“Guard and Sport” was the theme of the trading cards included in packages of Dubek cigarettes sold in Palestine in 1939. This is the cover of the album in which the complete set of 216 cards could be stored.
The image is of one of the Notrim (guards) who were Jewish auxiliaries, mainly police, armed and financed by the British from 1936 to 1948. Once they were trained, the Notrim units protected Jewish lives and property. For thousands of Notrim, this was their first experience of military training.
The image was created by Franz Krausz (1905-1998), who immigrated to Palestine from Germany in 1934 and designed posters for companies—one of which was Dubek, where he worked for 45 years.
The introduction in the album acknowledges that a combination of “guard and sport” is odd as it combines seriousness and games which appear to be in contradiction, yet they express the highest qualities of the nation and its people: heroism and freedom, strength and redemption, bravery and honour. The album explains, “Guard and Sport are the two columns of the edifice that is our national redemption.”
The collection was intended to be a small contribution by the cigarette company to the advancement of the idea of physical education for the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine).
Eighty-five years later, the importance of keeping healthy (both mentally and physically) and strong during difficult times remains. This is especially so at the Olympics now underway in Paris, where the Israeli athletes received death threats before they came to compete (of course they still went).
Prior to these Olympics, Israel had won three gold, one silver and nine bronze medals. As of Aug. 3, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Israel added to its collection with six more medals: four silver, one bronze and a gold in men’s windsurfing.
Israel’s first-ever gold medal, back in Athens in 2004, went to windsurfer Gal Friedman (gal means wave). This video clip shows the first time Hatikvah was played for an Israeli gold medal Olympian.
