Dosh, Gardosh Kariel (1921-2000)

Kariel Gardosh ‘Dosh’ original cartoon artwork

Gardosh was born in Budapest, and was interred in forced labour camps during the Second World War. His family lost in the Holocaust, Gardosh studied literature at the Sorbonne before joining the massive wave of Jewish immigrants moving into British occupied Palestine from post-War Europe. Gardosh, who changed his first name from Karl to Kariel upon his arrival, began living in Palestine shortly before the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. Gardosh hoped to make a living as a journalist, but later told interviewers he became a caricaturist because he knew almost no Hebrew when he arrived. Gardosh soon found work drawing cartoons for the underground newspapers by the militant Jewish faction Lehi. The Hebrew-language paper Maariv hired the cartoonist in 1953, and remained the primary home for his work until his death. English-language versions of his cartoons appeared in the Jerusalem Post, and his work was often collected into book form.

Gardosh was best known for cartoons featuring his character Srulik. Srulik was a small boy in short, sandals and a traditional Tembel hat. Gardosh's character, always intended by the caricaturist to act a symbol for Israel, was a blank slate upon which to reflect the changing national mood and a perfect emblem for the emerging nation's view of itself in the 1960s and 1970s as a small nation surrounded by hostile aggressors. The small boy facing down representative from a hostile Arab world left an indelible impression upon several generations of Israelis allowing the character to remain popular through several changes in the political climate.

Israeli legislator Yosef "Tommy" Lapid wrote that "Dosh's Srulik is the symbol of Israel, like Marianne is the symbol of France, John Bull is the symbol of Great Britain and Uncle Sam is the symbol of the United States." Lapid was a former editor at Maariv.