Permit to Visit the Infamous Akko Prison Issued to the Tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin with his handwriting

Permit to Visit the Infamous Akko Prison Issued to the Tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin with his handwriting

Historic document: Permit to visit the infamous Akko prison, issued to the "Father of Prisoners, " the tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin, from the headquarters of the Prison Authority of His Majesty's government in Palestine, in order to visit and pray with the underground prisoners. The document is signed by the Commissioner of Prisons, and was given at the urging of Rabbi Yaakov Goldman, who then served as rabbi of the Mandate prisons in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem, September 1946.

This visitor's permit was issued in September 1946 - towards the end of Elul, just before Rosh HaShanah. The tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh apparently arrived to pray with the underground prisoners and to encourage them towards the upcoming new Jewish year. About a half a year later, they were hanged there - in the infamous gallows room - the Olei HaGardom - Dov Groner, Mordechai Alkachi, Yechiel Dresner and Eliezer Kashani, may their blood be avenged, who were arrested in 1946.

Rabbi Aryeh Levin was rabbi of the underground prisoners in Jerusalem, and would visit them regularly. He would even smuggle letters from their families to them, and letters from the underground leaders. This permit reveals to us for the first time that he would also occasionally go to the Akko prison, so the administrators of the prison arranged an entry permit to the Akko Prison for him. This permit is for one day, September 23, 1946, two days before the Jewish new year.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin.

[1] leaf official stationery, approximately 15x20 cm. Typewritten and signed by British Commissioner of Prisons. Rabbi Aryeh wrote in the backside: Permit to visit Akko (in hebrew).

Very fine condition. Fold marks. Filing perforations.