Nitzana (Hafir el Auja), Watertower near the Ottoman railway station
At around 1900, the Ottomans started to build a police post to serve as a administrative centre in the former settlement Nitzana, now called Hafir el Auja. Parts of the ancient ruins were used to construct buildings for the Ottoman settlement. Within the fort, the Ottomans started approx. in 1906 to construct a serail/palace but due to lack of material and funds only achieved to build a bit more than the foundation.
In autumn 1914, the Germans and Ottoman planned an advance against the Suez Canal under Ottoman commander Ali Fuad Bey and German chief of staff of the Ottoman VIII. Army Kress von Kressenstein. When Kress von Kressenstein visited the area in October 1914, he noted the ruins of the fortress with the foundation of the palace on the hill, ruins of Byzantine churches and three Ottoman buildings (administrative building, police post and an empty house) in the lower part of the settlement next to ancient wells.
In preparation of the planned German-Ottoman advance against the Suez Canal, wells and water cisterns were built between Be’er Sheva and El Arish as well as simple roads. Further, it was given order to build a hospital on the foundation of the palace located on Tel Nitzana in end of 1914.
In January 1915, works started to build a road from Hebron to Be’er Sheva in order to improve infrastructure and supply problems. Further, in January 1915, the Ottomans built a military railroad from the Hejaz line (connection Afula/Sileh to Dera’a) to Be’er Sheva.
The first expedition against the Suez Canal started on January 15 until February 13, 1915. The mixed German-Ottoman troops of approx. 25.000 men reached the canal but were not able to hold their positions mainly due to insufficient supply.
The military railway had reached the newly build Asluj station (some 30 km before Hafir el Auja direction Sinai) in March 1916 and the station was inaugurated by Enver Pasha during his visit in the region. The line reached the station Hafir el Auja in May 1916. Despite these efforts, the efficiency of the line from Afula to Hafir was rather low.
By July 1916, the German-Ottoman hospital was not yet finished but already operating. Earlier, in February or March 1916, 4 Borromean sisters (Christian Sisters of Mercy of St Borromeo) were employed in the hospital as nurses. The Ottomans erected in mid-February 1916 a field hospital (Turkish Red Crescent) in Hafir el Auja in addition to the hospital.
The second advance under Kress von Kressenstein with some 16.000 men in July/August 1916 did not reach the Suez Canal as the Allied had extended their defense positions effectively. The main result for the German-Ottoman effort was the concentration of large Allied forces (Battle of Romani). Among the German-Ottoman troops were 1.600 German soldiers, part of the Imperial German expeditionary forces (Asienkorps).
The German archaeologist K. Wulzinger made in September 1916 a survey in Auja for the Turko-German Committee for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments and discovered the first Nabatean painted pottery ever found in the Negev.
The Allied forces with superior number of troops, material and supply gained more and more ground (conquering Sinai). El Arish was abandoned in Mid December 1916. After the loss of the Ottoman area in Egypt, Hafir became an outpost-garrison with 4 battalions, 1 machine-gun company and 1 Ottoman mountain-howitzer battery.
The Allied started to attack Gaza in February 1917. In order to stabilize the front (line Gaza-Tel Sheria-Be’er Sheva), Kressenstein draw its remaining troops from Hafir back to Be’er Sheva in March 1917. Irregular British troops, Bedouins paid by the British, occupied Hafir soon after. According to Kressenstein, certain section of the tracks of the railway line from Hafir el Auja to Quseime were dismantled while the Allied troops were advancing and reused to build a new line from Et Tineh (Kiryat Malachi) to Huj in order to stabilize the supply to the Axis troops in Gaza.
By end of April 1917 the outpost-garrison of Hafir el Auja was abandoned by the Ottomans.
On May 8th, 1917, the Venezuelan adventurer Rafael de Nogales became Ottoman military governor of the Ottoman Sinai region. He had been serving in the Ottoman army earlier in Eastern Anatolia and the Iraq. By that time, the Ottomans had given up on the Sinai region. He was assigned an experienced group of Arab camel riders (Hedjin-Suaris), a kind of elite troop, plus an irregular volunteer regiment from El Arish. This regiment was commanded by the Bedouin Sheiks Hassan Erkienharb and Selim who did not wanted to subdue to the British forces in El Arish. The Ottoman target was to restrain the British forces in the area of El Arish, Magdhaba and Quseime (Kuseima). Hafir el Auja and Bir Biren (Birein) were chosen as base during the four weeks expedition.
At about the same time, Allied troops such as the Camel Brigade and C Squadron, 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment, destroyed sections of the railway line between Hafir and Asluj as well as the station building Asluj during a one-week demolition raid. It is unclear if they also destroyed station buildings at Hafir during this raid.
De Nogales and his men left Be’er Sheva and expelled the British irregular troops from Hafir on May 15th. They started talks with local sheiks in order to regain back their ‘loyalty’. The word spread about their presence and the British sent troops but were unable to localize de Nogales and his Arabs. With the pressure and limited resources, de Nogales knew his days were counted and his men started sabotage attacks. British railway lines at El Arish were blown up and wells at Magdhaba. The Allied response came quickly. In end of May, large numbers of regular British troops started searching for the men forcing de Nogales to retreat to Be’er Sheva. De Nogales and his Arabs were the last Ottoman troops on Egypt territory. As consequence, the British destroyed large sections of the railway between Hafir and Be’er Sheva. This time, on May 23rd, they blew up the big railway bridge at Asluj. It is possible that Ottoman railway buildings at Hafir were blown up as well.
Considering the defensive Ottoman military strategy based on limited resources, both demolition raids did not had an effect on the war.
Hafir el Auja became part of the British mandate. The former Ottoman garrison Hafir el Auja was used as prison camp until 1948.
According to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the area was planned to become part of the Arab state and in 1948 the Egyptian Army used the area and the Ottoman buildings as a military base. Despite this plan Auja was captured in December 1948 by the Israeli 89th Mechanized Commando Battalion in the so called Battle of Auja al-Hafir, part of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the fighting, Israeli airplanes bombed the Egypt military base in Auja. Damages of the battle can still be seen in the ruins, e.g. on the old German-Ottoman hospital.
As a result of the Armistice Agreement of 1949, the area around the village became a demilitarized zone (DMZ). Israel re-militarized the area on September 21, 1955, and continued to occupy it until after its withdrawal from Sinai and Gaza in 1956. After this, and until the Six-Day-War, the DMZ and the border were monitored by the United Nations Emergency Force. Those Ottoman buildings which have not already been destroyed in the battle of 1948 were blown up by the Israeli army in September 1956 to prevent UN-troops to return to Nitzana. Of course, to the UN this would not have made much difference. They could have accomodated themselves in tents. Therefore, the destruction was useless. Some ruins and most fundaments are still visible.
Israel has full control of the area since 1967 and changed the name from Hafir el Auja to Nitzana.
Nitzana (Hafir el Auja), Watertower near the Ottoman railway station
At around 1900, the Ottomans started to build a police post to serve as a administrative centre in the former settlement Nitzana, now called Hafir el Auja. Parts of the ancient ruins were used to construct buildings for the Ottoman settlement. Within the fort, the Ottomans started approx. in 1906 to construct a serail/palace but due to lack of material and funds only achieved to build a bit more than the foundation.
In autumn 1914, the Germans and Ottoman planned an advance against the Suez Canal under Ottoman commander Ali Fuad Bey and German chief of staff of the Ottoman VIII. Army Kress von Kressenstein. When Kress von Kressenstein visited the area in October 1914, he noted the ruins of the fortress with the foundation of the palace on the hill, ruins of Byzantine churches and three Ottoman buildings (administrative building, police post and an empty house) in the lower part of the settlement next to ancient wells.
In preparation of the planned German-Ottoman advance against the Suez Canal, wells and water cisterns were built between Be’er Sheva and El Arish as well as simple roads. Further, it was given order to build a hospital on the foundation of the palace located on Tel Nitzana in end of 1914.
In January 1915, works started to build a road from Hebron to Be’er Sheva in order to improve infrastructure and supply problems. Further, in January 1915, the Ottomans built a military railroad from the Hejaz line (connection Afula/Sileh to Dera’a) to Be’er Sheva.
The first expedition against the Suez Canal started on January 15 until February 13, 1915. The mixed German-Ottoman troops of approx. 25.000 men reached the canal but were not able to hold their positions mainly due to insufficient supply.
The military railway had reached the newly build Asluj station (some 30 km before Hafir el Auja direction Sinai) in March 1916 and the station was inaugurated by Enver Pasha during his visit in the region. The line reached the station Hafir el Auja in May 1916. Despite these efforts, the efficiency of the line from Afula to Hafir was rather low.
By July 1916, the German-Ottoman hospital was not yet finished but already operating. Earlier, in February or March 1916, 4 Borromean sisters (Christian Sisters of Mercy of St Borromeo) were employed in the hospital as nurses. The Ottomans erected in mid-February 1916 a field hospital (Turkish Red Crescent) in Hafir el Auja in addition to the hospital.
The second advance under Kress von Kressenstein with some 16.000 men in July/August 1916 did not reach the Suez Canal as the Allied had extended their defense positions effectively. The main result for the German-Ottoman effort was the concentration of large Allied forces (Battle of Romani). Among the German-Ottoman troops were 1.600 German soldiers, part of the Imperial German expeditionary forces (Asienkorps).
The German archaeologist K. Wulzinger made in September 1916 a survey in Auja for the Turko-German Committee for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments and discovered the first Nabatean painted pottery ever found in the Negev.
The Allied forces with superior number of troops, material and supply gained more and more ground (conquering Sinai). El Arish was abandoned in Mid December 1916. After the loss of the Ottoman area in Egypt, Hafir became an outpost-garrison with 4 battalions, 1 machine-gun company and 1 Ottoman mountain-howitzer battery.
The Allied started to attack Gaza in February 1917. In order to stabilize the front (line Gaza-Tel Sheria-Be’er Sheva), Kressenstein draw its remaining troops from Hafir back to Be’er Sheva in March 1917. Irregular British troops, Bedouins paid by the British, occupied Hafir soon after. According to Kressenstein, certain section of the tracks of the railway line from Hafir el Auja to Quseime were dismantled while the Allied troops were advancing and reused to build a new line from Et Tineh (Kiryat Malachi) to Huj in order to stabilize the supply to the Axis troops in Gaza.
By end of April 1917 the outpost-garrison of Hafir el Auja was abandoned by the Ottomans.
On May 8th, 1917, the Venezuelan adventurer Rafael de Nogales became Ottoman military governor of the Ottoman Sinai region. He had been serving in the Ottoman army earlier in Eastern Anatolia and the Iraq. By that time, the Ottomans had given up on the Sinai region. He was assigned an experienced group of Arab camel riders (Hedjin-Suaris), a kind of elite troop, plus an irregular volunteer regiment from El Arish. This regiment was commanded by the Bedouin Sheiks Hassan Erkienharb and Selim who did not wanted to subdue to the British forces in El Arish. The Ottoman target was to restrain the British forces in the area of El Arish, Magdhaba and Quseime (Kuseima). Hafir el Auja and Bir Biren (Birein) were chosen as base during the four weeks expedition.
At about the same time, Allied troops such as the Camel Brigade and C Squadron, 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment, destroyed sections of the railway line between Hafir and Asluj as well as the station building Asluj during a one-week demolition raid. It is unclear if they also destroyed station buildings at Hafir during this raid.
De Nogales and his men left Be’er Sheva and expelled the British irregular troops from Hafir on May 15th. They started talks with local sheiks in order to regain back their ‘loyalty’. The word spread about their presence and the British sent troops but were unable to localize de Nogales and his Arabs. With the pressure and limited resources, de Nogales knew his days were counted and his men started sabotage attacks. British railway lines at El Arish were blown up and wells at Magdhaba. The Allied response came quickly. In end of May, large numbers of regular British troops started searching for the men forcing de Nogales to retreat to Be’er Sheva. De Nogales and his Arabs were the last Ottoman troops on Egypt territory. As consequence, the British destroyed large sections of the railway between Hafir and Be’er Sheva. This time, on May 23rd, they blew up the big railway bridge at Asluj. It is possible that Ottoman railway buildings at Hafir were blown up as well.
Considering the defensive Ottoman military strategy based on limited resources, both demolition raids did not had an effect on the war.
Hafir el Auja became part of the British mandate. The former Ottoman garrison Hafir el Auja was used as prison camp until 1948.
According to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the area was planned to become part of the Arab state and in 1948 the Egyptian Army used the area and the Ottoman buildings as a military base. Despite this plan Auja was captured in December 1948 by the Israeli 89th Mechanized Commando Battalion in the so called Battle of Auja al-Hafir, part of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the fighting, Israeli airplanes bombed the Egypt military base in Auja. Damages of the battle can still be seen in the ruins, e.g. on the old German-Ottoman hospital.
As a result of the Armistice Agreement of 1949, the area around the village became a demilitarized zone (DMZ). Israel re-militarized the area on September 21, 1955, and continued to occupy it until after its withdrawal from Sinai and Gaza in 1956. After this, and until the Six-Day-War, the DMZ and the border were monitored by the United Nations Emergency Force. Those Ottoman buildings which have not already been destroyed in the battle of 1948 were blown up by the Israeli army in September 1956 to prevent UN-troops to return to Nitzana. Of course, to the UN this would not have made much difference. They could have accomodated themselves in tents. Therefore, the destruction was useless. Some ruins and most fundaments are still visible.
Israel has full control of the area since 1967 and changed the name from Hafir el Auja to Nitzana.