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A century-old Jerusalem photo album sparks search for forgotten images of the Western Wall

JL;DR SUMMARY The discovery of a century-old photo album in Montreal has ignited a search for forgotten images of Jerusalem’s Western Wall. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

JerusalemSix Day WarWestern WallHeritageWinston ChurchillPhotographyChaim WeizmannTower Of David MuseumBritish Mandate PalestineDavid Freedman

Places mentioned

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
"When David Freedman discovered a long-forgotten photo album in his parents Montreal basement last year, he found nearly 100 pages of century-old photographs from his grandfathers year in British Mandate Palestine, capturing Jerusalem street scenes, market stalls and holy sites."
Jerusalem, Israel
"David Freedman said he knew he had struck gold when he found the album, which had been untouched for decades. I realized in disbelief I was looking at extraordinary images of Jerusalem, he said."
Israel
"The photographs were not only century-old and in near-perfect condition, but included figures who would later become central to Jewish medical and political history, among them Israels future first president Chaim Weizmann, Jerusalem ophthalmologist Abraham Ticho, malaria researcher Israel Kligler, future British prime minister Winston Churchill and Herbert Samuel, Britains first high commissioner for Palestine."
Palestinian Territories
"Though Freedman said the album showed his grandfathers passion for skillful, impromptu photography, it was images of a site that epitomizes endurance that are having the broadest impact. Freedmans pictures of the Western Wall has inspired a public appeal by the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum, which is asking people to look through old albums and attics for photographs, postcards and other visual material that could help expand the historical record of Judaisms holiest site."
Jordan
"From 1948 until the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel captured the Old City and East Jerusalem from Jordan, Jews were barred from going there."
United Kingdom
"Abraham Orkin Freedman, a Canadian physician and Zionist activist, took his photographs before the site was so contested. He arrived in Palestine in July 1920, just as Britain was replacing military rule with a civil administration, and stayed until 1922, serving during that period as managing director of Hadassah Hospital."

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Cairo Item ID 84418
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2026-06-09 18:00:30 UTC
Curated 2026-06-09 19:00:43 UTC