Alexander Ezer
Encyclopedia
Alexander Ezer was a Zionist activist and a leading developer of commerce, tourism and industry in the pre-state Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...

 and newly established State of Israel. Ezer served as chief adviser on tourism for the first government of Israel. He was the chief designer of the Middle East pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...

 and the organizer of the 1928 and 1934 Levant Industrial Fairs ("Yerid Hamizrach"). He was the founder of Binyanei HaUma  and organized its first international exhibition, "Kibush Hashmama" (Conquering the Desert), in 1953.

Biography

Alexander Yevzerov (later Ezer), son of Miriam nee Silifka and Manuel Yevzerov (the nephew of "Hamagid Hayadua" Yehuda Tzvi Yevzerov), was born in May 10, 1894 in Pryluky
Pryluky
Pryluky or Priluki is a city located on the Udai River in the Chernihiv Oblast, north-central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Prylutsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate municipality within the oblast...

, Russia. In 1913-1915 he attended the Psychoneurological Institute in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. In 1915 he transferred to the University of Tomsk in Siberia to complete his law degree. In St. Petersburg he established a Zionist student organization called “The Friend” and was the editor of a magazine distributed to Jewish students throughout Russia. Then, while living in Siberia, the Russian Revolution broke out, and Alexander was involved in Zionist activities and support for Jewish political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....

s sent to Siberia. The Bolshevik revolution and the oppression of Jews led Yevzerov to escaped from Siberia. He journeyed by trains, horses and seventeen days on a camel back through the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

 to reach Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in October, 1920, and then to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

. He found a thriving community of Jewish refugees in China. Together with another Zionist activist, Moishe Novomeiski (Chairman of the National Counsel of the Far East Jews), Alexander Yevzerov establish the weekly periodical "Siberia-Palestine" that later was renamed "Jewish Life"; the publication continued until 1943 under the editorship of Dr. Abraham Kaufman. Alexander was also active in the “underground rail-road” to help Russian refugees in China get certificates to allow them to immigrate to the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

 (which was under the British mandate
British Mandate
British Mandate may refer to:*British Mandate for Palestine*British Mandate of Mesopotamia...

 at the time).

On June 12, 1921, together with 44 other members of the Siberian Zionist Organization, Alexander boarded the Lloyd Triestino “Nippon” cargo ship. After 40 days at sea they arrived at Port Said, Egypt
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...

 and then took another ship to Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...

, Palestine. In Jaffa Alexander joined the "Siberian Group" of new immigrants that set to pave the new road between Haifa and Geda and then built British constructions in Jenin. Laborers at that group remember Alexander as the crazy guy who after a long working day would march around the encampment reciting Russian poetry while others were entirely worn out trying to rest.

When Alexander fell ill with Malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, he was sent to the hospital in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 and fell in love with the nurse, which later became his wife, Rebecca Volkenstein (b. Chita, Siberia, 1897-1981). Rebecca herself was active in establishing the Hadassah
Hadassah
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with around...

 Nursing School in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

; she was the head nurse in that school and after moving to Jerusalem continued to work in Hadassah Medical Center
Hadassah Medical Center
Hadassah Medical Center is a medical organization that operates two University hospitals at Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, Israel, as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The hospital was founded by Hadassah,...

 and in other care centers until her 80s. Alexander and Rebecca had two children, Manuela Fuller and Gabriel (Gabbi) Ezer, 6 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. In 1973, Alexander died after a long battle with cancer. Alexander and Rebecca are buried in Israel's Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south.-History:...

 Cemetery in Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way...

, Jerusalem.

Promoting Industry

Alexander developed a vision of making Israel an industrial powerhouse. He began to organize local industrial exhibitions in 1923 and 1924, which later were expanded into an international Fairs, the 1928 and 1934 “Levant Fairs” (or “Eastern Fairs”). The symbol of the fairs was the flying camel, envisioned by Ezer and designed by the architect Arie Elchanani. These fairs grew rapidly: in the Levant Fair of 1934, 820 international companies were represented and 600,000 people from around the world came to see the public exhibitions. At the time, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 was only populated by about 35,000 people. To accommodate the fair, Alexander and Meir Dizengoff
Meir Dizengoff
Meir Dizengoff was a Zionist politician and the first mayor of Tel Aviv.-Biography:Meir Dizengoff was born in 1861 in the village of Akimovici near Orgeyev, Bessarabia. In 1878, his family moved to Kishinev, where he graduated from high school and studied at the polytechnic school...

 (the first mayor of Tel Aviv) established the company "Mischar Ve Taasia" (Trade and Industry Publishing and Exhibition Co.), which purchased land north of Tel Aviv to develop the fair grounds . They also published a bi-weekly magazine, "Mischar Ve Taasia", starting in 1925, with Ezer serving as its editor . In 1927, Ezer published "Palestine from the Air", one of the first aerial photography ever taken in this region. Unfortunately, an Arab upheaval erupted in 1939, which made Tel Aviv a dangerous place for an international fair to be held. As a result, the Levant Fairs had to be canceled and instead Alexander organized the Middle-East pavilion of the 1939 World Fair held in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Origin of the Name Ezer

After Israel fought and won its War of Independence, Alexander Yevserov and his good friend Moshe Shertok wanted new names to go along with their new state. They decided to make their new names synonyms of each other. Shertok changed his name to Sharet, which means “to serve” in Hebrew. Yevserov changed his name to Ezer, which means “to help” in Hebrew. Sharet eventually became the first Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...

 after the first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...

 resigned.

Other work

Ezer’s next vision was to make Jerusalem, the new capital, a center for commerce, industry and culture for Israel and the world's Jews. In 1950, he built the National Conference Center of Jerusalem (“Binyanei HaUmah” in Hebrew). Among the famous events held at the center were the Zionist Congress, a 1953's exhibition of Israel's achievements "blooming desert" and the 1958 exhibition for the 10th anniversary of Israel. Ezer helped in the publication of the first Israeli Encyclopedia, and he founded the International Club of Hebrew Literature. He thought that the best way to help the economy of the young state was to establish a strong tourism industry. He founded the Ministry of Tourism and became the first government adviser of tourism. Additionally, he authored books and newspaper articles about the history of the Zionist movement, politics, art, culture and more. He started a radio broadcast for Russian Jews who under the communist regime were not allowed any communications with the outside world. His radio provided the Russian Jews with accurate information about Israel in contradiction to official Russian propaganda. His radio pseudonym was Asaf-Tal-Or, a combination of the names of his three grandsons.

Awards and recognition

He was listed as one of the 2,000 most influential men in the world and appears in Who's Who of World Jewry.
The mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...

gave him the honorary Medallion of the City.
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