on Good Friday, April 6, 1917. The building on the left is the Fast Hotel. (Imperial War Museum, UK) |
Hotel Fast and its kosher restaurant was a well-known establishment in Jerusalem for decades, and was probably considered by many to be a Jewish-owned establishment because of its Jewish clientele.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Fasts were German Templers.
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The German consulate in the Fast Hotel, 1933. (Wikimedia, Tamar Hayardeni) |
They lived in Jerusalem's German Colony and were exiled by the British after World War I and during World War II because of their support for Germany.
We recently uncovered pictures of German troops marching in Jerusalem streets on Good Friday 1917. Readers were able to identify the building on the left as the Fast Hotel.
Our biggest surprise was finding this picture of the German consulate in the Hotel Fast with the German Swastika flag flying from the building.
During World War II, the hotel was taken over by the British army command and turned into the Australian army club.
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The Hotel Fast housed Australian soldiers in World War II. Here they are greeting the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the commander of the Australian troops in Australia, Lt. Gen. Thomas Blamey in February 1941. The Matson Photo Service, shown on the ground floor, was run by Eric Matson, originally from the American Colony Photographic Department. Matson left Palestine in 1946 for the United States. His collection of photos were bequeathed to the Library of Congress where many of the pictures in this website were found. (Library of Congress) |
When it comes to JERUSALEM’S sovereignty there is a line drawn in the sand. For the Jews, Jerusalem is their heart, aspirations, their holy.
city, devotion, ideals, symbol of being a nation with history, a nation with.
prophets, justice, fairness, rich Jewish history and the Jewish soul. When a
Jew conveys his feeling about Jerusalem, he must not worry about offending.
anybody, or hurt feelings. We cannot make an omelet without cracking eggs, and.
a Jew cannot and must not be apologetic about Jewish’ feelings concerning Jerusalem. it is clear to me even if I were not a Jew, just from a pragmatic consideration of running a city, that any division of Jerusalem will lead eventually to immense unbearable friction and sooner-or-later to another war. We must present and make the analogy, that dividing Jerusalem is like dividing the baby in King Solomon’s verdict. Jews do not divide babies, only those who do not feel and care for the baby are prepared to take half. This is what every Jew must say.
I hope that we all have the opportunity to say these tough words for Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
YJ Draiman.
P.S. How many holidays do the Arabs-Muslims celebrate due to historical events in the land of ancient Israel and Jerusalem.
The Jewish people celebrate most of their holidays and fast days in memory of.
and the goal and aspiration to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - where it was before it was destroyed and desecrated by the enemies of the Jews. Many of the Jewish prayers for thousands of years recite the love of Israel and the Jewish aspirations to return to their ancestral land and bring back its glory and holiness.
YJ Draiman
If anything it may need to be re-incorporated or re-patriated.
Let me pose an interesting scenario. If you had a country and it was conquered by foreign powers over a period of time. After many years you have taken back you country and land in various defensive wars. Do you have to officially annex those territories. It was always your territory and by retaking control and possession of your territory it is again your original property and there is no need to annex it. The title to your property is valid today as it was many years before.
Annexation only applies when you are taking over territory that was never yours to begin with, just like some European countries annexed territories of other countries.
YJ Draiman
Jews hold title to the Land of Greater Israel even if outnumbered a million to one.
The fact that more foreigners than Jews occupied the Land of Israel during certain periods of time does not diminish true ownership. If my house is invaded by a family ten times larger that mine does that obviate my true ownership?