While Yoelish Kraus is known worldwide as director of operations for Israel’s ultra right wing Eida Charedis, he is also a renowned collector of pashkvilim, the ubiquitous posters that paper the streets of Jerusalem. In the ultimate irony, Kraus has donated his collection of pashkvillim to the Israel Antiques Authority, headed by Shuki Dorfman, both of whom were roundly criticized in many of the pashkvillim.
Israeli Hebrew news site Kikar is reporting, that Dorfman had made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire the collection for the National Library of Jerusalem three years ago, but it wasn’t until eight months ago that Kraus decided that he was ready to part with his collection. The collection will be transferred to a special section of the National Library in addition to being scanned into the library’s computers.
In recent years, Kraus managed to acquire every sign that came out and many Meah Shearim residents would come to view the pashkevillim. Kraus’ collection, which is valued at $120,000, dates back over 80 years and contains thousands of posters and other singular items, providing a rare glimpse into Israeli life. Among the collection are pashkvillim regarding the conflict between Belz and the Eida Chareidis and a bus card that was used approximately forty years ago by the Satmar Rebbe, zt’l.
