Unpublished Goldberg story to go on display in Haifa

A children's story which was written by Leah Goldberg in German and never published will be exhibited next month for the first time, at the Haifa Museum of Art.

"Gadi and the Little Donkey," written in 1959, describes kibbutz life in the 1950s through the experiences of the eponymous young boy. The accompanying photographs taken by Anna Riwkin-Brick document the kibbutz lifestyle during that period.

In addition to the text and the images, the manuscript contains Goldberg's editing and design notes. As the book was never published, the manuscript is thought to be the only copy of the story.

Goldberg's manuscript is part of an exhibition from the collection of Arnold Druck, a Jerusalem art collector and lawyer, scheduled to open on February 6. Tami Katz-Freiman is the project's chief curator.

The curator of the Druck collection for the exhibit, Yaala Hazut, said this week that Druck - who bought the manuscript several years ago from an author he declined to name - believes Goldberg gave the manuscript to friends. Druck told Hazut that he did not know the identity of those friends, or why the book was never published.

Goldberg and Riwkin-Brick collaborated on two books in a series about kids around the world, in which children's author Astrid Lindgren also participated. In 1956 Goldberg and Riwkin-Brick published "Little Sheba Queen," about a young girl from Morocco trying to fit into kibbutz life, as well as "Adventures in the Desert," which is also about kibbutz life.

Goldberg was also responsible for translating some of Lindgren's books in the series, including "Nariko-San, Girl of Japan" and "Elle Kari, The Girl From Lapland." Riwkin-Brick was the photographer on the latter book as well.

This week Sifriat Poalim is issuing "Avedot" ("Losses"), a novel Goldberg wrote during the second half of the 1930s which is set against the rise of the Nazis in Berlin and was never before published in full.