Kfar Masaryk

Kfar Masaryk
כְּפַר מַסָּרִיק

Kfar Masaryk in February, 2008.
Kfar Masaryk
Coordinates: 32°53′26.87″N 35°5′58.91″E / 32.8907972°N 35.0996972°ECoordinates: 32°53′26.87″N 35°5′58.91″E / 32.8907972°N 35.0996972°E
Council Mateh Asher
Region Western Galilee
Affiliation Kibbutz Movement
Founded 29 November 1938
Founded by Eastern European Jews
Name meaning Masaryk Village
Website www.kfar-masaryk.org.il

Kfar Masaryk (Hebrew: כְּפַר מַסָּרִיק, lit. Masaryk Village) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Galilee near the Belus River and south of Acre, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 598.

The founders were immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Lithuania and had settled in Petah Tikva in 1932. The following year they formed "Kibbutz Czecho-Lita" and moved to Bat Galim in Haifa. In 1934 they moved to an area of sand dunes near Kiryat Haim and changed the name of the group to "Mishmar Zevulun" (Guard of the Zevulun). In 1937 they were joined by a group of Polish immigrants who were members of Hayotzer.

Despite opposition from the Jewish Agency (who reasoned that the sandy soil could not support agriculture), Mishmar Zevulun was established on 29 November 1938 as the 29th tower and stockade settlement. In 1940 the kibbutz moved to its present site and was renamed Kfar Masaryk after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia.

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