Wilhelma ( he, וילהלמה, originally ''Wilhelma-Hamîdije'') was German Templer Colony in Palestine located southwest of al-'Abbasiyyah near

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

. Wilhelma-Hamîdije was named in honour of King

William II of Württemberg , spouse = , issue = Pauline, Princess of WiedPrince Ulrich , house = Württemberg , father = Prince Frederick of Württemberg , mother = Princess Catherine of Württemberg , birth_date = , birth_place = Stu ...

, Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

and Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

, however, only the first half of the name prevailed. Wilhelma was established by German settlers in 1902 in Palestine then under Ottoman rule. In July 1918, the German residents of Wilhelma were interned at

Helouan Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...

, near

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

in Egypt. They were returned to Palestine in January 1921. During the inter-war years the colony produced dairy goods and wine in collaboration with the German colony at Sarona. At the time of the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...

, Wilhelma had a population of 186 Christians, 36 Muslims and 1 Jew. By the 1931 census, there were 319 residents in 65 occupied houses, the population consisted of 231 Christians, 84 Muslims, and 4 Jews. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Wilhelma was transformed into an internment camp by the British Mandatory authorities where German settlers from Wilhelma and other localities such as Sarona as well as other

enemy aliens In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured an ...

(such as Hungarians and Italians) were concentrated and held.Glenk et al., 2005, pp. 218 - 222. In World War II, guarded by Jewish police, the camp was under an early night curfew. Detainees were held there until April 1948 when the last of them were moved out to Germany or resettled in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. File:Al-Tira 1942.jpg, Wilhelma 1942 1:20,000 File:Beit Nabala 1945.jpg, Wilhelma 1945 1:250,000 File:Lydda and Ramla area - 9 July 1948.PNG, Depopulated villages in the Ramle Subdistrict Three

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish ''

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

'' settlements were established on this land in 1948. The first was abandoned on May 15, 1948 after being overrun by the

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 195 ...

. The second was established by a

Hapoel HaMizrachi Hapoel HaMizrachi ( he, הַפּוֹעֵל הַמִּזְרָחִי, lit. '' Mizrachi Workers'') was a political party and settlement movement in Israel. It was one of the predecessors of the National Religious Party and the Jewish Home. History ...

group. The third was established by the Tehiya group of the Hapoel HaMizrachi. Wilhelma is now the site of the Israeli locality of Bnei Atarot. What is now Israel's

Ben Gurion International Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...

was originally named "Lydda Airport" when it was built in 1934 near the Templer community. It was renamed

RAF Station Lydda Lod Air Force Base, also Air Force Base 27, was an Israeli Air Force airfield that was part of the Ben Gurion International Airport, located approximately north of Lod; east-southeast of Tel Aviv. From 1938 to 1948 it was known as RAF Station ...

in 1943. During

it served as a major airfield for military air transport and aircraft ferry operations between military bases in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

(mainly Iraq and Persia) and South/Southeast Asia.

References

Bibliography

* {{coord, 32, 1, 24, N, 34, 54, 49, E, type:city, display=title Populated places established in 1902 Templer settlements Hevel Modi'in Regional Council Geography of Central District (Israel) 1902 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1948 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine