1948 Official NEWSPAPER Proclaims ALIYA BET Immigration SHIPS Israel PALESTINE

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1948 Official NEWSPAPER Proclaims ALIYA BET Immigration SHIPS Israel PALESTINE:
$145.00

DESCRIPTION : Up for sale is an extremely important , Thrilling and greatly sought after document. It\'s the official newspaper ( \"ITON RISHMI\" - עתון רשמי ) number 25 of the Israeli Provisional Govenment , Dated October 1st 1948 , Issued in Tel Aviv - Palestine - Eretz Israel , Announcing and proclaiming 46 VESSELS, SHIPS and BOATS in the Haifa Harbor as \" ONIOT MA\'APILIM\" - ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SHIPPS . 46 such vessels ( Namely vessels which were used for the ILLEGAL ALIYA BET ) are depicted in details. One can\'t exagerate in the importance of this specific formal document in the history of the very early days of the INDEPENDENT STATE of ISRAEL and the earliest moments of its birth. Hebrew. 6 pp. 7.5\" x 13\". Very good condition. complete. clean. No wear . Central fold is reinforced with transparent archival acid free tape. Age tanning of paper. ( Pls look at scan for images ). Will be sent inside a protective rigid packaging .

AUTHENTICITY:The official govenmental newspaper is fullyguaranteed ORIGINAL from October 1st 1948 (Fully dated ), NOT arecently made re-print,Itholdslife long GUARANTEE for itsAUTHENTICITY and ORIGINALITY.

PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal.SHIPPMENT : SHIPP worldwide via registered airmailis $16 . Will be sent inside a protective rigid packaging . Will be sent within3-5 days after payment . Kindly note that duration of Int\'l registered airmail is around 14 days.

Aliyah Bet (Hebrew: \'עלייה ב‎, \"Aliyah \'B\'\" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews to the British Mandate for Palestine in violation of British White Paper of 1939 restrictions, in the years 1934-1948. In modern-day Israel it has also been called by the Hebrew term Ha\'apala (Hebrew: ההעפלה‎; ascension). The Aliyah Bet is distinguished from the Aliyah Aleph (\"Aliyah \'A\'\", Aleph being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet): the limited Jewish immigration permitted by British authorities in the same period.OrganizationDuring Ha\'apala, several Jewish organizations worked together to facilitate immigration beyond the established quotas. As persecution of Jews intensified in Europe during the Nazi era, the urgency driving the immigration also became more acute. Those who participated in the immigration efforts consistently refused to term it \"illegal\", instead calling it \"clandestine.\"Ha\'apala occurred in two phases. First, from 1934 to 1942, it was an effort to enable European Jews to escape Nazi persecution and murder. From 1945 to 1948, in a stage known as Bricha, it was an effort to find homes for Jewish survivors of the Nazi crimes (Sh\'erit ha-Pletah) who were among the millions of displaced persons (\"DPs\") languishing in refugee camps in occupied Germany. During the first phase, several organizations (including Revisionists) led the effort; after World War II, the Mossad LeAliyah Bet (\"the Institute for Aliyah B\"), an arm of the Haganah, took charge.RoutesPost-World War II, Ha\'apala journeys typically started in the DP camps and moved through one of two collection points in the American occupation sector, Bad Reichenhall and Leipheim. From there, the refugees travelled in disguised trucks, on foot, or by train to ports on the Mediterranean Sea, where ships brought them to Palestine. Most of the ships had names such as Lo Tafchidunu (\"You can\'t frighten us\") and La-Nitzahon (\"To the victory\") designed to inspire and rally the Jews of Palestine. Some were named after prominent figures in the Zionist movement, and people who had been killed while supporting Aliyah Bet.[1] More than 70,000 Jews arrived in Palestine on more than 100 ships.[2]American sector camps imposed no restrictions on the movements out of the camps, and American, French, and Italian officials often turned a blind eye to the movements. Several UNRRA officials (in particular Elizabeth Robertson in Leipheim) acted as facilitators of the emigration. The British government vehemently opposed the movement, and restricted movement in and out of their camps. Britain also set up armed naval patrols to prevent immigrants from landing in Palestine.HistoryOver 100,000 people attempted to illegally enter Palestine. There were 142 voyages by 120 ships. Over half were stopped by the British patrols. The Royal Navy had eight ships on station in Palestine, and additional ships were tasked with tracking suspicious vessels heading for Palestine. Most of the intercepted immigrants were sent to internment camps in Cyprus: (Karaolos near Famagusta, Nicosia, Dhekelia, and Xylotumbou). Some were sent to the Atlit detention camp in Palestine, and some to Mauritius. The British held as many as 50,000 people in these camps (see Jews in British camps on Cyprus). Over 1,600 drowned at sea. Only a few thousand actually entered Palestine.The pivotal event in the Ha\'apala program was the incident of the SS Exodus in 1947. The Exodus was intercepted and boarded by a British patrol. Despite significant resistance from its passengers, Exodus was forcibly returned to Europe. Its passengers were eventually sent back to Germany. This was publicized, to the great embarrassment of the British government.One account of Aliyah Bet is given by journalist I. F. Stone in his 1946 book Underground to Palestine, a first-person account of traveling with European displaced persons attempting to reach the Jewish homeland.[3]Some 250 American veterans, including Murray S. Greenfield (of the ship Hatikva), from World War II volunteered to sail ten ships (\"The Jews\' Secret Fleet\") from the USA to Europe to load 35,000 survivors of the Holocaust (half of the illegal immigrants to Palestine), only to be deported to detention camps on Cyprus.TimelineIn 1934, the first attempt to bring in a large number of illegal immigrants by sea happened when some 350 Jews sailed on the Vallos, a chartered ship, without the permission of Jewish Agency, who feared illegal immigration would cause the British to restrict legal immigration. She arrived off the coast of Palestine on August 25, and the passengers disembarked with the help of the Haganah, which received special permission to assist them.[4]The Tiger Hill, a 1,499 ton ship, built in 1887, sailed from Constanţa on August 3, 1939, with about 750 immigrants on board. She took on board the passengers from the Frossoula, another illegal immigrant ship that was marooned in Lebanon. On September 1, the first day of World War II, the Tiger Hill was intercepted and fired on by Royal Navy gunboats off Tel Aviv, and was beached.On October 3, 1939 a large group of immigrants sailed from Vienna on the riverboat Uranus down the Danube. At the Romanian border, the Uranus was intercepted and the immigrants were forced to disembark at the old fortress town of Kladovo in Yugoslavia. About 1,100 refugees were stranded there. In May, 1941, they were still in Yugoslavia, where 915 of them were caught and eventually killed by the invading Nazis.In October 1940 1,770 Jewish refugees sailed from Tulcea to Haifa in two ships. The Pacific arrived off Haifa on November 1, followed a few days later by the by Milos. The Royal Navy intercepted each ship and escorted it into Haifa, where British authorities detained the refugees before transferring them to a requisitioned French ocean liner, the Patria, for deportation to Mauritius. They were followed from Tulcea by another 1,634 refugees aboard the Atlantic, which arrived on November 24 off Haifa, where the Royal Navy escorted her into harbour. On November 25 the British had just started transferring Atlantic \'s refugees to Patria when Haganah agents planted a bomb aboard the French liner with the intention of disabling her to prevent her from sailing. However, the bomb quickly sank Patria, killing 260 people and wounding 172. The survivors were allowed to stay in Palestine on humanitarian grounds.[5][6]On May 18, 1940 the old Italian paddle steamer Pencho sailed from Bratislava, with 514 passengers, mostly Betar members. The Pencho sailed down the Danube to the Black Sea and into the Aegean Sea. On October 9 her engines failed and she was wrecked off Mytilene, in the Italian-ruled Dodecanese Islands. The Italians rescued the passengers and took them to Rhodes. All but two were then placed in an internment camp at Ferramonti di Tarsia in southern Italy. They were held there until Allied forces liberated the area in September 1943. The story of the Pencho was published as Odyssey, by John Bierman.In October 1940 a large group of refugees were allowed to leave Vienna. The exodus was organized by Berthold Storfer, a Jewish businessman who worked under Adolf Eichmann. They took four river boats, Uranus, Schönbrunn, Helios, and Melk, down the Danube to Romania, where the Uranus passengers, about 1,000, boarded the Pacific, and sailed on October 11, 1940. They arrived at Haifa on November 1, followed by the Milos. The British transferred all the immigrants to the French liner SS Patria to take them for internment to Mauritius. To stop the Patria from sailing, the Haganah smuggled a bomb aboard. The explosion holed her side, capsizing her and killing 267 people. The British, by order of Winston Churchill, allowed the survivors to remain in Palestine.In December 1940 the Salvador, a small Bulgarian schooner formerly named Tsar Krum, left Burgas with 327 refugees. On December 12 the Salvador was wrecked in a violent storm in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul. 223 persons, including 66 children, lost their lives. The survivors were taken to Istanbul. 125 survivors were deported back to Bulgaria, and the remaining 70 left on the Darien (No. 66).[7]On December 11, 1941 the Struma sailed from Constanţa carrying between 760 and 790 refugees. Three days later she reached Istanbul, where Turkey detained her and her passengers for 10 weeks. On February 23, 1942 Turkish authorities towed her back into the Black Sea and cast her adrift. Early the next day the Soviet submarine Shch-213 torpedoed and sank her. Between 767 and 791 people were killed, and there was only one survivor.[8]On September 20, 1942 the Europa sailed from Romania with 21 passengers. She was wrecked in the Bosphorus.On April 21, 1944 the \"Belasitza\" sailed from Romania with 273 passengers including 120 children, who went from Istanbul to Palestine by sealed train.On August 5, 1944 Bulbul, Mefküre and Morino sailed from Constanţa carrying about 1,000 refugees between them. In the night the Soviet submarine Shch-215 sank Mefküre by torpedo and shellfire, and then machine-gunned survivors in the water.[9] Between 289 and 394 refugees plus seven crew were aboard Mefküre; only the crew and five refugees survived. Bulbul rescued the few survivors and took them to Turkey.[10]On August 28, 1945 the Italian fishing vessel Dalin, made in Monopoli, carrying 35 immigrants, landed at Caesarea, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy.[11]On September 4, 1945 the ship Natan, carrying 79 immigrants, landed in Palestine. It carried seamen and radio operators from the Palmach and Jewish Agency emissaries on the return trip to Italy. On October 1, 1945, the Natan again ran the blockade arrived at Shefayim with 73 immigrants.[11]On September 9, 1945 the Gabriela, carrying 40 passengers, arrived undetected in Palestine.[11]On September 17, 1945 the Peter, carrying 168 immigrants, landed in Palestine undetected by the British. She again slipped into Palestine undetected and arrived at Shefayim on October 22, this time carrying 174 passengers.[11]On November 23, 1945 the Berl Katznelson, carrying 220 Jewish refugees, arrived in Shefayim. As the ship was landing immigrants she was intercepted by the Royal Navy sloop HMS Peacock. Of the passengers, 200 reached the beach and escaped, and 20 were arrested.[11]On December 14, 1945 the ship Hannah Senesh, carrying 252 passengers, was beached at Nahariya after evading Royal Navy patrols. The passengers were brought ashore via a rope bridge, and evaded capture.[11]On January 17, 1946 the Enzo Sereni, carrying 908 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Talybont and escorted to Haifa.[11]On March 13, 1946 the schooner Windgate, carrying 248 passengers, ran the blockade and attempted to land. British Palestine Police opened fire from the shore, killing a female Palmach member. The ship was then captured and escorted to Haifa by the destroyer HMS Chevron.[11]On March 27, 1946 the steamer Tel Hai, carrying 736 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Chequers 140 miles out at sea as it approached Palestine.[11]On May 13, 1946 the ship Max Nordau, carrying 1,754 immigrants, was captured by the destroyers HMS Jervis and HMS Chequers. The same day, the ships Dov Hos (675 passengers) and Eliahu Golomb (735 passengers) arrived in Palestine legally. The British had blockaded the Dov Hos after it had arrived in La Spezia, but the passengers responded with a hunger strike and a threat to blow her up, compelling the British to give them entry permits.[11]On June 8, 1946 the Haviva Reik, carrying 462 passengers, was intercepted by HMS Saumarez on June 8, 1946. Some 150 people had previously transferred from the Haviva Reik to the Rafi off the Palestinian coast, and the crew had disembarked.On June 26, 1946 the Josiah Wedgwood, carrying 1,259 passengers, was intercepted by HMS Venus.On July 20, 1946 the Haganah, carrying 2,678 passengers, departed from France, and transferred 1,108 of its passengers to the small steamer Biriah west of Crete. The Biriah was intercepted by HMS Virago on July 2. The Haganah picked up a new party of refugees at Bakar, Yugoslavia, and set sail for Palestine, this time also carrying 2,678 passengers total. She was found at sea with its engines broken down and no electrical power, and was towed to Haifa by HMS Venus. Her passengers were arrested and interned.On August 11, 1946 the Yagur, carrying 758 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Brissenden, with passive resistance from the immigrants.[11]On August 12, 1946 the Henrietta Szold, carrying 536 passengers, was intercepted. The same day, the British announced that illegal immigrants would be sent to Cyprus and other areas under detention. The first British deportation ship sailed for Cyprus on the same day, with 500 illegal immigrants on board.[6]On August 13, 1946 two immigration ships were intercepted: Katriel Jaffe (604 passengers) by HMS Talybont, and Twenty Three (790 passengers) by HMS Brissenden. There was desperate resistance on board Twenty Three. The same day, two British ships with 1,300 Jewish detainees on board set sail for Cyprus. A crowd of about 1,000 Jews attempted to break into the Haifa port area, and British troops responded with live fire, killing three and wounding seven.[6][11]On August 16, 1946 the yawl Amiram Shochat, carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and landed near Caesarea.[11]On September 2, 1946 the Dov Hos, this time named the Arba Cheruyot, carrying 1,024 passengers, was seized by the destroyers HMS Childers and HMS Chivalrous. The boarding was strongly resisted, and two people drowned after jumping off the ship.[11]On September 22, 1946 the brigantine Palmach, 611 passengers, was seized by the minesweeper HMS Rowena. The Royal Navy tried to board the ship four times before finally seizing her, and one passenger was killed.[11]On October 20, 1946 the Eliahu Golomb, renamed the Braha Fuld, carrying 806 passengers, was captured off Lebanon by the destroyer HMS Chaplet and minesweeper HMS Moon.[11]On October 19, the Latrun (1,279 passengers), was intercepted by HMS Chivalrous and the minesweeper HMS Octavia. Four people had died en route, and the ship was leaking and listing heavily when she was intercepted.[11]On November 9, 1946 the HaKedosha (600 passengers), foundered in a gale and sank. The passengers were rescued by the Knesset Israel. The Knesset Israel, carrying a total of 3,845 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyers HMS Haydon and HMS Brissenden and minesweepers HMS Octavia and HMS Espiegle and taken to Haifa. The interception met no resistance, but in Haifa when the British tried to transfer them to transport ships to take them to Cyprus the refugees resisted fiercely, two were killed and 46 injured.[11]On December 5, 1946 the Rafiah (785 passengers), was wrecked on Syrina Island in bad weather. The survivors were rescued by two Royal Navy and one Greek warship, and were taken to Cyprus. Women and children were taken to Palestine.[11]On February 9, 1947 the wooden brigantine Lanegev (647 passengers) was captured by HMS Chieftain after a battle which left one refugee dead.[11]On February 17, 1947 the steamer HaMapil HaAlmoni (807 passengers) was intercepted by HMS St Austell Bay, captured after a violent battle, and taken in tow by the minesweeper HMS Welfare.[11]On February 27, 1947 the Haim Arlosoroff (1,378 passengers) was intercepted by Royal Navy warships, and the passengers put up fierce resistance. The ship ran aground south of Haifa, just opposite a British Army camp. The passengers were arrested and deported to Cyprus.[12]On March 9, 1947, the Ben Hecht (597 passengers), the only ship sponsored by the Irgun, was captured without resistance by the destroyers HMS Chieftain, HMS Chevron and HMS Chivalrous.[11]On March 12, 1947 the Shabtai Luzinsky (823 passengers) ran the blockade and beached itself north of Gaza, where the passengers disembarked, and most escaped a British Army cordon. Hundreds of local residents came down to the beach to mingle with passengers who evaded arrest. Many residents were mistaken for refugees, arrested, and sent to Cyprus, with some 460 locals returned home the following week.[11]On March 30, 1947 the Moledet (1,588 passengers) developed a list and suffered engine failure some 50 miles outside Palestinian waters and issued an SOS. Passengers were transferred to the destroyers HMS Haydon and HMS Charity, minesweeper HMS Octavia and frigate HMS St Brides Bay, and the Royal Navy towed Moledet to Haifa.[6][11]On April 13, 1947 the Theodor Herzl (2,641 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Haydon and HMS St Brides Bay. Passengers resisted heavily; three were killed and 27 were injured.[11]On April 23, 1947 the Shear Yashuv (768 passengers) was intercepted by destroyer HMS Cheviot.[11]On May 17, 1947 the Hatikva (1,414 passengers) was intercepted, rammed and captured by the destroyers HMS Venus and HMS Brissenden.[11]On May 23, 1947 the immigrant ship Mordei Hagetaot, carrying 1,457 immigrants, was intercepted and boarded by the Royal Navy off southern Palestine. All of its passengers were arrested.[6]On May 31, 1947 the Haganah ship Yehuda Halevy, carrying 399 immigrants, arrived in Palestine under escort after being intercepted by the Royal Navy. The immigrants were immediately transferred to Cyprus.On July 18, 1947, the ship SS Exodus, carrying 4,515 immigrants, was intercepted by the cruiser HMS Ajax and a flotilla of destroyers. She was rammed and boarded but the immigrants resisted the boarding, and had put up barriers and barbed wire to impede boarding. Two passengers and a crewman were bludgeoned to death, several dozen were injured, and the ship was taken over. The Exodus was towed to Haifa, where the immigrants were forced onto three deportation ships and taken to France. When the deportation ships docked in Port-de-Bouc, the passengers refused to disembark after the French government announced that it would only allow the immigrants off the ships if they consented. The immigrants were then taken to Germany, forcibly taken off the ships, and sent back to DP camps.[13]On July 28, 1947 the 14 Halalei Gesher Haziv, carrying 685 Eastern European Jews was intercepted by HMS Rowena. Also, the Shivat Zion, carrying 411 North African Jews, was intercepted without resistance by the minesweeper HMS Providence.[11]On September 27 1947, the Af Al Pi Chen (434 passengers), was intercepted by HMS Talybont and taken after violent resistance. One person was killed and ten were injured.[11]On October 2, 1947 the Medinat HaYehudim (2,664 passengers) was intercepted by the Royal Navy. The same day, the Geulah, with 1,385 passengers, was intercepted by HMS Chaplet.[11]On November 15, 1947 the Peter, renamed the Aliyah and carrying 182 passengers, ran the British blockade and beached near Netanya. The passengers, all specially-picked youths, quickly disembarked and escaped.[11]On November 16, 1947 the Kadima, a larger ship carrying 794 immigrants, was intercepted by the Royal Navy and brought to Haifa, where its passengers were transferred to the British transport ship HMT Runnymede Park and taken to Cyprus.[6]On December 4, 1947 the HaPortzim ran the blockade and landed its 167 passengers at the mouth of the Yarkon River.[11]On December 22, 1947 the Lo Fafchidunu (884 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Verulam and taken in tow by the sloop HMS Mermaid.[11]On December 28, 1947 the 29 BeNovember (680 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Chevron.[11]On January 1, 1948 the HaUmot HaMeuhadot (537 passengers) ran the blockade and beached herself at Nahariya. 131 passengers were caught, the rest evaded arrest. The same day, the Atzmaut (7,612 passengers) and the Kibbutz Galuyot (7,557 passengers) were intercepted by the cruisers HMS Mauritius and HMS Phoebe and taken to Cyprus.[11]On January 31, 1948 the 35 Giborei Kfar Etzion (280 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Childers.[11]On February 12, 1948 the Yerushalayim Hanezura (679 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Cheviot.[11]On February 20, 1948 the Lekommemiyut (696 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Childers.[11]On February 28, 1948 the Bonim v\'Lochamim formerly the Enzo Sede, (982 passengers) was intercepted off Cape Carmel by HMS Venus .[11]On March 29, 1948 the Yehiam (771 passengers) was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Verulam.[11]On April 12, 1948 the Tirat Zvi (817 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Virago.[11]On April 24, 1948 the Mishmar HaEmek (782 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Chevron off Haifa.[11]On April 26, 1948 the Nakhson (553 passengers) was intercepted off Haifa by the sloop HMS Pelican after fierce resistance which left a number of people injured.[11]ConclusionThe success of Aliyah Bet was modest when measured in terms of the numbers who succeeded in entering Palestine. But it proved to be a unifying force both for the Jewish community in Palestine (the Yishuv) and for the Holocaust-survivor refugees in Europe (Sh\'erit ha-Pletah).The immigrants who drowned in the sea and whose bodies were found were buried in the National Cemetery in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The ship Exodus 1947 became a symbol of Aliya Bet — illegal immigration. After World War II, illegal immigration increased and the British authorities decided to stop it by sending the ships back to the ports of embarkation in Europe. The first ship to which this policy was applied was the Exodus 1947. The ship sailed from the port of Site, near Marseilles, on July 11, 1947, with 4,515 immigrants, including 655 children, on board. As soon as it left the territorial waters of France, British destroyers accompanied it. On July 18, near the coast of Palestine but outside territorial waters, the British rammed the ship and boarded it, while the immigrants put up a desperate defense. Two immigrants and a crewman were killed in the battle, and 30 were wounded. The ship was towed to Haifa, where the immigrants were forced onto deportation ships bound for France. At Port-de-Bouc, in southern France, the would-be immigrants remained in the ships’ holds for 24 days during a heat wave, refusing to disembark despite the shortage of food, the crowding and the abominable sanitary conditions. The French government refused to force them off the boat. Eventually, the British decided to return the would-be immigrants to Germany, and on August 22 the ship left for the port of Hamburg, then in the British occupation zone. The immigrants were forcibly taken off and transported to two camps near Lubeck. Journalists who covered the dramatic struggle described to the entire world the heartlessness and cruelty of the British. World public opinion was outraged and the British changed their policy. Illegal immigrants were not sent back to Europe; they were instead transported to detention camps in Cyprus. The majority of the passengers on the Exodus 1947 settled in Israel, though some had to wait until after the establishment of the State of Israel. The story is detailed in more than 400 pages of formerly secret documents at Britain\'s National Archives made available to the public on [ ] The Jews aboard the Exodus were trying to enter Palestine illegally during the tumultuous months in 1947 before the United Nations voted to create a Jewish homeland in part of Palestine.Britain was still governing Palestine and the British government felt it had to keep the immigrants out to preserve the demographic balance between Arab and Jew. But Britain did not have a safe place to send the Jews from the Exodus, who were placed on three smaller British steamers.After much agonizing, the British concluded that the only place they could send the Jews was to the British-controlled zone of postwar Germany, where the Jews could be placed in camps and screened for extremists.After Germany, many of the passengers were eventually detained in military camps in Cyprus along with other Jews deported from Palestine. When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the Exodus\' passengers were able to move there.World War II is over1946 was a year to which we American Habonim had long looked forward. World War II had ended, and the dream of aliya was now an immediate objective. The years of preparation at Cream Ridge and the periods of military service were over. Military victory was ours, and Hitler had reached his ignominious end. Every one looked forward to a new and better world, and we were all certain that Britain would at last allow the broken remnant of European Jewry to return to its ancient homeland and that we American chalutzim would also soon be on our way to join them in building a new life in Palestine. Jewish people are considered intrudersThese fond hopes were not to be realized so quickly. The British Labor party, whose sympathy and promises had encouraged us in some of our darkest moments, had, upon coming to power, turned our fate over to the callous hands of Ernest Bevin. We soon learned that Mr. Bevin regarded the Jewish people as intruders on the Near Eastern landscape and that his best advice to the Jewish survivors of the death camps was to return to the cemeteries that their former homes had become. Nor did he hesitate to slam the doors in the faces of American chalutzim. The British would welcome no Jew to Palestine, be he a stateless displaced person, an American, or even a British citizen. Aliya BetIt was during this period that we began to hear rumors about Aliya Bet, the so-called \"illegal\" immigration. Soon the press began to report regularly about the small, over laden ships that plied the Mediterranean and secretly attempted to land their human cargo at remote spots along the; Palestinian shore. It was not long before some of our comrades had the opportunity to participate in this activity. Two demobilized Canadian corvettes were acquired, and they sailed for Europe manned by Jewish volunteers. These two ships, the Hagana and the Wedgwood, -were to bring thousands of Jewish refugees from southern European poirts to Palestine, where they were finally captured by the British navy. \'The passengers and crews were interned at Atlit for a while before being given their freedom. The ships were left to rust at anchor off the Haifa breakwaters, but their story had a heroic sequel: they were to become the \"capital ships\" of the Israel navy during the War of Independence. The front door to Palestine was firmly closedThose of us who were discharged from the armed forces too late to sail on the Hagana and the Wedgwood felt a keen sense of frustration. The political fate of Palestine was far from settled; and we, as well as our chaverot, felt that we, personally, must help determine that fate. But the front door to Palestine was held firmly closed. It was necessary to find a back door. So, before long, various \"experiments\" were proposed. Whenever any possible method of getting to Palestine might present itself, a few people would attempt the trip. If it succeeded, others would follow. We sail to FranceSo it was that, during the late summer of 1946, we were among two very small groups of American chalutzim who sailed for France with the objective of participating in the work of the Aliya Bet in the south of France and eventually sailing for Palestine in one of the \"illegal\" ships. Cloak-and dagger atmosphere of the operationThe trip across the Atlantic was uneventful. We docked in the rubble of war-flattened LeHavre and immediately bearded a train for Paris. There we met the Palestinians who were in charge of the functioning of Aliya Bet. There, too, we became aware of the cloak-and dagger atmosphere of the operation. We knew that the names of these people were aliases; only later, when we met many of them in Palestine, were we to learn their real names. The chateau had been confiscated by the French government from pro-Nazi gentryAfter a few, too brief days of sightseeing in Paris, we took the overnight train to Marseilles. There we reported to the Hechalutz office, which was the nerve center of the extensive operations of Aliya Bet in Southern France. We were invited to have our noon meal at one of the camps in the Marseilles area. A half-hour trolley ride brought us to a suburb away from the center of the city. Here we had our first glimpse of a typical transit camp of the Aliya Bet. We entered the gate of a rather large estate. The walled-in grounds must have comprised five or six acres. The main building was a rambling, two-story affair of large, high-ceilinged rooms. Except for a kitchen and supply room on the ground floor, most of the rooms were crowded with cots, dormitory style. As the weather was still warm, crude dining tables and benches occupied the yard outside the kitchen, and all meals were served outdoors. Grouped around the sides and front of the chateau were some fifteen Army tents, each crowded with cots. The chateau was in a state of general disrepair and showed little evidence of its one-time grandeur. The grounds, too, were neglected and unkempt. We learned later that these chateau had been confiscated by the French government from some of the pro-Nazi gentry and were, through unofficial channels, placed at the disposal of the Aliya Bet. Two hundred souls, mostly survivors of Nazi death camps, had been brought from GermanySuch was the physical appearance of the camp. Here were lodged and fed some two hundred souls, mostly survivors of Nazi death camps, who had been brought from Germany to await the next Hagana ship for Palestine. Daphne camp in Salon in ProvenceThe next day we traveled by bus to the town of Salon in Provence. In Salon and environs were the three camps which were to be the center of our activities for the next four months. First we went to the camp called Daphne, which was about five kilometers from the town. This place was much like the first camp we had visited in Marseilles, except that it was in the open country. This estate was not surrounded by a wall, and the resulting air of freedom was a welcome change to the former concentration-camp inmates, who had spent so many years behind walls and barbed wires. At Daphne we learned what our duties were to be. As Americans traveling on valid passports, we were able to move about freely. Most of the Hagana commanders of the camps were in France by the grace of group transit visas, which granted them the right to await transportation to some South American country which had formally granted them a visa. But they were required by the French police to remain quietly in the camps until they boarded ships, which sometimes meant for a month or two. The daily programThe camps were all administered by Palestinians, Hagana people who had much experience in dealing with the survivors of the Nazi death camps and who knew much about crossing borders in a semi legal manner. Actually, each camp had a military-command setup. A Hagana member was the \"commander.\" The daily program, which allotted time for various activities, was designed both to prevent dissatisfaction due to idleness and boredom, and to prepare the immigrants for the hazardous journey ahead. We arose early, cleaned our rooms and made our beds according to schedule, and ate in shifts in an orderly manner. Work details were chosen regularly for the kitchen, general policing of the area, and maintenance of buildings and equipment. A new convoy of immigrants was soon to arriveSeveral weeks after our arrival, most of the occupants of our camps boarded ship and sailed for Palestine. A new \"convoy\" of immigrants was soon to arrive from Germany, and we occupied ourselves making the camps ready for their arrival. Six hundred fifty anxious immigrants disembarked from the trainLate one afternoon, in November, 1946, an unheralded train pulled onto a siding near the railroad station in Salon. It was made up of a motley assortment of old passenger cars and several freight cars, all with German markings. The Hagana representatives stepped forward to meet the men who guarded the train, who were, to my surprise, United States military police. The sergeant in charge received a signed receipt for his cargo; and six hundred fifty anxious immigrants disembarked from the train and boarded trucks, which quickly set out for the nearby camps. This whole operation was screened from the inquisitive public by a cordon of French police who kept passers-by away from the area. Victims of Nazi mistreatment were fed and clothed by the American militaryThe reason behind this unpublicized cooperation of the U.S. army was that the American Zone of Germany had become the gathering place to which tens of thousands of Jewish survivors from every corner of Europe were flocking. As victims of Nazi mistreatment, they were fed and clothed by the American military, which soon found itself swamped by the ever-growing tide. And so, whenever there was an opportunity to alleviate the situation by getting groups of Jews to move on to France or Italy en route to other destinations, the Americans were only too happy to provide transportation without scrutinizing too closely the validity of transit papers and visas. Setting sail for PalestineMany weeks passed, and the immigrants began to grow restless; but no ship was available. The long wait allowed much time for speculation on the ultimate success of the venture upon which we were all embarked. It was common knowledge that, although ships of the Aliya Bet did, on occasion, succeed in landing their passengers on the Palestinian coast, the British navy had set up a full-scale blockade of the coastline and few ships now managed to sail through undetected. Capture by the British usually meant that the passengers of the ship would be interned for some months at Atlit, a large army camp south of Haifa. Upon their release, the required number of immigration certificates would be deducted from the small quota that was still being granted for Jewish immigration from Europe. However, as the volume of unauthorized immigration swelled, Mr. Bevin determined to take more drastic action to put an end to it. In the summer of 1946, the British navy captured a boatload of immigrants off the coast of Palestine. Upon arrival in Haifa, these immigrants were immediately transferred to a British troop ship, which set sail at once for the island of Cyprus. Detoured to CyprusOn Cyprus, the bewildered British army authorities hastily set up some army tents and surrounded the area with a barbed-wire fence and armed sentries. Here the IJFs (illegal Jewish immigrants), as they were called by the British, were to live until their fate would be decided. Far from solving the problem, the British soon found that they had to play host to shipload after shipload of immigrants, who were being captured off the coast of Palestine and trans-shipped to Cyprus. The setting up of the camps in Cyprus helped crystallize the declaration of political warfare between the British Colonial Office and the Zionist movement. Embarking once again for PalestineEarly in January, 1947, about two months after the convoy of immigrants had arrived in Salon, our small group of Americans were informed that a ship was finally ready to embark for Palestine. Several people who had specific skills were asked to remain to work with the Hagana people in Europe. The rest of us might sail with the convoy of immigrants if we so desired. We did, of course. This had been our primary purpose in coming to France. A group of about twenty-five English Habonim members, who had arrived a few weeks earlier, were also to sail with us. Each person was allowed to carry one knapsackThere was little sleep for anyone that last night at Salon. Final instructions had been issued. Each person was allowed to carry one knapsack, weighing not over ten kilograms. For most people this meant leaving many things behind. We Americans and English, who were careful to take only nondescript clothing, cautiously removed all labels that might betray our origin. Our precautions were really unnecessary, because many of the immigrants had been clothed in Germany by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee with used clothing sent from the United States. Each person was allotted about a two-foot width shelf as a bedThe Lanegev had been an Italian fishing boat. She originally had had cabins for the crew of eight above the deck and one large hold below. But, like every ship of the Aliya Bet) she had been refitted for this voyage. A small auxiliary engine having been installed, five tiers of wooden shelves had been constructed in the hold, with an intermediate catwalk and ladders for access. The main deck had also been roofed over and the sides enclosed to accommodate more rows of shelves, three tiers high. These shelves, which were about six feet deep and covered almost every bit of available space in the ship, were our bunks. Each person was allotted about a two-foot width of shelf. People lay side by side, with heads toward the aisle. There was nothing to cover the bare boards except the blankets we had carried in our knapsacks. And about two feet above was the next shelf, which was arranged similarly, and above that the next, etc. We sailed into the Mediterranean, January, 1947We boarded the ship in an orderly manner and reclined in our assigned \"bunks.\" In about two hours the full complement of six hundred fifty immigrants was aboard, and wwere ready to sail. Again, we were under the command of an officer of the Hagana, who was assisted by two other Palestinians, a navigator and a radio operator. The Italian captain, of course, was in charge of the ship\'s crew; but, he, too, was under the orders of the Hagana commander. So it was that we sailed into the Mediterranean, that day in January, 1947. Overloaded, terribly crowded, and lacking in adequate sanitary facilitiesThe voyage of the Lanegev was long and arduous, plagued by storms, and at times perilous. It was typical of the voyages of dozens of ships of the Hagana that sailed the Mediterranean during that period. They were usually old ships, overloaded, terribly crowded, and lacking in adequate sanitary facilities. But two things characterized all of them: the high morale of the passengers, who, despite the utter lack of physical comfort, knew that they were at last going home; and the fact that these ships brought their precious human cargo safely to the territorial waters of Palestine, a truly remarkable record. Army trucks whisked us away to the camp for \"Illegal Jewish Immigrants.\"Although the British were our \"hosts\" in Cyprus, they scarcely provided red-carpet treatment for our arrival. The troop transport anchored off the port of Famagusta, and lighters taxied us ashore. The military had cordoned off the port area, and waiting army trucks whisked us away to the camp for \"Illegal Jewish Immigrants.\" There we were searched and questioned, then released inside the barbed wire enclosure among the immigrants who had arrived on Cyprus before us. About seven hundred immigrants already occupied the camp. In a way, it was a minor homecoming, for the other immigrants were anxious to know all about our trip, our battle with the British navy, and whether or not there were more immigrants waiting to sail from France. We, in turn, were anxious to know what sort of life they led in this British prison camp, what ships they had sailed, and how long we might have to remain here in Cyprus. Tent city outside Famagusta We soon learned that we were in the \"summer camps,\" a makeshift tent city that the army had set up a few miles outside Famagusta. The rising tide of immigration had quickly made this area inadequate; and work had started several months before on a second, more permanent, area about twenty-five miles distant. There, German prisoner of-war labor had erected five adjoining Nissen-hut encampments, sufficient to accommodate another ten to twelve thousand people. It was to these \"winter camps\" that the passengers of the Lanegev were transferred within a few days. Little did the British then dream that the stream of Aliya Bet would grow so large as to require the construction of several more encampments. Organized sanitation and food distributionBut, in another sense, the camps were autonomous Jewish republics. Both at the summer and winter camps there arose camp \"governments,\" composed of representatives of all the groups and movements living within the camps. These governments acquired considerable responsibility and authority. They organized sanitation and food distribution. They acted as representatives of the immigrants whenever there were dealings with the British army authorities. And they were responsible for various cultural activities, holiday celebrations, and demonstrations. Palestinian staff members raised the morale of the immigrants The only outside organization that was officially permitted to help the internees was the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The \"Joint\" sent one of its ablest field directors to Cyprus shortly after the establishment of the camps. The director, Mr. Morris Laub, brought quite a large staff of doctors, nurses, social workers, and teachers from Palestine and began to administer to the needs of the camp population. The fact that the \'Joint\' staff members were Palestinians raised the morale of theimmigrants and helped create a Hebrew atmosphere. Hagana people were also smuggled into the campsUnofficially, Hagana people were also smuggled into the camps. A comprehensive system of military training was set up by them, and thousands of people learned the elements of soldiering under the watchful eyes of British soldiers. The reply to British inquiries was that these were organized sports activities, intended to keep the internees occupied and away from mischief-breeding idleness. The sports activities consisted of marching, fighting with clubs, throwing (rocks being substituted for grenades), calisthenics, negotiation of obstacle courses, etc. Camp No. 65 became the Children\'s VillageAmong the immigrants were numerous groups of orphaned children, who had been organized by the various youth movements in Europe into aliya groups. Each group traveled with a madrich) who tried to be both parent and teacher. With the help of the \"Joint,\" the British officials finally consented to house all of the children in one encampment; and so it was that Camp No. 65 became the \'Children\'s Village.\' Teachers came from PalestineTeachers and emissaries of the youth movements came from Palestine as members of the \'Joint\' staff, and a serious effort was made to provide for the education and well-being of these children. In walking through the children\'s camps, one had the feeling that this might almost be Ben Shemen or some other children\'s institution in Palestine. Tools and materials were supplied to craftsmenIdleness and boredom were much greater problems for the adults than for the children. The typical pattern of organization of the immigrants was the movement pattern, an extension of the political fragmentation that plagued the life of the Jewish community in Palestine and of the Zionist movement in Europe. Each movement had its own living quarters and its own communal kitchen and jealously guarded the interests of its members. But, aside from kitchen and other work details, there was not enough activity to keep people busy. The more active movements organized Hebrew classes and handicrafts, but most people had too much time on their hands. Here, too, the \"Joint\" stepped in. Teachers were brought from Palestine to conduct seminars for adults. Tools and materials were supplied to craftsmen. One could shop in the camps and buy buckets, teapots, tables and chairs, trousers -- all made by various craftsmen inside the camps. Tools and materials were supplied to craftsmenThe key factor in our morale was the monthly aliya of seven hundred fifty persons. When the British learned that a ship had run the blockade and landed immigrants on the coast of Palestine, the quota for that month was arbitrarily suspended. In the camps, bitterness was rife; and morale fell to a low ebb. On one occasion, doctors recommended that all infants and pregnant women be transferred to Palestine at once. This could be accomplished, said the British, only by giving them the next monthly quota and postponing the regular transfer. To this the immigrants agreed. Later, the same arrangement was made for the children\'s camp; again, the adults agreed to a postponement in favor of the children. In November, 1947, the United Nations created the Jewish stateWhen the passengers of the Lanegev arrived in Cyprus, in January, 1947, there were seven hundred internees already there. When we left, one year later, there were over thirty thousand, despite the monthly transfer of seven hundred and fifty to Palestine. Mr. Bevin\'s attempt to discourage aliya by opening Cyprus internment camps had been turned into a massive demonstration showing that the survivors of European Jewry would not be stopped in their determination to reach Palestine. World opinion showed that it had learned this lesson in the November, 1947, decision of the United Nations to create the Jewish state.