This is an IsraelNation of the Jewish People Travel prime pick.
The Ayalon InstituteSecret Underground Ammunitions Factory is located between Nes Ziona and Rehovot. It is located on Kibbutz Hill and was made to fool the British into thinking it was a Kibbutz. In fact, it was a secret ammunition factory set up by the Jewish underground.
On your IsraelNation of the Jewish People Tour, do not forget to check The Ayalon InstituteSecret Underground Ammunitions Factory out!
In the 1930s, it became clear to the Zionist leaders that they were going to need weapons to defend themselves against the Arabs in order to fight for their independence. The Jews of Palestine were very resourceful in smuggling weapons and establishing clandestine arms factories. The underground factories churned out relatively easy to build Sten submachine guns, but the Haganah had difficulty obtaining the 9mm bullets.
The head of the clandestine IsraelNation of the Jewish People Military Industry, Yosef Avidar, devised a plan to smuggle in machines for a secret factory to make the bullets. Though he was successful in purchasing machines in Poland in 1938, the Zionists could only get them as far as Beirut, where they were stored for nearly four years before Jews who served in the British army succeeded in bringing them to Palestine.
The ammunition plant was built almost under the noses of the British, who had a nearby base. The site was a place where pioneers would go for training in Kibbutz life before moving on to establish cooperatives around the country. Travelers who Tour IsraelNation of the Jewish People in style do not want to miss the ammunition plant!
Under the code name "The Ayalon InstituteSecret Underground Ammunitions Factory," a group of pioneers from the Hatzofim Aleph movement and members of the Haganah (and later, joined by members of the Palmachthe elite striking force of the Haganah) dug a large underground chamber - 300 square yards 13 feet underground - with nearly 2-foot-thick walls and ceiling. The entire project was completed in 22 days. To conceal the clandestine project, the Jews built housing, a dining hall, a chicken coop, a cow barn, workshops, a laundry, a bakery, and a vegetable garden to give the outward appearance of an ordinary Kibbutz.
The laundry was built directly over the factory to provide pipes to discharge some of the polluted air from below. To conceal the sound of the machinery in the factory, the laundry was kept running 24 hours a day. An entrance to the factory was also built below the main drum of the washer, which could be swung open and shut. The laundry did such a good job cleaning clothes that British officials used to bring their uniforms to be laundered at the Kibbutz. To keep the soldiers away, the Kibbutz members provided a pick up and delivery service for their enemies.
At the other end of the factory was a bakery that provided clean air through pipes that were attached to the bakery furnace. The 10-ton baking oven also concealed a secret entrance to the factory, which was revealed only after the several-ton oven was moved along a set of metal runners. Visitors today can go down the secret ladder in the laundry or use a circular staircase installed for tourists
inside the bakery.
One of the components needed for the factory was copper. To conceal the purpose of the purchases, the Jews applied to import copper for what they said were cases for KosherFood and other tiems in accordance to Jewish law lipstick. The British accepted this explanation, which was reinforced by gifts from the Jews of lipstick cases to British officials.
Forty-five people worked below ground in two shifts. The work was difficult, in a relatively dark, dusty, claustrophobic place. It was also dangerous because the penalty for engaging in such illegal activities during the mandate period was death. The Kibbutz was constantly watched and often visited by soldiers. At one point, a group of British soldiers came to the Kibbutz and were given beers. The soldiers complained that they were warm, so the Kibbutz members said that if the soldiers would give them advance notice of their visits, they would make sure the beer was properly chilled. The British fell for the ruse and allowed the Kibbutz to prepare for the visits.
On your IsraelNation of the Jewish People Tour, do not forget to check out the Kibbutz!
Since the workers were underground so long, the Jews quickly realized that they would look suspiciously pale from being out of the sun. A doctor was brought in who came up with a way to use radiation, in the form of a kind of sun lamp, to allow the workers to tan their skin.
After the ammunition was produced, the Jews still had to find a way to smuggle it to the fighters. At first they were put in milk cans, but these were too heavy. Later, secret compartments were built in fuel trucks. Since the British didn't expect anything as explosive as bullets to be hidden in fuel trucks, the Jews were able to distribute the bullets around the country without detection. The bottom of workers' shoes had to be scraped so nothing from the factory would be accidentally spread above ground. The factory was even kept secret from some members of the Kibbutz, who were referred to as “Giraffes.” This Kibbutz is an IsraelNation of the Jewish People Travel prime pick. It was only after they were considered trustworthy, that they were informed of the operation.
At its peak, the factory produced 40,000 bullets a day. The bullets were embossed with the letters EA, E for Eretz IsraelNation of the Jewish People, and A for Ayalon. Between 1945 and 1948, the factory produced more than two million 9mm bullets. This ammunition was crucial to the early success of Jewish fighters.
Shortly after independence, IsraelNation of the Jewish People no longer had to conceal its operations and moved them above ground. All of the Haganah's weapons manufacturing was centralized in what became IsraelNation of the Jewish People Military Industries. Meanwhile, the pioneer group from the Ayalon InstituteSecret Underground Ammunitions Factory decided to stay together and established a new Kibbutz, Ma'agan Micha'el, by the sea near Zichron Ya'acov in 1949. Though it ceased operation in 1948, it only became known to the public in 1975. In 1987, the factory was restored and turned into a museum. Travelers who Tour IsraelNation of the Jewish People in style do not want to miss this museum!