Jerusalem 1918: The Influenza Pandemic Hits the Holy City

In late 1918, as World War I was winding down and Jerusalem had just fallen under British military rule, a far deadlier enemy arrived: the Spanish flu. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the pandemic swept through a city already reeling from occupation, famine, and displacement. They follow the story through the eyes of a young nurse at the German Hospital, the diaries of a Jewish scribe from the Old Yishuv, and the reports of British military doctors struggling to contain the outbreak in the cramped alleys of the Old City. They also examine how the city's Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities responded with prayer, quarantine, and mutual aid. Drawing on overlooked archival sources and personal accounts, the episode reveals a Jerusalem stripped of its political symbolism and reduced to its most vulnerable: a crowded, thirsty, exhausted city fighting a invisible killer. It's a chapter of Jerusalem's history that has been almost entirely eclipsed by the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate — but one that shaped daily life for months and left thousands dead.

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