Acre in the British Mandate

This time in our historical photo album we present historical photos of Acre in the time of the British Mandate. Post-World War I Acre was almost entirely an Arab coastal town – a census held by the British in 1922 showed that out of 6,500 residents, only 78 were Jews. The Jewish community in the city began to grow during the fourth Aliyah (the fourth wave of Jewish immigration) that began in 1924. In 1925, a group of 14 Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe settled in the city with the aim of working in the local sand quarrying industry. Despite a difficult beginning, these settlers persevered. In the following years they were joined by more Jewish immigrants who joined the gravel industry or earned their living through fishing. The city was already a symbol of coexistence, when in the bloody events of 1929, Arab fishermen defended their Jewish counterparts and warded off their attackers.

The photos before you are mainly from the 1920's. Among them are also photos from Acre prison where the British detained political prisoners.