"The truth is stronger than words"
Josh Wander interviews veteran Jerusalem Post worker Alexander Zvielli about a fateful day in the War of Independence

1948 - February 1st was a normal work day at The Jerusalem Post. But on the outside things were tense. There were hostilities from every direction, the Arabs and the British. I also had my own personal problems. I had just broken up with my girlfriend. We agreed to a hiatus in our relationship. We were young and both Hagana members.

I had just finished my shift guarding near the Generali building in Jerusalem and all the shops were closed.

At work, I was asked to exchange places with a friend while we worked on the lyno type machines. He was having problems with his machine. I agreed, and switched machines with him. After it was decided that the machine was truly unusable it was decided to call the repairman, Mr. Yosef Leeder. He took the machine away for repair at 10:50.

Ten minutes later, at 11:00 our lives would be forever changed. There were screams, smoke and fire everywhere after a joint British/Arab revenge attack. A truck full of munitions and explosives drove up to the main window of The Jerusalem Post on what was then called Hasolel Street (today it is Havatzalet St.). The unlucky workers close to the window were hit by the blunt of the blast. We were somewhat shielded by the machines we worked with.

I immediately went into action. I started to carry out bodies from the burning building. First was Shimshon Lifshitz. I carried him on my back over 100 meters to the Hadassah building. Then I grabbed someone called Yerushalmi.

We continued to remove people from the debris until all were taken to safety. Luckily the building was built by a man named Mr.Weiss, who was concerned about the possibility of an earthquake. The building next door totally collapsed from the impact of the explosion!

No one was allowed to come close to the building after the explosion and my girlfriend was stopped by the police. By the time she was let through, my eyes were swollen from the smoke and glass. She escorted me to Hadassah where we decided to marry. We didn't delay any longer. February 12th we will have been married 52 years!

Two last notes should be mentioned. First one of the workers that night, named Yitzhak Tawill lost one eye completely and half of the other but continued to work at the Post for another 20 years! Also, the newspaper was published that night (albeit a shortened version). The headline, "The Truth is Stronger Than Words"...