Author(s): Yael Neeman

History

The kibbutz is one of the greatest stories in Israeli history. The kibbutzim are collective settlements in Israel which have been written about extensively and are praised as the only example in world history of entire communities attempting to live in total equality. Intended to be a socialist utopia by early pioneers, the kibbutz was a radical experiment in communal living, gender equality, economic egalitarianism, and the reorganisation of family life. But in spite of its progressive ideals, there is a dark side to the kibbutz which is being told in the stories of the children raised in the communal houses - an institution which victimised its offspring for the sake of ideology. In this spare and lucid memoir, Neeman - a child of the kibbutz in the 1960s - draws on the collective memory of the hundreds of thousands of people who grew up in kibbutzim at their height and who have intimately shared their memories with her. We Were the Future is more than a compelling personal story- it is an unflinchingly honest examination of the perils of organising society and a new lens through which to see the history of Israel.