With the break of the Yom Kippur fast of 1946, trucks secretly rolled out to establish 11, new settlements throughout the Negev desert - one of which was Kibbutz Nirim. Life on the border frontier was exciting yet dangerous. With the outbreak of the Israeli War for Independence, Egyptian troops, on route to Tel-Aviv attacked the ill-supplied and drastically outmanned kibbutz. Despite heavy shelling (which eventually destroyed every above ground building) and the loss of 8 members, the kibbutz held off the enemy. CONTINUE The kibbutz was founded in 1946, and belongs to the Kibbutz Artzi - Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz movement. The founding members were educated in the'Hashomer Hatzair' youth movement in Israel, and some were young olim (immigrants) who managed to arrive in Eretz-Yisrael at the end of World War II. The area of the Western Negev in which the kibbutz settled is full of archeological evidence which indicates the existence of a flourishing Jewish settlement, Maon, from the 4th century C.E. The ruins of a large synagogue were found near the kibbutz, with a mosaic floor which was restored and is open to visitors. The mosaic pictures various animals, vines, pomegranates and Jewish symbols such as the Menorah, Shofar and others. Kibbutz Nirim settled in the southern corner of the western Negev on Yom Kippur in 1946 - the night of the foundation of eleven Jewish settlements in the Negev. The site (called Dangur) was the furthest western settlement, near the Arab populated Gaza coast: the border between Egypt and Mandatory Palestine, south-east to the Arab town of Rafiah. This close proximity to the Egyptian border influenced the life and development of the kibbutz over the years. On the day of the declaration of the founding of the State of Israel - May 15, 1948, the Egyptian Army invaded. The first Israeli settlement to be attacked by tanks, planes and infantry, was Kibbutz Nirim. The kibbutz was heavily shelled by artillery - a new and terrible weapon in those times in Israel. All the buildings were destroyed and eight chaverim (members) were killed. The others found shelter in the underground dugouts and repelled the armored attack with only small arms fire. The Egyptian Army, despite its great superiority in men and weapons, retreated with heavy losses. After the attack, the life on the kibbutz was conducted for a whole year in underground shelters and bunkers. Heavy daily shelling became routine. The attack, and the death of eight young founders, some of whom were the last surviving sons of families who escaped the Holocaust in Europe, had influenced the character of Nirim to this very day. It is symbolic that on one of the walls which were left standing after the attack, a slogan left over from a May Day celebration remained standing. It read: Not the tank, but man will be victorious. After the War of Independence the kibbutz moved some kilometers north to its present site, on the Gaza Strip border, opposite the Arab town of Khan Yunis. Security problems did not vanish, however. Other members were killed by mines in the fields of the kibbutz. In 1955 the kibbutz was shelled again by Egyptian artillery from the Gaza Strip. One chaver, the founder of the dairy, was killed, and others were badly injured. After the Six Day War, the first born son of the kibbutz was killed by a mine in its orange grove. In his memory,the kibbutz constructed a recreational center, with a swimming pool, library, tennis courts and a large sports hall with an indoor basketball court, which serves as a sports center for the whole area. The western Negev has a comfortable, dry climate, however it lies on the 'drought line', the limit of appreciable rainfall. The central problem of agriculture here is the lack of water. As rainfall is erratic, dry years are common. Thus, agriculture is based on irrigation with water allotted from the Negev National Water Carrier. The kibbutz has built a reservoir in a nearby wadi attempting, by new techniques, to utilize flash-floods which sweep through the Negev into the sea in the winters. Today Nirim has a large and developed agricultural economy, spread over 20,000 dunam (5,000 acres). It grows field crops (wheat, barley), partially irrigated and partially relying on rain - irrigated crops (cotton, potatoes, carrots); citrus and avocado orchards. There is a dairy with 200 milk cows, and chickens houses producing 400 tons of meat yearly. There is a sewing factory producing mainly children clothes and also 8 acres of hothouses growing flowers for export. Nirim participates in the regional agricultural enterprises, such as packing sheds, cold storage and marketing facilities. It also maintains, together with other Negev kibbutzim, a regional kibbutz high school: Maaleh Habsor. The school is comprehensive one, and offers both academic and vocational courses to the youth of the Negev kibbutzim from grade 7 to grade 12. There is also a regional primary school: Nitzaney Eshkol. The membership of the kibbutz has grown appreciably over the years. Groups of young people from Israel and South America joined the kibbutz and some of the young people born in Nirim have settled in the kibbutz after doing their army service. Today, the population of Nirim numbers approximately 450: 224 members and candidates, 160 children and a gareen (settlement group), soldiers and parents. In the last ten years there has been a great change in Nirim s economy. Many members now have jobs outside the kibbutz, as managers, economists, psychologists, lecturers and more. New wings have opened, including partnership in a local paint factory, a programming research center, jewelry and graphic design studios, a diving school, and rifle range. The great social experiment, the kibbutz, is undergoing natural changes, inherent in all of mankind s endeavors.