In modern-dayIsrael, it has also been called by the Hebrew termHa'apala (Hebrew:הַעְפָּלָה, "Ascension"). Those who underwent Ha'apala are known asMa'apilim. TheAliyah Bet is distinguished from theAliyah Aleph ("Aliyah 'A'",Aleph being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet) which refers to the limited Jewish immigration permitted by British authorities during the same period. The nameAliya B is also shortened forAliya Bilti Legalit (Hebrew:עלייה בלתי-לגאלית,lit. 'illegal immigration').
During the first phase, several Zionist organizations (includingRevisionists) led the effort; afterWorld War II, theMossad LeAliyah Bet ("the Institute for Aliyah B"), an arm of theHaganah, took charge. ThePalyam, a maritime branch of thePalmach, was given responsibility for commanding and sailing ships from Europe to Mandatory Palestine.
Post-World War II,Ha'apala journeys typically started in the DP camps and moved through one of two collection points in theAmerican occupation sector,Bad Reichenhall andLeipheim. From there, the refugees travelled in disguised trucks, on foot, or by train to ports on theMediterranean Sea, where ships brought them to Palestine. Most of the ships had names such asLo Tafchidunu ("You can't frighten us") andLa-Nitzahon ("To the victory") designed to inspire and rally the Jews of Palestine. Some were named after prominent figures in theZionist movement, and people who had been killed while supporting Aliyah Bet.[5] More than 70,000 Jews arrived in Palestine on more than 100 ships.[6]
The journey of Aliyah Bet Group 14
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. SeveralUNRRA 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. The British set up naval patrols to prevent immigrants from landing in Palestine.[citation needed]
Over 100,000 people attempted to illegally enter Mandatory Palestine. There were 142 voyages by 120 ships. Over half were stopped by the British patrols. TheRoyal 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 tointernment camps inCyprus: (Karaolos nearFamagusta,Nicosia,Dhekelia, andXylotymbou. Some were sent to theAtlit detention camp in Palestine, and some toMauritius. The British held as many as 50,000 people in these camps (seeJews in British camps on Cyprus). Over 1,600 drowned at sea. Only a few thousand actually entered Palestine.[citation needed]
The pivotal event inHa'apala program was theExodus incident in 1947.Exodus was intercepted and boarded by aRoyal Navy patrol. Despite significant resistance, passengers fromExodus were forcibly returned to Europe, and eventually put in camps in Germany. This was publicized, to the great embarrassment of the British government.[citation needed]
One account of Aliyah Bet is given by journalistI. F. Stone in his 1946 bookUnderground to Palestine, a first-person account of traveling from Europe with displaced persons attempting to reach the Jewish homeland.[7]
More than 300 volunteers, most of them American World War II veterans, includingMurray Greenfield (of the shipHatikva), volunteered to sail ten ships ("The Jews' Secret Fleet") from the United States 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.
SSParita aground off Tel Aviv, August 1939SSTiger Hill aground off Haifa, September 1, 1939
In 1934, the first attempt to bring in a large number of illegal immigrants by sea happened when some 350 Jews sailed on theVallos, a chartered ship, without the permission of theJewish Agency, who feared illegal immigration would cause the British to restrict legal immigration. She arrived off the coast of Palestine on 25 August, and the passengers disembarked with the help of theHaganah, which received special permission to assist them.
On 29 July 1939, the Colorado, flying under the Panamanian flag and carrying 378 Jewish refugees from Europe was intercepted by the British; the illegal immigrants were arrested and taken into Haifa.[8]
On 19 August, theAghios Nicolaus, a Greek owned ship, transferred 840 immigrants to smaller vessels off the coast and sent them to shore.[8]
On 23 August, theParita, carrying some 700 refugees on board, was deliberately beached at Tel Aviv by the passengers, the captain and crew having fled in a small boat.[8]
Tiger Hill Memorial at Frishman BeachSSPatria sinking in Haifa port
On 2 September, theTiger Hill, a 1,499-ton ship built in 1887, was intercepted and fired on byRoyal Navy gunboats offTel Aviv, killing two passengers (Dr Robert Schneider and Zvi Binder); the ship HMCSBelleville beached on the shore with 1,205 immigrants on board; theTiger Hill had sailed fromConstanţa, Romania, on 3 August 1939, with about 750 immigrants on board and had taken on board the passengers from theFrossoula, another illegal immigrant ship that was marooned inLebanon.[8][9][10][11]
On 16 September, theRudnitchan transferred 364 Jewish refugees into five lifeboats outside the territorial waters of the Mandate and sent them ashore as illegal immigrants.[8]
On 19 September, the Noemi Julia, sailing from Sulina in Romania with 1,130 Jewish refugees from Europe on board was intercepted in the Mediterranean by a British warship and forced to Haifa port; fearing that they would be sent back, the illegal immigrants engaged in passive resistance; the British authorities brought them ashore and held them in a detention camp; they were released a month later.[8][11]
On 24–25 November 1939, a large group of immigrants traveled by train fromVienna toBratislava and about 2 weeks later sailed from there on the riverboatUranus down theDanube. At theRomanian border, the three smaller riverboats to which they had been transferred on December 14 on enteringYugoslavia were intercepted and the immigrants were forced to disembark at the old fortress town ofKladovo.[12] About 1,100 refugees were stranded there and came to be known as theKladovo-Sabac Group. In May 1941, they were still in Yugoslavia, where 915 of them were caught and eventually killed by the invading Nazis. The 800 men were shot by Nazi soldiers in a farmer's field at Zasavica; after the war, the remains of the men were re-interred in a mass grave in the Belgrade Sephardi Cemetery. The women and children were imprisoned in the Sajmiste concentration camp where they perished from hunger, disease, exposure to the bitter cold winter weather, or gassed to death in a mobile gas truck.
On 18 May 1940 the old Italian paddle steamerPencho sailed fromBratislava, with 514 passengers, mostlyBetar members. ThePencho sailed down theDanube to theBlack Sea and into theAegean Sea. On 9 October, her engines failed and she was wrecked offMytilene, in the Italian-ruledDodecanese Islands. The Italians rescued the passengers and took them toRhodes. All but two were then placed in an internment camp atFerramonti di Tarsia in southern Italy. They were held there untilAllied forces liberated the area in September 1943.[13]
In October 1940, 1,770 Jewish refugees sailed fromTulcea to Haifa in two ships. ThePacific arrived off Haifa on 1 November, followed a few days later by theMilos. 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, thePatria, for deportation toMauritius. They were followed from Tulcea by another 1,634 refugees aboard theAtlantic, which arrived on 24 November off Haifa, where the Royal Navy escorted her into harbour. On November 25 the British had just started transferringAtlantic's refugees toPatria whenHaganah agents planted a bomb aboard the French liner with the intention of disabling her to prevent her from sailing. However, the bomb quicklysankPatria, killing 260 people and wounding 172. The survivors were allowed to stay in Palestine on humanitarian grounds.[14]
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 underAdolf Eichmann. They took four river boats,Uranus,Schönbrunn,Helios, andMelk, down the Danube to Romania, where theUranus passengers, about 1,000, boarded thePacific, and sailed on 11 October 1940. They arrived atHaifa on 1 November, followed by theMilos. The British transferred all the immigrants to the French linerSS Patria to take them for internment to Mauritius. To stop thePatria from sailing,the Haganah smuggled a bomb aboard. The explosion holed her side, capsizing her and killing 267 people. The British, by order ofWinston Churchill, allowed the survivors to remain in Palestine.[14]
In December 1940 theSalvador, a smallBulgarian schooner formerly namedTsar Krum, leftBurgas with 327 refugees. On December 12 theSalvador was wrecked in a violent storm in theSea of Marmara, nearIstanbul. 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 theDarien (No. 66).[15]
On 11 December 1941, theStruma sailed fromConstanţa carrying between 760 and 790 refugees. Three days later she reached Istanbul, where Turkey detained her and her passengers for 10 weeks. On 23 February 1942, Turkish authorities towed her back into the Black Sea and cast her adrift. Early the next day theShch-213torpedoed and sank her. Between 767 and 791 people were killed, and there was only one survivor.[16]
On 20 September 1942, theEuropa sailed from Romania with 21 passengers. She was wrecked in theBosphorus.
On 21 April 1944, theBelasitza sailed from Romania with 273 passengers including 120 children, who went from Istanbul to Palestine by sealed train.
On 5 August 1944,Bulbul,Mefküre andMorino sailed from Constanţa carrying about 1,000 refugees between them. In the night theSoviet submarineShch-215 sankMefküre by torpedo and shellfire, and then machine-gunned survivors in the water.[17] Between 289 and 394 refugees plus seven crew were aboardMefküre; only the crew and five refugees survived.Bulbul rescued the few survivors and took them to Turkey.[18]
On 28 August 1945 the Italian fishing vesselDalin, made inMonopoli, carrying 35 immigrants, landed atCaesarea Maritima, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy.[19]
On 4 September 1945, theNatan, carrying 79 immigrants, landed in Palestine, carrying seamen and radio operators from thePalmach andJewish Agency emissaries on the return trip to Italy. On October 1, 1945, theNatan again ran the blockade arrived atShefayim with 73 immigrants.[19]
On 9 September 1945, theGabriela, carrying 40 passengers, arrived undetected in Palestine.[19]
On 17 September 1945, thePeter, carrying 168 immigrants, landed in Palestine undetected by the British. She again slipped into Palestine undetected and arrived at Shefayim on 22 October, this time carrying 174 passengers.[19]
On 23 November 1945, theBerl Katznelson, carrying 220 Jewish refugees, arrived in Shefayim. As the ship was landing immigrants she was intercepted by the Royal Navy sloopHMS Peacock. Of the passengers, 200 reached the beach and escaped, and 20 were arrested.[19]
On 14 December 1945, the shipHannah Senesh, carrying 252 passengers, was beached atNahariya in Palestine after evading Royal Navy patrols. The passengers were brought ashore via a rope bridge, and evaded capture.[19]
On 17 January 1946, theEnzo Sereni,[1] carrying 908 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyerHMS Talybont and escorted toHaifa.[19]
On 25 March 1946 the schoonerWingate[2], carrying 248 passengers, ran the blockade and attempted to land. The Imperial BritishPalestine Police Force opened fire from the shore, killingBracha Fuld, a female Palmach member. The ship was captured and escorted to Haifa by the destroyerHMS Chevron.[19]
On 27 March 1946 the steamerTel Hai, carrying 736 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyerHMS Chequers 140 miles out at sea as it approached Palestine.[19]
On 13 May 1946, theMax Nordau, carrying 1,754 immigrants, was captured by the destroyersHMS Jervis and HMSChequers. The same day, the shipsDov Hos (675 passengers) andEliahu Golomb (735 passengers) arrived in Palestine legally. The British had blockaded theDov Hos after it had arrived inLa Spezia, but the passengers responded with a hunger strike and a threat to blow her up, compelling the British to give them entry permits.[19]
On 8 June 1946, theHaviva Reik, carrying 462 passengers, was intercepted byHMS Saumarez on 8 June 1946. Some 150 people had previously transferred from theHaviva Reik to theRafi off the Palestinian coast, and the crew had disembarked.
On 26 June 1946, theJosiah Wedgwood, carrying 1,259 passengers, was intercepted byHMS Venus. The passengers were sent to theAtlit detainee camp.[20]
On 20 July 1946, theHaganah, carrying 2,678 passengers, departed fromFrance, and transferred 1,108 of its passengers to the small steamerBiriah west ofCrete. TheBiriah was intercepted byHMS Virago on 2 July. TheHaganah picked up a new party of refugees atBakar, Yugoslavia, and set sail for Palestine, this time also carrying 2,678 passengers total. She was found at sea with engines broken down and no electrical power, and was towed to Haifa by HMSVenus. Her passengers were arrested and interned.[citation needed]
On 11 August 1946, theYagur, carrying 758 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyerHMS Brissenden, with passive resistance from the immigrants.[19]
On 12 August 1946, theHenrietta Szold, carrying 536 passengers, was intercepted. The same day, the British announced that illegal immigrants would be sent toCyprus and other areas under detention. The first British deportation ship sailed for Cyprus on the same day, with 500 illegal immigrants on board.
On 13 August 1946, two immigration ships were intercepted:Katriel Jaffe (604 passengers) by HMSTalybont, andTwenty Three (790 passengers) by HMSBrissenden. There was desperate resistance on boardTwenty 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 people and wounding seven.[19]
On 16 August 1946, theyawlAmiram Shochat, carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and landed near Caesarea Maritima.[19]
On 2 September 1946, theDov Hos, this time named theArba Cheruyot, carrying 1,024 passengers, was seized by the destroyersHMS Childers andHMS Chivalrous. The boarding was strongly resisted, and two people drowned after jumping off the ship.[19]
On 22 September 1946, thebrigantinePalmach, 611 passengers, was seized by the minesweeperHMS Rowena. The Royal Navy tried to board the ship four times before finally seizing her, and one passenger was killed.[19]
On 20 October 1946, theEliahu Golomb, renamed theBraha Fuld, carrying 806 passengers, was captured offLebanon by the destroyerHMS Chaplet and minesweeperHMS Moon.[19]
On 19 October, theLatrun (1,279 passengers), was intercepted by HMSChivalrous and the minesweeperHMS Octavia. Four people had dieden route, and the ship was leaking and listing heavily when she was intercepted.[19]
On 9 November 1946, theHaKedosha (600 passengers), foundered in a gale and sank. The passengers were rescued by theKnesset Israel. TheKnesset Israel, carrying a total of 3,845 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyersHMS Haydon and HMSBrissenden and minesweepers HMS Octavia andHMS 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.[19]
On 5 December 1946, theRafiah (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.[19]
On 9 February 1947, the wooden brigantineLanegev (647 passengers) was captured byHMS Chieftain after a battle which left one refugee dead.[19]
Haganah shipMedinat HaYehudim ("Jewish State") in Haifa port, 1947SS Exodus arriving at Haifa port, 20 July 1947United States lands Jewish refugees inNahariya, 1948
On 17 February 1947, the steamerHaMapil HaAlmoni (807 passengers) was intercepted byHMS St Austell Bay, captured after a violent battle, and taken in tow by the minesweeperHMS Welfare.[19]
On 27 February 1947, theHaim Arlosoroff, after the name of anassassinated leader of theJewish Agency (1,378 passengers) was intercepted by Royal Navy destroyerHMSChieftain, and the passengers put up fierce resistance. The ship ran aground atBat Galim, south of Haifa, just opposite aBritish Army camp. The passengers were arrested and deported to Cyprus.[21]
On 9 March 1947, theBen Hecht (597 passengers), the only ship sponsored by theIrgun, was captured without resistance by the destroyers HMSChieftain, HMSChevron and HMSChivalrous.[19]
On 12 March 1947, theShabtai Luzinsky (823 passengers) ran the blockade and beached itself north ofGaza City, where the passengers disembarked, and most escaped aBritish 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.[19]
On 30 March 1947, theMoledet (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 HMSHaydon andHMS Charity, minesweeper HMSOctavia and frigateHMS St Brides Bay, and the Royal Navy towedMoledet to Haifa.[19]
On 13 April 1947, theTheodor Herzl (2,641 passengers) was intercepted by HMSHaydon and HMSSt Brides Bay. Passengers resisted heavily; three were killed and 27 were injured.[19]
On 23 April 1947, theShear Yashuv (768 passengers) was intercepted by destroyerHMS Cheviot.[19]
On 17 May 1947, theHatikva (1,414 passengers) was intercepted, rammed and captured by the destroyers HMSVenus and HMSBrissenden.[19]
On 23 May 1947, the immigrant shipMordei Hagetaot, carrying 1,457 immigrants, was intercepted and boarded by the Royal Navy off southern Palestine. All of its passengers were arrested.
On 31 May 1947, theHaganah shipYehuda Halevy, carrying 399 immigrants, arrived in Palestine under escort after being intercepted by the Royal Navy. The immigrants were immediately transferred to Cyprus.
On 18 July 1947, the shipSS Exodus, carrying 4,515 immigrants, was intercepted by the cruiserHMS 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. TheExodus was towed to Haifa, where the immigrants were forced onto three deportation ships and taken to France. When the deportation ships docked inPort-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 toDP camps.[22]
On 28 July 1947, the14 Halalei Gesher Haziv, carrying 685 Eastern European Jews was intercepted by HMSRowena. TheShivat Zion, carrying 411North African Jews, was intercepted without resistance by the minesweeper.HMS Providence.[19]
On 27 September 1947, theAf Al Pi Chen (434 passengers), was intercepted by HMSTalybont and taken after violent resistance. One person was killed and ten were injured.[19]
On 2 October 1947, theMedinat HaYehudim (2,664 passengers) was intercepted by the Royal Navy. The same day, theGeulah, with 1,385 passengers, was intercepted by HMSChaplet.[19]
On 15 November 1947, thePeter, renamed theAliyah and carrying 182 passengers, ran the British blockade and beached nearNetanya. The passengers, all specially-picked youths, quickly disembarked and escaped.[19]
On 16 November 1947, theKadima, 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 HMTRunnymede Park and taken to Cyprus.
On 4 December 1947, theHaPortzim ran the blockade and landed its 167 passengers at the mouth of theYarkon River.[19]
On 22 December 1947, theLo Tafchidunu (884 passengers) was intercepted byHMS Verulam and taken in tow by the sloopHMS Mermaid.[19]
On 28 December 1947, the29 BeNovember (680 passengers) was intercepted by HMSChevron.[19]
On 1 January 1948, theHaUmot HaMeuhadot (537 passengers) ran the blockade and beached herself atNahariya. 131 passengers were caught, the rest evaded arrest. The same day, theAtzma'ut (7,612 passengers) and theKibbutz Galuyot (7,557 passengers) were intercepted by the cruisersHMS Mauritius andHMS Phoebe and taken to Cyprus.[19]
On 31 January 1948, the35 Giborei Kfar Etzion (280 passengers) was intercepted by HMSChilders.[19]
On 12 February 1948, theYerushalayim Hanezura (679 passengers) was intercepted byHMSCheviot.[19]
On 20 February 1948, theLekommemiyut (696 passengers) was intercepted byHMSChilders.[19]
On 28 February 1948, theBonim v'Lochamim formerly theEnzo Sereni, (982 passengers) was intercepted off Cape Carmel by HMSVenus .[19]
On 29 March 1948, theYehiam (771 passengers) was intercepted by the destroyerHMSVerulam.[19]
On 12 April 1948, theTirat Zvi (817 passengers) was intercepted by HMSVirago.[19]
On 24 April 1948, theMishmar HaEmek (782 passengers) was intercepted by HMSChevron off Haifa.[19]
On 26 April 1948, theNakhson (553 passengers) was intercepted off Haifa by the sloopHMS Pelican after fierce resistance which left a number of people injured.[19]
Graves of some of the victims of the SS Patria sinkingGraves of the 223 Jewish passengers ofSalvador who drowned during a storm at sea in 1940,Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.[23]
The success ofAliyah Bet was modest when measured in terms of the numbers who succeeded in entering Palestine. However, it proved to be a unifying force both for the Jewish community in Palestine (theYishuv) 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 inMount Herzl inJerusalem.[23]
^abZiedenberg, Gerald (2011).Blockade: The Story of Jewish Immigration to Palestine 1933-1948. Author House. pp. 29–30.ISBN978-1-4670-4495-0.
^Dalia Ofer and Hana Weiner (1996)Dead-End Journey: The Tragic Story of the Kladovo-Sabac Group, (Lanham, MD: University Press of America) 1996, pp. 29–34.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -Aliyah Bet
Aliyah Bet Voyages Aliyah Bet Project Aliyah Bet Voyages includes pictures and details of the boats of Aliyah Bet, ports of origin, dates of sailing, dates of arrival in Palestine and the number of immigrants on board.
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