Reader Response and Suggestions

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Contents

If you would like to respond to something you have see on our Homepage click on  webmaster   wherever it is shown in blue and the address for sending E-mail will come up automatically.

The Temple Society has a very wide field of interest in religious and social issues, and welcomes input from all people who are concerned in matters affecting the good of humanity.

Please mark you E-mail "personal" if you feel it is not for general publication and not to be shared with other readers. Any such mail will, of course, be taken in confidence.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Thanks Manfred, a fascinating insight into how the human mind works! It probably is true, because I too had no problem reading the sentences.

From Helmut (skyberger@optushome.com.au)
Date 5-12-2004

In response to Peter Uhlherr’s Saal in Bentleigh 22.8.04, published (condensed) in the December Templer Record [see also  Die Warte des Tempels].

Peter ends his Service with the following words: “But if someone says: "I know the truth about the kingdom of God; Let me show you the only true way to it, for your own good," then it’s time to be concerned.”

This seems to be a contradiction to what is written in the Bible. Didn’t Jesus confess that He is the way to God? Isn’t the teaching of Jesus the basis of the Temple Society? I am wondering what point Peter is trying to make in his talk; that there are many ways to view Truth, and all are acceptable, but if anyone actually realizes Truth (God) and wants to communicate this to us, that we should then be concerned and suspicious?

The fact is that there is a specific process to the Realization of Truth, and, through devotion based on understanding of ego, and ego-transcendence; it is given (or occurs) only by grace. It cannot be earned, learnt, or acquired through self-manipulation. Nor is it a matter of belief. Truth has nothing to do with ego, the separate self-identity that seeks to maintain, console, and improve or better itself. Truth is about transcending self, the ego-I, the identification with separate-self, and that requires the help of the God-Man, the Realized One.

Isn’t Jesus’ teaching fundamentally about devotion to God?

It must be understood that Truth is always already Truth, and always already the case, no matter what our own, or the popular point of view is, and therefore, Truth is not in doubt or for debate. However, our own lives and points of view, and actions are to be considered in the Light of Truth, and this consideration may or may not move us to a life of devotion to God (or the process that transcends the ego-self, and awakens us to our True Condition). But merely hearing or reading or believing the Truth is not realizing Truth, nor does it lead us to the realization of Truth.

Contrary to what Peter seems to be saying in his talk, there is only one way to realizing God (or Truth), and that way is devotion or surrender to God, or to the One Who has realized God, and therefore is God.

Helmut Imberger

The full text of Peter Uhlherr's Service can be found in CURRENT SERVICES or the ARCHIVE files on this website. Ak

From: "Ron Cohen-Seban" <rcosevan@hotmail.com>
To: tsa@datafast.net.au
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 1:21 AM

Dear Sir/Madam,

Being a contemporary resident of Haifa, I have always had some curiosity as to who were the Templers.  In the past few years the houses of the Templer settlement in Haifa have been beautifully renovated and preserved and their magnificence once again shines out; especially noteful are the German inscriptions over the entrances.
Having read an article in the 'Ha'aretz' daily, I was struck by the many different ways in which the first Jewish settlers in Palestine seem to have emulated their Templer predecessors. This is an aspect of history I was certainly not taught about at school. I always felt a bit sorrowful that such achievement did not live to stay on. Therefore, I was delighted to find out on the Internet that your community is still intact and doing well in Australia.

 "And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?"

Sincerely, Ron Cohen-Seban
Haifa, Israel

Thank you, Ron Cohen-Seban, for your considerate thoughts and you appreciative words. AK

From: Irene Bouzo [mailto:irenebouzo@optushome.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, 6 November 2004 10:34 AM
To: Alfred Klink
Subject: Venus and Jupiter

Hi Alfred
Thanks for the information about the night sky. It was great.
Unfortunately the weather was too stormy and overcast to see anything.
But no matter. I was able to share your information with my children and expand their minds to the wonders of our universe.
Regards
Irene Bouzo

From: skoehne@unimelb.edu.au
Tuesday, 15 September 2004

Subject: Templer Family Photographs

Hallo Alfred,
Thanks for the prompt reply. It would be fine to post my message to the general list, and hopefully the link works OK.
The AWM photographs on the internet don't have a stamp across their face, but they do have small penned-in numbers next to each person in the photograph, as this was obviously used at some stage for identification purposes.
They do also tend to have a number plate sitting on the ground in front of each group.

During my studies, I have visited the Templer Archives to check for information, and Mark Herrmann has been most helpful in taking me through them. Hopefully, I should be posting a copy of the completed Masters thesis to the archives soon.
Thanks again, Sam Koehne.

From: skoehne@unimelb.edu.au
Sent: Tuesday, 14 September 2004 1:18 PM To: auk@c031.aone.net.au Subject:
Templer Family Photographs

Dear Mr Klink, I have recently been completing my Masters thesis at the University of Melbourne, studying the Temple Society history over the period 1930-1950. In the course of my studies, I have come across an interesting collection of photographs held by the Australian War Memorial. Photographs were taken in 1945 of family groups in Camp 3 Tatura, and they can be found by using the general search: "Tatura Camp 3" in the Australian War Memorial search engine:

http://cas.awm.gov.au/pls/PictionPRD1/cst.acct_master?surl=149330453 8ZZQGHJDVWQWA47830&stype=2&simplesearch=&v_umo=&v_product _id=&screen_name=&screen_parms=&screen_type=RIGHT&bvers=4&b platform=Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer&bos=MacPPC

Unfortunately, there is no simpler way of accessing the 190-odd photographs than this. Templers might or might not be aware of the existence of these photographs, but I thought it was worth posting to the general list. They also contain photographs of the Lutheran missionaries interned in the camp.
All the best, Sam Koehne -- skoehne@unimelb.edu.au,
University of Melbourne: Tutor for Europe: Ideas and Nations, History Department; Research Assistant for Glenn Patmore, Law School.

Thank you Sam, for passing the information about the War Memorial Archives on to us. We are aware of the existence of these archival records and somewhere in our Reader Response Page on our website there is already a reference on how to get access to these picture files. I don’t think it is as detailed as your address though. If it is alright with you I shall add your e-mail to the Reader Response page and let our readers experiment with it.

One of the drawbacks with these Tatura pictures on the Internet is (as I understand) that they all have a reference number in bold letters stamped right across the face of each picture.

Thanks again for taking the trouble to let us know, and best of luck with your studies. By the way, have you checked the Templer archives in our Bentleigh Office for information that may help you with your research? Alfred.

Fred & Gisela Sawatzky [fredhs@labyrinth.net.au]
05-09-04

Templer Record on the Web

We very much enjoyed reading the entire Rundschreiben in the internet. We took our laptop with us to Germany and downloaded the entire 70+ pages in seconds; allowing us to read all at our leisure. It was fantastic. Many thanks.

Gisela & Friedrich. Boronia Brook and Bushranger Bay Your fine wines from Bacchus Wine (Export

From: Ehud [mailto:ehudb@actcom.co.il] Sent: Saturday, 10 July 2004 10:03 PM To: auk@c031.aone.net.au

Subject: Looking for Ayedushka

Dear Alfred: We are two designers from Kiriat Tivon (near Bethlehem), Israel. We want to find information about the person (nick)named Ayedushka, who did iron work in the city of Haifa. He worked with Mr. Rice, and taught him about his work. We (Mr. Rice's son, Jacob, and I) would like to get any information you have about this person and his work.

Thank you very much,

-Yehudit Bracha Jacob Rice Kiriat Tivon, Israel

At this stage I do not have any information about a person so named. I will put your message on our Reader Response page to see if one of our readers can help. Ak

Dear Reader,  Danny Goldman is still looking for information on the three Arab settlement near Waldheim/Betlehem, see previous note on 15 February. If you can help with information, photos or advice please let Danny know on dannyg1@netvision.net.il, or come back to us at the Melbourne or Stuttgart office. You'll find the addresses on the Welcome Page.

Dear Friends,

Dear  Horst

 I would like to thank you once more for the in information you have sent me and which helped me and my colleges working in Sarona preservation project. I am continuing my work as architect freelance in the preservation team of Tel Aviv Municipality.

Until now the documentation files of STELLER  Imanuel house and  NEEF Roland house have been completed. Presently I am working on documentation files and guidance for preservation of Templer houses in Sarona in the following order:

STELLER Eugen house
WELLER-LANGE house
ABERLE Albrecht house

 The photos of  NEEF Roland, STELLER Eugen and ABERLE Albrecht houses, you have sent, already are a great help in resolving some restoration problems.   I also would like to get any information about the families and the architects who have built the houses.

I have a real problem with the WELLER-LANGE  house # 57. The house has been completly changed in volume and shape. There are no any photo or plans available. I need your help concerning this house.

 With my best wishes and hope for continuous cooperation in the future

 Sincerely yours. Tamara Garon 

15 February 2004

Here is a plea from Danny Goldman who has sent us an e-mail looking for photos of the Arabic village Basmet Tab'oun near Betlehem/Waldheim for another project:

I talked today to Ariel Berman who is in need of photos of the village above for his research, and he asked me to convey the following:
actually the village name was "Tab'oun", and the other name "Basmet" was only added later to become "Basmet Tab'oun".
Tab'oun was an Arab village that did business with the Germans in Betlehem - Waldheim, in the 1930s the lands were bought by the Jews, and the Arabs left. The houses of the village dismantled, and in the 1950s, on the same lands the Bedouins in the region formed there a new village called Basmet-Tab'oun.

Das Gedicht "Der alte Brunnen" von Artur Kleemann, Berlin-Köpenick, erscheint seit über 40 Jahren als Gedichtpostkarte im Schäfer-Verlag, Plauen im Vogtland. Vielleicht können Sie Verfasser und Verlag noch auf Ihrer Internet-Seite nennen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

SCHÄFER-VERLAG PLAUEN i. V.

Bernd Baumeister
Verlagsleiter

www.schaefer-verlag.de

Lieber Herr Baumeister, vielen Dank für Ihren freundlichen Hinweiss. Ich habe natürlich sofort  die relevante Internet Seite mit Ihrer Reference korigiert. Auch werde ich, wenn Sie nichts dagegen haben, Ihre e-mail in unserer Reader Response der TSA Website erwähnen, denn wir sind dankbar für jedes Leser-Echo, egal ob wir kritisiert oder gelobt werden. Letzten Endes führt beides zur Verbesserung unseres Archives und macht unsere Arbeit wertvoller.

Könnten Sie mir aber bitte sagen wie sie dazu kamen in unserem Internet Archive zu lesen? Was war der Anlass der Sie dazu brachte den sechs Jahre alten Temper Record der Temple Sopciety Australia vom Februar 1998 zu lesen?  Jhre Antwort würde mich sehr interessieren.   AK

From: Kahane

To: tsa@datafast.net.au

Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 12:32 AM

Subject: gustav bäuerle

Dear mr. Beck,

could you please help me find out more about my grandfather gustav bäuerle, born in jaffa at the end of the 19 th century ?

i look forward to hearing from you,

kind regards, alexander kahane.

Dear Alexander

I have passed your request on to people associated with the Temple Society's Heritage Group here in Australia for their consideration. If someone out there also has more information please let us know. Ak.

-----Original Message-----
From: gerd.keller@schering.de [mailto:gerd.keller@schering.de]
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 12:59 AM
To: auk@c031.aone.net.au
Subject:

Good day;  do you have some information about the " Keller House " in Haifa.

 Thank you in advance for your response

 Best regards, Gerd O. Keller

 Thank you, for your enquiry Mr Keller. I will pass this on to our archive people. One of our readers may also come forward with some information about the Keller House in Haifa. Ak

a reply received from Horst Blaich, Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:23 PM

From: Nily
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 10:54 PM
Subject: Templerian Gardening and Agriculture in Palestine

Thanks Nily, I have passed your note on to our archive people. One of our readers may also be able to help you. ak

Dear Alfred and Horst, Thank you so much for your help with the Grossmann genealogy, and I am sorry I haven't replied sooner. It was most useful indeed.

I would like to supply some additional information and make one or two corrections and clarifications.- My great-aunt Dore Vorster identified the father of the '7 sons, 1 daughter' in your list as Julius Grossmann from Eichelberg, b: 31/8/1855. (His wife is not named.) When he died I do not know, but he was already dead in 1909 when Dore visited Stuttgart for the first time. - Richard Grossmann senior was born on 26/7/1873. - Frieda Ruff was born in Haifa. (Maybe your 'Tib' refers to where they were married?) - Fritz Grossmann died on 29/6/1938 (not March), and was 29 years old. - Margaret Grossmann nee Frena was born 6/1/1910. Her second husband was John Winthrop Hackett, 5/11/1910 - 9/9/1997 (not Winthorpe). He adopted Fritz and Margaret's two daughters. - Margaret & Fritz Grossmann had only two daughters, Brigitte (27/4/1935) and Ingeborg Liselotte (7/8/1936). The confusion may have crept in because the latter was known by both names - most people called her Lisel, but her grandmother Frieda called her Inge. Now she is Elizabeth Hackett. She has not married. - Brigitte Grossmann (Bridget Hackett) married Timothy Hope (15/3/1926) in 1961.

- I was born 25/8/1964, my brother Alexander on 8/2/1967. I married Lisa Dyer (17/12/1966) on 11/8/2000. We have two sons now, Barnaby Conrad (12/9/2001) and Linus George (1/2/2003).

I hope this is of use.

I have now finished writing my book following the lives of John Hackett and Fritz Grossmann and I am in the editing stages. One of the last jobs I have to do is draw up a family tree, and it occurred to me that you might be able to help with a couple of dates. I am looking for the date of birth of Frieda's father Paul Ruff, and also his date of death, together with the date of death of his wife Christine, nee Heselschwerdt, and their son Alfred. Any ideas?

with best wishes, Sebastian

ps I am attaching a picture of the four Grossmanns you name at the bottom of your list, Ruth, Walter, Gerhard and Helmut. They were nephews and niece of Richard Julius Grossmann senior, but which of his six brothers was their father Dore did not know. This picture, taken around 1922, is in one of Frieda's old albums that was in Dore's possession.

Thanks Sebastian. ak

a note just received from Peter Lange, President of the Temple Society, offers some advice to people checking on ancestors from Wuerttemberg. AK

Dear Alfred,

I have been informed of Samuel Katz' request regarding his Templer ancestors. Please note that it is relatively easy to find out about family relations, if the family originated from Württemberg. I have access to the archive of the Evangelische Landeskirche in Stuttgart, where all church records of Württemberg parishes are stored on microfilm. Lately, I was able to find out more about the Lämmle ancestors of Leutenbach, as we have met in Stuttgart with a female Lämmle descendant (Renate Föll) who wrote a book about Württemberg emigrants ("Sehnsucht nach Jerusalem").

Everyone who is interested in such family research, is invited to write to me and ask for assistance.

Kind regards, Peter

Thank you for your interest in the Temple Society, Dr Eliezer Domke. I shall pass your specific enquiry on to the descendants/relatives of Immanuel Katz living here, and also place it on our Website www.templers.org . If you care to look in the “Reader Response” page on that site there is more information listed on what the Temple Society has available on historic literature and references. If I should hear more on the subject I will come back to you myself, but I am sure someone else will pick it up and respond to you directly. AK.

From: pleezi [mailto:pleezi@netvision.net.il]
Sent: Tuesday, 11 February 2003 5:59 PM
To: auk@c031.aone.net.au
Subject: Research 

Dear Mr Klink,
Last September, you may recall,  I wrote to you asking if you could help me make contact with people whose relatives had helped  to found, and who had lived in, the Templer settlement of Bethlehem in the Lower Galilee and you were then kind enough to post my request . Lamentably I never heard from anyone and my project died unborn.  Now, however, I am about to begin research that I  hope will indeed bear fruit in the form of a book about the Templers, with some emphasis perhaps on that particular and lovely place.

I was literally on the verge of meeting  Dr Alex Carmel and receiving his assistance in creating for myself an English-language bibliography when alas he died. I have yet to locate his book in English; unfortunately I don't  know German and must  depend on English and/or Hebrew sources.

I very much hope that perhaps your organization has at the ready a bibliography I could use or at least that you can provide suggestions as to how I could go about making one. The Internet itself thus far has yielded very little; perhaps there are sites less obvious that those that the search machines reach. The fact is that, somehow or other, the story of the Templers in Palestine is virtually unknown to English -language readers and I would like to tell it in a readable, colorful, moving way. But I do badly need help and hope that you can give it to me.

With many thanks in advance, Rinna Samuel, 9 HaNasi HaRishon Street, Rehovot, Israel 76300 pleezi@netvision.net.il

I'm sorry, Rinna, your previous project did not succeed, and I am glad you are not giving up. The death of Prof. Carmel came as a shock to us all. Although I did not know him personally he was a familiar figure and a good friend to us all. We enjoyed watching the documentary film he made with the Bavarian TV in 1998 on the 100 anniversary of the Kaiser visit to Palestine.
English versions of the following books are available from our Australian Office: Paul Sauer’s book “the Holy Land Called” for $A38.50, “The Story of the Beilharz Family” for $A27.50, and Hoffmann's Occident and Orient (pt1) for $A27:50, all plus packing & postage. AK

From: Martin P Higgins [mailto:marhig@globalnet.co.uk]
Sent: Monday, 2 December 2002 8:52 AM
To: auk@c031.aone.net.au
Subject: contact

 Dear Mark,

From: paule [mailto:paule@zahav.net.il]
sent: wednesday, 16 october 2002 2:23 am
to: alfred klink
cc: brigitte kneher; manfred haering; yossi goldberg; ilaemmle-ruff
subject: jaffa

Dear Alfred,

Here I come again, attacking now Jaffa's very first colony for Mr. Yossi Goldberg. I would like to ask you to publish our request on your next number. The information we need is about a house in the American colony in Jaffa (the one that a short time later becomes the first German colony in Jaffa), which is owned and rebuilt by Mathaeus Frank. What we know about him is, that he opened in this house a hotel called "Frank Gasthaus" and buys land in the later colony of Jaffa "Walhalla", where another Frank (his son???) builds a house. We would like

1. To find someone from his family (in Germany, Australia or elsewhere) who would have the knowledge, stories, memories, pictures etc.

2. To find out, if at a certain point there was another owner to the house, situated on Wilhelmstrasse, opposite Hoffmann's school (Park Hotel) and next to the church.

3. If anyone would have a photograph, painting, postcard, commercial... anything that would show us how the house looked then.

4. We know about someone with the same name as one of the first settlers in Jerusalem, but we're not sure if it's the same one.

The information is needed this time again for restoration's purposes. This house was to be demolished, but eventually got recognized as important enough, an investor was found and it will be restored. Eventually you'll have to come to Israel and see for yourself how we try very hard now (after doing more than one mistake) to preserve local history, which in this case happens to be yours as well. I hope you are well, please send my love to Ursula, and thanks a lot for your cooperation. Wishing you all the very best, paule

Thanks for your good work Paule. The Franks were (and still are) a large Templer family, and someone is bound to pick this up. AK

From: rinna samuel [mailto:pleezi@netvision.net.il ]
Sent: Tuesday, 24 September 2002 8:17 PM
To: auk@c031.aone.net.au
Subject: Bethlehem in Galilee

 I should be most grateful if you could help me with some information I need in  connection with an article I am writing about present-day Bethlehem in Galilee. What I am looking for specifically at this stage are answers to  the following questions with which you could perhaps assist me:

Why did the Templars give that exceedingly significant name to that particular settlement ? Was it because of the proximity to Nazareth ? When did the Kaiser visit the Templar settlements in what was then Palestine, and did he indeed also go to Bethelehem in Galilee ?  I very hope that among your members you have a history buff who can help me.

Many thanks in advance,

Rinna Samuel  pleezi@netvision.net.il , Rehovot, Israel

 Hallo Rinna Samuel,

 Thank you for your interest in the Templer history, Betlehem specifically. Paul Sauer, in the book "the Holy Land Called" refers to an old abandoned Arab settlement in the area named Beyt-Lahm, a place which has an extensive history in both the Bible and Talmud. The name Betlehem for the Templer settlement followed naturally from this. It was officially opened on 15 September 1906.  
Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Palestine in 1898. They arrived in Haifa 25 October on the ship "Hohenzollern", went to Jaffa/Sarona on the 27th and arrived in Jerusalem on the 30th. On the 31st was the official opening there of the "Erloeserkirche". They boarded the "Hohenzollern" again in Jaffa and left Palestine on November 4.
There is no mention of a detour to Betlehem in Galilee.

If you have a look into our Reader Response Page you will find letters from Fleischman Kobi who lives in Betlehem, and seems to have an extensive archive on the history of Betlehem. Good luck with you project. AK 

From: fleischmann [mailto:templer@zahav.net.il]
Sent: Friday, 6 September 2002 5:19 PM
To: èîôìø àåñèøìéä
Subject: Bet lehem haglilit

Dear Alfred

I understand that some of the Templer members are coming to Israel to visit the past. I am living in Betlehem Haglilit and (as I wrote you before) I opened a little center, at my home in Betlehem, where visitors can see the story of the Templers in Israel. I'll be very glad to host and to meet the friends of the Temple Society when they will be in Israel.

Please consider me as your friend and do not hesitate to call: 972-4-9532901
e-mail: tempelr@zahav.net.il 

- yours - Fleischman kobi bet lehem
haglilit 36007 Israel

More ways to contact me: http://wwp.icq.com/144560409

See more about me: http://web.icq.com/whitepages/about_me?Uin=144560409

Thank you Mr. Fleischmann for your hospitality. Best of luck with your venture. AK

From: zon [mailto:zon@netvision.net.il]
Sent: Wednesday, 5 June 2002 1:16 AM
Subject: Information

Dear Sir, Shalom

Even with a name and background as mine, I find it hard to read long articales in German and so I have three questions -

1. Do you have English translations of the Warte.

2. How do I obtain English written books like " The Holyland called"  & "The story of the Beilharz Family" and any other English written books about the community and the Holy Land.

3. In Israel there is no German translation for the Quickshoner (which is like an old shaving machine, with changable blades, and by mooving it over writing one gets a fair translation of the written in another lenguage to his liking - Sorry if I explained in vain !!!) and so I ask = is there such an instrument in Australia ?

The above is all for the sake of trying to study the community and its motives etc.

Thanks for an answer - Ronnie Kenigsberg

Hallo Ronnie, Here are some answers to your questions:

1.         The Warte is at present not available in English. Some selected articles though are now reprinted in English in our Templer Record publication in Australia. It may be worth while to check this on our website www.templers.org .

2.          English versions of the following books are available from our Australian Office: Paul Sauer’s book “the Holy Land Called” for $A38.50, “The Story of the Beilharz Family” for $A27.50, and Hoffmann's Occident and Orient (pt1) for $A27:50, all plus packing & postage.

3.         I do not recognise the translator mechanism you mention. You may try the Internet Service www.babylon.com which provides an online translation of text into any of 10 languages, including Hebrew. Sometimes the machine misses a special meaning, but on average it makes sense.

 Good luck, Alfred.

---

From: Filastin1948@aol.com [mailto:Filastin1948@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 May 2002 7:48 AM

Templars of Palestine

Dear Mr. Klink:

I am a Ph.D. student at the University of London. My dissertation is a study of the last 6 months of the British mandate in Palestine. I am writing to inquire whether you know of members of the Templars who lived in Wilhemina, Betelheim, Waldheim, Sarona or other locales in mandate who were forced to leave in 1947 or 1948.

Through oral history and archival records, I am trying to reconstruct what happened on the ground during the period of fighting from November 29, 1947 through May 15, 1948 in the individual villages.

I would be most grateful for any information that you could provide to me regarding the Templar community. In particularly, I would be interested in corresponding with members of the community who witnessed the events. Thank you for your consideration.

Rosa Esber

Dear Rosa Esber,  the Templers are a relatively small group and most of us older ones would know, if not all individuals, then at least the families of all the others. They all have stories to tell, and it would be difficult to single out any one as telling the true story. What I will do is put your letter and address on our Reader Response Page on the TSA Website and see if one of our readers will respond to you directly.

The most comprehensive cover of this period in Templer history would probably be Dr Paul Sauer's book " The Holy Land Called" ("Uns rief das Helige Land") which is available from our Offices in both Germany and Australia. The addresses of these are on our Internet Site www.templers.org   AK

---

Dear Mr. Klink:

Thank you for your response. I am delighted to hear back from you. Thank you for your suggestions and for posting my request in the reader response of the TSA webpage. In particular, I am interested in the stories of those 500 who were evacuated from Palestine in 1948 to Cyprus. Do you know if any oral histories have been prepared of these stories, aside from the work by Dr. Sauer that you cite?

Can you tell me if the Templars in Palestine held a Palestinian passport, that is, did they consider themselves Palestinian citizens?

I hope to hear from members of your organization. If you should need more information about me or my project, I would be very happy to provide it.

With appreciation for your consideration and best wishes,

Rosa Esber

From: <Sambro26@cs.com>

Subject: Cemetery at Haifa

Date: Tuesday, 11 September 2001 5:58 AM

Dear Alfred,

Sebastian Hope speaks about a cemetery he visited at Haifa.Do you know if anyone has recorded names from tombstones of people buried in this cemetery. As I previously mentioned,

I am trying to connect names of Buffalo persons who might have left with Jacob Schumacher and Andrew Struve.

Kobi Fleischman has given me names of some original settlers but that is not to say they were from Buffalo. It is possible this type of information was destroyed long ago.

Perhaps another of the readers here might be able to shed some light on this.

Regards....Joan

If any of our readers can help please come back to me, or to Joan directly. By the way, the a picture of the Haifa cemetery can be accessed in Sebastian Hope's letter of 6 August below. Ak.

From Resi Schwarzbauer
30 August 2001

Dear Alfred
One of my colleagues has put together a website "Germans in Australia" the details are below - it contains information on Templers - you may be interested:

INTERNETPROJEKT "DEUTSCHSPRACHIGE IN AUSTRALIEN"
Congratulations to David Nutting, McKinnon Secondary College and AGTV
Executive Member, on the new website on the topic of German-speaking
immigrants to Australia! Check it out at

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/dnutting/germanaustralia/d/index.htm

Thanks Resi, good stuff about the Templers, and nice pictures from Palestine too. They even have a link to our website! Ak

From: Sebastian Hope
Sent: Monday, 6 August 2001 22:03
To: TSA; Alfred Klink
Subject: Ruff & Grossmann

Dear Mr Klink,

My mother's maiden name was Grossmann, and her grandmother's maiden name was Ruff. Both were born in Palestine. In researching this family history I first heard of the Tempelgesellshaft. I was fascinated to find the TSA website, as I had been trying to discover more about the Templers and my schoolboy German is very rusty - I have been struggling with Alex Carmel's 'Die Siedlungen..' I saw mention amongst your correspondence of an English translation of Paul Sauer's book 'Uns rief das Heilige Land' - is this still available, commercially or on-line?

It was excellent to read part of Hoffmann's 'Occident & Orient' on your site) And Dietrich Ruff's 'The Temple Society -an Overview'? I was recently in Israel, and saw a copy of Sauer's history of the Beilharz family at the Scottish Mission in Tiberias - same question? While I was

in Israel I met Alex Carmel in Haifa and visited the Templer cemetery, of which I attach a photograph. I met the caretaker, Adran, who told me that some of the gravestones had been vandalised in the last year by 'alcoholists'. He was of the opinion that if the graves had been Jewish there would have been an outcry, but told me the local police did nothing about catching the perpetrators. He is keeping the graveyard in very good condition, as did his father before him.

Alex Carmel was unable to tell me much about the Grossmann family, and as I am following up the leads he gave me, I was wondering if any members of your society have any recollection of the Grossmanns, owners of the Hotel Tiberias. The first was Richard Grossmann (1873-1916) who built the hotel in 1894-6. He too came from Baden-Wurttemberg, though I suspect he was not a member of the Temple Society. He was sent to

Palestine for his health as he suffered from TB. He may have spent some time in Haifa and Waldheim before settling in Tiberias. He married Frieda Ruff, who I believe had been born in Haifa. They had three children: Dora; Fritz and Richard (Rix). Fritz was my grandfather and he committed suicide in 1938 (b. 1908). He is buried in the grounds of the Scottish Mission in Tiberias close to the graves of his father and of Dr D.W. Torrance. My grandmother remarried and her second husband, a British Army officer (though originally from Perth, W.A.!), adopted her two daughters, brought them to England in 1943, and I did not find out who my real grandfather was until I was 16.

I am a writer, and I am researching this material for a travel book - my first 'Outcasts of the Islands' about the Sea Gypsies of South East Asia was published by HarperCollins earlier this year - it is available in Australia, and was reviewed in the West Australian (7/4/01) and the

Canberra Times (5/5/01). The current project will be both an account of my journey through the Middle East this Spring and an exploration of the motives for that journey, i.e. the family history. I will be visiting Munich next week to meet Dora and Rix, both of whom are still alive, and neither of whom I have ever met - it is going to be fascinating. Naturally, there are many questions to ask them, but there are some that they cannot answer, about the internment in Sarona for instance, as neither was in Palestine at the outbreak of WWII - does Paul Sauer's

history cover this? Could any of your members add first-hand details? I do not imagine that many of that generation use the internet - would it be possible to contact them through you?

I look forward to hearing from you,

With best wishes, Sebastian Hope

Thank you Mr. Hope for your most informative letter. Paul Sauer's book "Uns rief das Heilige Land" is available in English "The Holy Land Called" from our Office here. If you like we can forward you a list of the Templer Literature available in our archives.

I will ask around here and I am sure some people will respond to your questions, either directly to your e-mail address or via myself. I shall pass on any information received immediately to you. Ak.

---

From: Sambro26@cs.com
Sent: Saturday, 4 August 2001 4:15
Subject: Community of Maresa near Buffalo

Hello again Alfred,

You sure threw me a curve with the mention of the Temple Society's attempt to establish an agricultural community "at MARESA, near Buffalo". There isn't today nor was there ever a place called Maresa but I think I may have somewhat answered this puzzle and it may have to do with the farmland Jacob owned for a short time in a town called Cheektowaga, NY.

I found that the words "Marisa or Mareshah" are Biblical and relate to a city of the tribe of Judah. Mareshah is SW of Jerusalem and just a little west of Hebron.

Though I have no proof, my theory is that Jacob Schumacher and other Templers planned to name this land in Cheektowaga after the Biblical city in Palestine. There would be no records here to prove this but I would like your thoughts about my theory.

I think my article on Jacob and the Temple Society may turn out to be quite lengthy.

The article on the olive oil business is on the way to you.

Regards....Joan Sambrotto

that was a good bit of detective work, Joan! We'll have to think about that. In the meantime I have asked our Office to organise copies of the America pages from Paul Sauer's book for you. ak

From: Sambro26@cs.com

Sent: Thursday, 26 July 2001 22:31

To: auk@c031.aone.net.au

Subject: Templers in Buffalo, NY

Dear Alfred,

I have recently done Buffalo, NY research for a contact in Israel that involves a member of the Templer Society who was here for about 10 years and went to Haifa, Palestine in 1869. He was an architect named Jacob Schumacher and there may have been others in this city who went with him to Haifa.

I am planning on writing an article for the Journal of our Genealogy Society that will document this previously unknown Temple Society in Buffalo. In all of our historical records, there is only one mention of Templers and it appeared in a newspaper in 1923, telling about olive oil that was being produced at Haifa and shipped for sale in Buffalo markets....the names SORG and STRUVE are mentioned in the article.

I would like to be able to document other names of persons/families who might have gone with Schumacher but perhaps left some family members and descendents behind in Buffalo. Jacob's daughter did stay behind after marrying in Buffalo, NY.

My question.....are there any records of the original group who settled in Haifa c. early 1870s?

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards,

Joan M. Sambrotto sambro26@cs.com Living in a surburban community outside Buffalo, NY

Dear Joan, Thank for your inquiry regarding American Templers. The Templers in America initially formed around the same time (or shortly after) the original formation of the Tempel Society in Germany. A conference in Buffalo on 15 April 1863 united the Templers of North America in the two communities, Buffalo and Schenectady. The community "Tempelfeld" in Kansas (later renamed Gypsum) followed in 1885.

The exodus to Palestine started early. Jakob Schumacher (as you said) left in 1869 with his family to go to Haifa. The last one to leave the New World for Palestine was J.G. Schanz in 1929.

The book "The Holy Land Called" by Paul Sauer describes the history of the Templers extensively, including the developments in America. It lists the following family names in the move from America to Palestine: Schumacher; Scheerer; Struve; Hengist; Deininger; Roller; Kraiß; Wurster; and Bätzner. All except Roller settled in or around Haifa.

I hope this information is of some help to you. Good luck with your project. AK

From: dannyg1

Sent: Sunday, 29 April 2001 4:51

To: alfred klink; tgdst@t-online.de

Subject: From Danny Goldman, Israel, attn A. Klink & P. Lange

Dear Alfred, Peter,

I am making good progress on the Templers' Architecture study. I need your advice on this:

I am trying to locate the houses of the Schumacher family in Zanesville, Ohio and Buffalo, New York. The reason is, I am trying to examine any (possible) transfer of design and building technology ideas from the USA through the Schumachers. This is a "shot in the dark", but worth a try... I already asked friends in the USA to do some land registry or deeds documentation search in these locations, but I also thought of these directions:

1. Is it possible to trace any of the remaining Schumachers, and try to salvage some data from them; do you have any clue as to where they are located.

2. Do the archives in Stuttgart or Melbourne have any images of the houses in Zanesville or Buffalo.

3. Do you have any other idea?

Any assistance on this matter will be appreciated... Best Regards, D.G.

I shall check our sources here and come back to you. If any of our readers can help with information, it would be very much appreciated. AK

To: TSA
Subject: Wilhelma Photograph

Dear Alfred, I am sending you a copy of a photograph taken at Wilhelma for the purpose of identification of the children in it. Please let me know if you can help.

Martin P Higgins

To the best of our information this photo was taken sometime in 1939, on the steps leading to Friedrich Hornung's Residence. It shows all the 1930 - 1933 school children of Wilhelma looked after at the time by Anna Hornung. Asking around we have put names to all of them and believe them to be correct, however our readers may want to look at it and suggest some corrections. Ak

hi!

i am a student in haifa university,israel. i am looking for info about the reinhardt's family that came to israel with a group of templers and built hotel in ramle.

thank you, aya friedman

my e-mail:aya_bsf@hotmail.com

Thank you, Dr Friedman, for your e-mail regarding the family Reinhart. I do not have any immediate information on them or on the Hotel in Ramle, but I shall ask around and I shall also place your message on our Reader's Response page in the hope someone may respond directly to you. AK

Subject: First Visit to Your Website

Dear Mr. Klink,

I am in the process of preparing a speech to be given at my parents' Golden Anniversary in November. Since I am living in the US and hardly ever speak German, I had difficulty finding the right words. I turned to the Internet and found your website..

Thank your for the printout of "Ich wuensche Dir Zeit". After 50 years of living together, what better present is there than time for two people (my parents) who have shown so much "Lebensfreude" throughout their lives. I also liked the "Gebet eines Senioren" und feel that it is as true for my generation as it might be for seniors. I will try to find a humorous way to include those thoughts in my speech.

With kind regards, Uli Boecker.

Thank you for your kind words, Uli. It is nice to hear from appreciative readers. Best wishes to your parent's for their Golden Wedding anniversary, and good look with your speech. Ak.

Sehr geehrter Herr Klink

Ich möchte Ihnen hiermit die heimatgeschichtlichen Forschungen meines Vaters bekannt machen. Er hat zahlreiche Publikationen verfasst. Darunter ein Büchlein u.a. über die württembergischen Templer mit Titel "Templer und andere Erweckungsbewegungen im Nördlichen Schwarzwald und weit darüber hinaus".

In seinem Buch "Eine Zeitreise zwischen Enz und Nagold" findet sich ein Artikel über das Leben und Werk Friedrich Kellers: "Vom Neuweiler Metzgergesellen zum Vizekonsul in Haifa".

Weitere Informationen finden Sie auf der Homepage:

http://home.t-online.de/home/Mich.Barth/heimatforschung.html

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Michael Barth

Herzlichen Dank, Herr Barth, für Ihre freundliche e-mail. Bestimmt werden viele unserer Leser in Ihre Homepage und Ihre Bücherliste reinschauen. Schön daß Sie auch Links zu uns haben. ak.

Dear Sir,
I am in the process of writing a short article on the Templer immigration to Palestine in the 19th century. I am particularly interested in how this group helped advance the country during this time, whether in farming or mechanical techniques or ideas, development of trade, etc.

Also, is it possible to receive any recollections from people who were living in Palestine at this time?

Thanks for your help.
Michael Brown, New Jersey, USA

Thank you, Michael, for your interest in the Templers. We appreciate endeavors that lead to greater awareness of our activities, past and present. The most comprehensive treatment of the history of the Templers is in Paul Sauer's book "The Holy Land called" ("Uns rief das Heilige Land" Thiess 1985). Perhaps one of our readers has more specific information. Ak

Lieber Alfred,

ich wollte dir den Hinweis geben, daß wir seit kurzer Zeit auch Gemeindeansprachen und Predigten aus der Tempelgemeinde Stuttgart in die Seite der TGD eingebaut haben.

Das soll einerseits fremden Interessenten einen Einblick in unsere religiöse Gedankenwelt geben, aber andererseits auch dazu dienen, daß australische Templer, die die deutsche Sprache noch gut beherrschen, besonders natürlich solche aus dem Ältestenkreis, etwas von unserer Gemeindearbeit mitbekommen, genauso wie es ja schon längere Zeit in der Website der TSA gemacht wird. Auf diese Weise kann die geistige Verbindung zwischen beiden Gemeinschaften ebenfalls gestärkt werden.

Ich bitte dich, deinerseits dazu beizutragen, dass diese Möglichkeit des Nachlesens von Texten auch zur Kenntnis der australischen Templer gelangt. Besonders weise ich in diesem Zusammenhang auf den Text unserer Agapefeier von Gründonnerstag hin (einer Neuerung im Gemeindeleben), sowie auf Karin Klingbeils Text von der Tempelgründungsfeier im Juni, der in den nächsten Tagen auf die TGD-Seite kommen wird.

Gruss, Peter.

The TGD website address is http://home.t-online.de/home/tgdst . ak

Subject: From Danny Goldman, Israel

Dear Alfred, I am getting deeper into the research of the Templers Architecture. I will be leaving for the USA in a month, to start the project, and was wondering if there are any Templers Communities in the USA.

I will be seeing German Communities in the Amana Settlements in Iowa and the German Village in Columbus, Ohio. These are not Templers', but the comparison should be interesting. But, if there are any Templer Community in the USA, I would like to visit and do some documentation. Can you be of help? Are there any contacts in the USA?

Thanks, D.G.

There are no Templer Settlements left in the USA. But there are a number of Individual Templers and families residing there. Perhaps one of our Readers can help? Best of luck with your project. Ak

Dear Sir,

my name is FLEISCHMANN KOBI and in the past I told you about me and the museum I made in Betlehem haglilit in ISRAEL, the museum is telling the story of the Templers in Bet lehem.

I am in contact with MR WAGNER and MR BLAICH and they sent me some foto about BETLEHEM. I'll be glad if you can send me names, addresses, e mails of families who lived in BET LEHEM.

All the best,

FLEISCHMANN templer@zahav.net.il

Dear Mr. Fleischmann Kobi, thank you for your interest in Templer history and the Templers that used to live in Betlehem. I shall publish your note in the READERS RESPONSE section of our homepage on the Internet and in the June issue of our monthly Circular "TEMPLER RECORD" with the hope some of the people concerned will contact you personally. Ak.

Thank you for your e-mail, Alfred. I have visited the TSA website for the first time (still very much an amateur in this area, I'm afraid), and found a wealth of information. I am able also to respond to some of the queries posted on the net. I send as attachment a message (see below) I sent to Mr. Strack by e-mail (I don't know yet how to do directly onto the website). Also I have some details concerning the Kloz family for Eleanor M Flum, which I would like to send her. Do you have an address for her?

Yours sincerely - Martin

Here is the attachment referred to above:
Dear Mr. Strack, I was interested to read your notice on the Templer web-page concerning the trip of Templer children from Palestine in 1930. I read an account of the trip in a magazine "Der Deutsche im Ausland" (Heft 56 - Der Deutsche in Palaestina). Karl Goetz wrote two articles on the trip -
1. Hurra! Wir fahren ueber das weite Meer! (giving details of the first part of the trip to Egypy);
2. Dann ging die Fahrt durch Deutschland!. The articles included some group photographs of the participants - in front of the pyramids, on board ship, at a broadcasting studio in Hamburg and at Schloss Rammelburg in the Harz Mountains.

The magazine was published by the "Auslandabteilung des Zentralinstitutes fuer Erziehung und Unterricht". Verlag von Julius Beltz of Berlin and Leipzig (1931).
I have a copy of the said articles.MPH.

Mrs. Flum's message of August 1997 had this e-mail address attached to it: dragon927@voyager.net I hope it is still current. Ak

I am trying to obtain a copy of a photograph of the Wilhelma War Memorial that was erected in memory of those Templers from Wilhelma who were killed during the 1914-1918 war (Christian & Karl Richter; Friedrich and Jakob Hoefer; Fritz Klink; Karl Kopp; Kornelius Sawatzky and David Waechter).

I would also like to know what became of the memorial and especially the plaque, on which the names of those killed were recorded, whether it had been destroyed. There was no sign of it either in Wilhelma or in the Jerusalem cemetery during my recent visit there.

I was hoping that your Archive may have some information or perhaps your readers might be able to help.

Thanks. Yours sincerely - Martin Higgins marhig@globalnet.co.uk

I shall pass your inquiry on to our Office, Mr Higgins. Also, one of our Internet readers may respond with some information on the subject and will reply back to you direct. Ak

Dear Mr. Klink,

I'm a German journalist, Chief correspondent of Catholic News Agency Germany. By chance I found in a German second-hand bookshop the book "Das Kinderschiff", written by Karl Götz. It tells the journey of a group of Templer children from Palestine to Germany in 1930. Karl Götz, the teacher, had organized the whole trip by train to Cairo, by boat to Hamburg, then a round-trip through Germany (including visits in the small villages on the Swabian Alb and at the graves of their forefathers), then back to Palestine. It's really an amazing book, whish was published in different editions in the 30s.

Now I want to write a journalistic story about the journey and the book, and so I'm looking for witnesses, for the Templer children from 1930, most of them from the families Weberruss, Herrmann and Kuhnle. During my last visit in Israel in March Alexander Carmel from Haifa University commended me, to contact the German Templer Association in Stuttgart. I did so. Now they will publish a notice with my search for the Götz-children in "Die Warte des Tempels". But they told me also to contact you and to ask for a short notice in the "Templer Record" too. So I ask you for publishing the following words:

Who went with the "Kinderschiff" in 1930 from Palestine to Germany and back? A German journalist is looking for contemporary witnesses of this journey, which was organized by Karl Götz. Please contact Christoph Strack, Argelanderstr. 6,

D-53115 Bonn, Germany, Christoph.Strack@t-online.de

I hope for answers from contemporary witnesses in Germany or Australia. Moreover: At the end of April I'll go again to Israel and meet Professor Carmel personally.

Thanks for your help. Many regards, Christoph Strack

home: Argelanderstr. 6
D-53115 Bonn
Christoph.Strack@t-online.de

office: KNA
P.O.B. 1840
D-53008 Bonn
Strack@kna.de

Dear Mr. Strack, we would be delighted to publish your notice, as suggested, in the next Templer Record due out in May. The name Karl Götz is well known to most of the elder generation of Templers. Good luck with your project.

I have published Mr. Strack's letter here in full in the hope one of our readers can respond with information, ak.

Dear Alfred

Berta Gunthner is sitting with me at the computer. We enjoyed the pictures of Haifa produced by Michael Gollmer on the link page. Mrs Gunthner is delightfully surprised at what a wonderful Templer web site we have on the Internet. She sends you her congratulations on such a great job.

Many regards

Irene Bouzo and Berta Gunthner

By the way, why is the holly still on the Welcome page?

The Holly has been on our Welcome page ever since we changed to the new format, some two years ago. It lends a bit of colour. What do our other Readers think? Should I change it? ak.

Dear Alfred,

I was just browsing through the TSA web site and came across what is now an error in the info "about the TSA" section.
You will have to update the info regarding the "new" Tabulam and Templer Homes for the Aged.
Otherwise all is looking good.

Ralph

Thanks for pointing it out, Ralph. Managing the TSA home-page effectively depends on input from astute and concerned people. Ak

Subject: E-mail for Templer Groups

Alfred,

Please accept my apology for replying so late to your discussion point regarding e-mails for Templers. I think it is a great idea and I would like to be included in this process.

I have recently enquired as to why the TSA office is not on line because I find submitting articles by fax or post is not ideal and requires the article to be retyped by Lore. By having an e-mail system the office could receive the article electronically and could transpose the file into the RS as required.

Regards, Winfried

I have for some time now taken on the unofficial TSA representation on the Internet, including e-mail service. It is not an ideal situation, but it works. So, for the time being, bear with us. AUK

My children and I have always enjoyed the Children's Section in the Templer Record. I find, especially lately, the new short format of the stories in the Children's Section makes it easy to use as a bedside story for my children and allows time for me to add my own interpretations and messages to it. I find it's just right to capture my children's interest. The fun activities are super too.

A great big thank you to Moni Imberger.Your section really works well for us.

Irene Bouzo

A well deserved thank you. Even I enjoy reading it. Ak

Dear Alfred,

You are wonderful! Why aren't my comments praising your efforts loaded onto the Readers Response page yet? You can't rest yet however! The m495.gif (smiley image) displays larger than it should. The dimensions should be H2 and W2.

The image for the Nahrung und Gesundheit intro is still the wrong one. It should be the 0heart.gif. I have included it again. It too should have the dimensions of H2 and W2.

I think the two flag gifs were meant to be animated - I can't find the original site to recopy them - they look fine as they are, don't they? The image (nundg1.gif) on the 'Nahrung und Gesundheit' page would look better centered. Would you be able to do that too, please?

Thanks again for all your efforts. Regards,

Doris

p.s. I have a new page loaded on my school site - if you have time, take a look and tell me what you think!

http://www.bayswaterps.vic.edu.au/lote/kinder/kinderseiten.htm

I have also included links to the German School homepage, the 'Nahrung and Gesundheit' page and Resi's website on German Festivals and Celebrations:

http://www.billanookps.vic.edu.au/resi.htm

hmm thanks, Doris. It is people like you that make publishing a pleasure. Ak

Subject: An interest in the Temple Society

Dear Mr. Klink,

My name is Danny Goldman, I am a lecturer in YOSH College in Israel, Dept. of Architecture. I am in the process of writing a PhD research proposal concerning the Architecture of the Templers in Palestine and am asking you to put this message on your "Reader's Responses Board" for the following reasons:

- I am looking for anyone who can direct me to sources of information, data, archives (in Germany or elsewhere) especially photographs of Templers building and facilities in the various Templers settlements in Israel.

- Do you know of anyone who has already conducted any research, historical or architectural concerning the Templers in Palestine? if so, how can he/she be contacted.

- How do I make contact with the Templers Society main organization, so that I can ask the above questions...

I think the subject is fascinating, it deserves to be documented scientifically, and hope that at least some of your readers will be able to be of assistance... All the best, D.G

my email address is : dannyg1@netvision.net.il

Thank you, Mr. Goldman, for your e-mail. I hope some of our Readers will respond to your request. I have also passed your message on, to our Offices in Melbourne and in Stuttgart. Their addresses are, by the way, on our Internet Welcome Site, but I am sure they will also contact you themselves in time. Ak

Subject: Israeli writer

Dear Mr. Klink,

I am an Israeli writer interested in the Temple society. Can you tell me if members of the society visit Israel to see the former Templer settlements?

Moshe Temkin

Yes, Mr Temkin, many Templers visit Israel every year, individually and in groups. The most recent group was in April this year. Ak

We feel it is not acceptable to have Welcome to our Home Page blinking on and off in every site you are visiting, contented to the Templar Web Page.

I have it from very experience sources that this is in very bad taste could you please get rid of this for us.

Another suggestion which I think would be good if you made Doctor Hoffman's picture smaller to fit within the graphics page without having to scroll to size

Dorothea Franz

Thanks Dorothea and Ian, different people have different tastes. But I have done as you suggested. See if you now like it better. Ak

Dear Alfred,

To the article in the Temple Society Newsletter on the Internet I have to say the Internet is a wonderful invention, it gives people access to places all over the world. As a young person I find the Internet a great source of information to help with school projects and a way with keeping up with the latest movies, games and so on.

From Chris Ware
from Creswick

Thanks Chris for your response to the TR Internet page. Yes, it is good to be able to make use of all the help that is available in getting ahead. Life continuously challenges our awareness with opportunities, even on the Internet. AK.

Lieber Alfred,

seit kurzem mache ich jetzt auch Gebrauch davon, die Home Page der TSA im Internet anzuwählen und die dort veröffentlichten Texte zu lesen. Die E-mail-Nachricht des Architekten Flint aus Tel-Aviv ist riesig interessant. Wir haben schon von anderer Seite von den Bemühungen erfahren, die Kolonie-Häuser von Sarona zu erhalten. Der emsigste Befürworter einer Erhaltung ist Dr. Jakob Eisler vom Gottlieb-Schumacher-Institut in Haifa, mit dem wir oft in Stuttgart zusammentreffen.

Da im April wieder eine Templergruppe nach Israel fährt, wäre es mir wichtig zu wissen, von wann die Anfrage des Mr. Flint stammt. Ein Datum ist nämlich in Deinem Internet-Dokument nicht angegeben gewesen.

Peter Lange

Hab Dank, Peter, für den Hint betreffs Datum. Ilan Flint war am 23 Mai 1998

Hi Alfred!

I now can access the Australian War Memorial database.

The URL is: http://www.awm.gov.au/database/photo.asp

Using the search facility and keying in 'Tatura', 'Murchison' etc for 'any conflict' brought up many relevant pictures.

It is quite slow getting the pictures, and if you can refine your search, then you should be able to save yourself some time. So far I've spent about four hours searching through Tatura photos! Very interesting, though the names don't always match the faces!

regards, Doris

and from Irene

I went into the Australian War Memorial site too and I think I had more luck than you or Doris. It is a difficult site to explore because it has such a wealth of information and photographs. I tried many different search combinations so I offer the following as the most useful:-

click "Search"; then click "photographs"; click "online photograph database"; then use Search with the following terms "+internees +tatura"

This shows a long series of photographs including civilian Germans, Templers, Italians and camp army personnel. I found many photos of my father and other relatives; a most unnerving experience to see all of this on the net half a century later. Camp 3 ( the Templer internments section, I believe) was photographed by the camp authorities and submitted as a model showpiece to show how neat and orderly the grounds and gardens were. It reads as if the credit went to the camp authorities rather than to the diligence of our Templers.

Why don't you try the site again? I certainly will.

and

I have another suggestion for a link. The family of Lurline Knee has made a home page for the Tatura Museum about the wartime camps. It has all the details of opening hours for those who want to visit. I have been in email contact with Lurline and found her responses delightfully warm and generous.

The site is: http://users.mcmedia.com.au/~kneefam/

Another approach is, once you get into www.awm.gov.au/database/photo.asp try the following searches:

type in +tatura +"no 3 camp" and you will find 127 records

type in +tatura -italian you will find 117 photos

then type +tatura +german and you will find 105 records of photos

If you type in neg no. 030241/12 you can see the Dyck family

Good luck, Irene B.

Thanks for the diligent research, Doris and Irene, and good hunting. Ak

I have tried several times to access the photos on the Australian War Memorial site with no luck.

I've even tried a search on the photograph database.

Do you have any suggestions?

Regards,

Doris

PS. I much prefer the picture of Dr Hoffmann, although I think it's too large an image for the page.

Hi Doris. Yes, I have the same problems with that AWM site. Even their search facility is extremely slow, so much so I repeatedly canceled out of it in desperation. I am printing your note here in the hope one of our readers will have an answer and will respond. Your comments on the picture are noted. Ak

Here are some links for religious sites I promised:

Firstly The Spirit of Things, Radio National program tape-scripts of Rachel Kohn's broadcast is

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/spirit/tsoindex.htm

It contains some interesting and fairly neutral interviews. The one with Bishop Spong is good. It is in a fairly popular format.

Secondly the homepage of Dr Mark Goodacre, theology lecturer at Birmingham University in UK. This site specialises in the New Testament, is very historical/critical (and therefore probably of interest to many Templers) and contains a wealth of useful links all on analyzing the New Testament. The site is:

http://www.bham.ac.uk/theology/goodacre/index.htm

The third is the Jesus Seminar Homepage. It has stimulated an international debate on the 'historical Jesus' by exploring the real facts about the person directly and solely from the Christian Gospels. The site is

http://religion.rutgers.edu/jseminar/

And then, in a recent discussion someone suggested a link with a Quaker site. I have found quite a few but I think this Australian one is the best for us. It summarises best of all the Quakers' spiritual experience as shown through their "concern for personal integrity, social justice and peace". The site is

http://www.quakers.org.au/

I am anxious to see what you think.

Regards, Irene B.

Looking at them quickly they seem to be very appropriate. I have placed the four sites on our Link Page. Perhaps other people will respond too; ak

First I had doubts about the Link to SETI Australia and its place in a religious site or discussion. But an authoritative and credible, scientific search for other life in the vast universe was a good subject to discuss with my children. I find teenagers especially, have a fascination with the question of an alien existence. This is fueled by the media and often linked to discussions of spirituality. The cold, hard factual and rational information provided by the SETI program is great to discuss with young adults. Also it contains the passion, excitement and mystery linked to the scientists' hope of finding an extraterrestrial signal one day.

Thanks again for steering us in the right direction.

Regards, Irene B.

Thanks Irene. Religion in the Templer philosophy, as I see it, covers a large part of human activity on this Earth, including Education and Science, an appreciation of Nature and our quality of Life, so I have no problems including astronomy, cosmology and the search for the meaning of life in the Universe amongst the subjects. ak

Alfred,

It seems that "time stands still" reading the Internet in Melbourne. This is confirmed by the fact that the "the Time in Melbourne is now ....." does not update while one is reading the Templer homepages.

Not that it matters, but it is an observation.

Regards

Werner

Werner, a very astute observation. Now if you could only convince Telstra of this we would all save a lot of money in phone charges on the Internet. Perhaps we should call the clock "The time in Melbourne was"? Ak

Thanks for taking the time and effort of putting together and maintaining the TSA web-page -- I'd otherwise never get the chance to read the Rundschreiben.

Although a little extreme at times, and often discredited by the media, I believe that Greenpeace plays an important role in our modern world, and shares a common goal of the Templers in working for the good of humanity by using peaceful methods. I would therefore recommend you consider adding a link to their site(s).

Greenpeace Australia: http://www.greenpeace.org.au/

Greenpeace International: http://www.greenpeace.org/

Just my 2 cents worth, regards

Chris Lange http://people.enternet.com.au/~chrisl/

Thanks Chris for your kind comments on the TSA web-page. It does have a purpose, doesn't it? And a bit of appreciation feed-back now and then makes it all worth-while. I concur with your sentiments on working for the good of humanity and have placed a link to Greenpeace Australia on our Link Page. - ak

I enjoyed reading "Time Marches on by nearly 51 years" in the October issue of the Templer Record. I am looking forward to the web sites for information and photos on the Tatura internment era as well as Camp 3 when they become available through Manfred. If anyone else knows of any related sites I would really be interested.

Regards, Irene Bouzo.

I have looked into the listed websites, and our pictures of Tatura are not there yet. I hope, Manfred or someone else will let us know when they arrive. ak

Dear Alfred,

It's the first time I've had a look at this site and I'm absolutely delighted. I enjoyed reading several Saals. I look forward to more of this, and to keeping in touch with things in the TSA through the net.

I loved the Links on the TSA web site. Jevan and I are enjoying the Sky/astronomy one. I was also pleased to find Doris Frank and some of her German work.

Have you thought of putting in a link to the ABC religious programs of Radio National? Some of their programs are very interesting such as the recent one in August of Bishop Spong's new book.

Regards, Irene Bouzo

Thank you, Irene, for your kind note on the Templer Homepage. The Internet is a convenient way to keep in touch, isn't it? Quiet and unobtrusive, and full of potential for expanding community participation beyond the often demanding personal presence. I will follow up your suggestion on the ABC. ak

I would like to introduce myself.

My name is Ilan Flint and I am a practicing architect based in Tel-Aviv Israel.

I am also a member of the Israeli Sites and Building Preservation Society - Tel-Aviv branch.

I am heading a special committee formed by the society for the preservation of Sarona- once a Templer settlement which turned later into a British camp and later on after the independence of the state of Israel and until now is housing different governmental' ministries. The Israeli government and the Municipality of Tel-Aviv are busy now passing a new town planing scheme which intend to demolish all the existing buildings. The plan provided only 11 to be preserved and after a huge pressure the number of preserved buildings may reach 14. All those buildings are situated along one street known at the Templers time as Christof Street- The portion starting at once to be known as See street going south towards the Wine Keller.

As a preservation Society we are not concerned ourselves with old or new politics. Our main interest lays within the willing to preserve the architectural history of our state. Sarona today is for us an open architectural book, showing the various architectural forms from the Templers to the Bauhouse. It is a unique example of such, in Tel-Aviv and basically in the entire country. This includes as well a unique mixture of trees and various plants dating back to the beginning of the Templers settlements.

We prepared a plan which with a small modification to the proposed government plan, managed to preserved about 40 buildings and most of the trees as well as the total atmosphere and urban unity of the old settlement.

We are busy introducing the importance of the preservation of Sarona to various government officials as well as the Mayor of Tel-Aviv and his staff.

We appreciate the fact that the original government plan was formed almost 20 years ago when the idea of preservation was not as in fashion as to day. It is rather almost impossible to turn one's back to a plan which took almost 20 years to form and which only now it is starting to materialize. We are taking advantage now of the fact that the plan is now to be re-open in order to add more building space and hoping to maximize the preservation.

As Time is short we are trying to find ways to stop the demolishing of the buildings. So we are looking for various ways including legal ways in order to slow down the development until we reach some kind of agreement with the government or the municipality....

...We would like to know, if any of you might know of items or documents mentioning the necessity to preserve and maintain Sarona.

Any further suggestions will be gladly accepted.

Sincerely yours, Ilan Flint iflint@trendline.co.il

I am sorry to tell you, to the best of our knowledge, there is no official document in existence containing conditions imposed on any future development in Sarona. Best of luck with your endeavors, ak.

I have reproduced Mr Flint's letter almost in its entirety because some of our readers may be interested in the subject and able to supply additional information to Mr Flint. He can be contacted on the above Email address.

Last updated on 18 February January 2009 webmaster