Bunia (Blatt) Shmueli was born in Ukraine in 1908 to Pearl and Ze'ev Blatt. She joined Zionist youth movements, Hashomer first, then Hachalutz. After the Russian Revolution (1917) the government forbade the teaching of Hebrew in schools or otherwise. Bunia's parents took a private tutor to teach their two children, Bunia and Isaac, at home. With time, more people joined these meetings, where Hebrew was taught and other related matters were discussed. The police was informed and in 1926 Bunia and other friends were arrested (her brother was a year younger, therefore under the legal age; he was arrested a year later). She and her friends were sentenced to three years exile in Middle Asia and Siberia. At the end of the three years Bunia was allowed to move to the city of Samarkand. For 5 years she kept applaying for a permission from the Red Cross to go to Palestine. She finally recieved the permission, on condition never to return to Russia. Bunia arrived at Palestine in 1931.


Bunia helped to build kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov (Meuchad) in the Jordan Valley, one of the hottest places in Palestine/Israel. Her work was to knit woollen sweaters to all the kibbutz members and children. As a child I used to visit my grandmother in the Tzim-ri-ya. I remember playing with the colourful wool, making knots, helping her by untying old sweaters and rolling the threads to small balls.