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.
During 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.
The journey of Aliyah Bet Group 14
Post-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. More than 70,000 Jews arrived in Palestine using more than 100 ships.[1]
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.
Over 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, attacked, and boarded by the 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. [2]
Some 250 American ex-veterans including Murray S. Greenfield (of the ship Hatikva) from WWII volunteered to sail ten ships from the USA to Europe to load 35,000 survivors of the Holocaust (1/2 of the so-called illegals) to Palestine, only to be deported to Cyprus detention camps. ("The Jews' Secret Fleet")
Haganah ship Medinat HaYehudim (Jewish State) in Haifa harbour, 1947
Exodus arriving at Haifa harbour, July 20, 1947
United States lands Jewish refugees in Nahariya, 1948
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In 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. The ship 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.[3]
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 British 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 stopped 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.
On November 25, 1940, 1,800 Jewish refugees from Europe arrived in Haifa on the ocean liner Patria, but the ship was denied permission to dock by British authorities, who seized it and prepared to deport the refugees to Mauritius on the ship. Haganah operatives planted a bomb with the intention of disabling it to prevent it from leaving, but accidentally sank the ship, killing 260 people and wounding 172. The survivors were permitted to stay in Palestine on humanitarian grounds.[4][5]
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 stopped working, 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, approximately 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 Patria, intending to take them for internment to Mauritius. To stop the Patria from sailing, the Haganah smuggled a bomb on board. The explosion blew a hole in the side of the ship, which capsized, killing 267 persons. 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).[6]
On December 11, 1941 the Struma sailed from Constanţa, flying the Panamanian flag. The Struma was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine Shch-213 on February 24, 1942. 770 lives were lost. There was one survivor.
On September 20, 1942 the Europa sailed from Romania, with twenty-one passengers. The ship was wrecked in the Bosporus.
On August 5, 1944, the Mefkura (or Mefkure) sailed from Constanţa with 350 persons on board. The ship travelled with the Morino and Bulbul. During the night the Mefkura was sunk by gunfire/torpedo from by the Soviet submarine SC-215. Of the 350 persons being transported, only five survived. They were picked up by the Bulbul.
On August 28, 1945, the Italian fishing vessel Dalin, carrying 35 immigrants, landed at Caesarea, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy.[7]
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 emmisssaries on the return trip to Italy. On October 1, 1945, the Natan again ran the blockade arrived at Shefayim with 73 immigrants.[7]
On September 9, 1945, the Gabriela, carrying 40 passengers, arrived undetected in Palestine.[7]
On September 17, 1945, the Peter, carrying 168 immigrants, landed in Palestine undetected by the British. The Peter again slipped into Palestine undetected and arrived at Shefayim on October 22, this time carrying 174 passengers.[7]
On November 23, 1945, the Berl Katznelson, carrying 220 Jewish refugees, arrived in Shefayim. As the ship was landing immigrants, it was intercepted by the British sloop HMS Peacock. Of the passengers, 200 reached the beach and escaped, and 20 were arrested.[7]
On December 14, 1945, the ship Hannah Senesh, carrying 252 passengers, was beached at Nahariya after evading British naval patrols. The passengers were brought to shore via a rope bridge, and evaded capture.[7]
On January 17, 1946, the Enzo Sereni, carrying 908 passengers, was intercepted by the British destroyer HMS Talybont and escorted to Haifa.[7]
On March 13, 1946, the schooner Windgate, carrying 248 passengers, ran the blockade and attempted to land. British 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.[7]
On March 27, 1946, the steamer Tel Hai, carrying 736 passengers, was intercepted by the British destroyer HMS Chequers 140 miles at sea as it approached Palestine.[7]
On May 13, 1946, the ship Max Nordau, carrying 1,754 immigrants, was captured by the British 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 up the ship, compelling the British to give them entry permits.[7]
On June 8, 1946, the Haviva Reik, carrying 462 passengers, was captured by the 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 the 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 the 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. The ship was found at sea with its engines broken down and out of electricity, and was towed to Haifa by the HMS Venus. Its passengers were arrested and interred.
On August 11, 1946, the Yagur, carrying 758 passengers, was intercepted by the HMS Brissenden, with passive resistance from the immigrants.[7]
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.[5]
On August 13, 1946, the immigration ships Katriel Jaffe (604 passengers) and the Twenty Three (790 passengers) were seized by the British, with desperate resistance on board the Twenty Three. The same day, two Royal Navy 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.[7][5]
On August 16, 1946, the yawl Amiram Shochat, carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and landed near Caesarea.[7]
On September 2, 1946, the Dov Hos, this time named the Arba Cheruyot, carrying 1,024 passengers, was seized by the HMS Childers and HMS Chivalrous. The boarding was strongly resisted, and two people drowned after jumping off the ship.[7]
On September 22, 1946, the brigantine Palmach, 611 passengers, was seized by the minesweeper HMS Rowena. The British attempted to board the ship four times before finally seizing it, and one passenger was killed.[7]
On October 20, 1946, the Eliahu Golomb, renamed the Braha Fuld, was captured off Lebanon by the HMS Chaplet and HMS Moon. It was carrying 806 passengers.[7]
On October 19, the Latrun (1,279 passengers), was captured by the HMS Chivalrous and HMS Octavia. Four people had died en route, and the ship was leaking and listing heavily when it was intercepted.[7]
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 captured by four British warships. Attempts to transfer the refugees to deportation ships were met with resistance, and two refugees were killed and 46 injured.[7]
On December 5, 1946, the Rafiah (785 passengers), was wrecked on Syrina Island in bad weather. The survivors were rescued by two British and one Greek warship, and were taken to Cyprus. Women and children were taken to Palestine.[7]
On February 9, 1947, the wooden brigantine Lanegev (647 passengers) was captured by the HMS Chieftain after a battle which left one refugee dead.[7]
On February 17, 1947, the steamer HaMapil HaAlmoni (807 passengers) was intercepted by two British warships and captured after a violent battle.[7]
On February 27, 1947, the Haim Arlosoroff (1,378 passengers) was intercepted by British 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.[8]
On March 9, 1947, the Ben Hecht (597 passengers), the only ship sponsored by the Irgun, was captured by three British warships without incident.[7]
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.[7]
On March 30, 1947, the Moledet (1,588 passengers) became disabled some 50 miles outside Palestinian waters and issued an SOS. Royal Navy units responded and took the ship under tow.[5]
On April 13, 1947, the Theodor Herzl (2,641 passengers) was intercepted by two British warships.[7]
On April 23, 1947, the Shear Yasuv (768 passengers) was stopped by the British.[7]
On May 17, 1947, the Hatikva (1,414 passengers) was intercepted and captured after a battle.[7]
On May 23, 1947, the immigrant ship Mordei Hagetaot, carrying 1,457 Jews, was stopped and boarded by the British off southern Palestine. All of its passengers were arrested.[5]
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 stopped by the British cruiser HMS Ajax and a convoy of destroyers. The ship was rammed and boarded, and 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.[9]
On July 28, 1947, the 14 Halalei Gesher Haziv, carrying 685 Eastern European Jews was intercepted by the HMS Rowena. Also, the Shivat Zion, carrying 411 North African Jews, was captured by the HMS Providence without resistance.[7]
On September 27, 1947, the Af Al Pi Chen (434 passengers), was intercepted by the HMS Talybont and taken after violent resistance. One person was killed and ten were injured.[7]
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 also intercepted.[7]
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.[7]
On November 16, the Kadima, a larger ship carrying 794 immigrants, was seized by the Royal Navy and brought to Haifa, where its passengers were transferred to a British transport ship and taken to Cyprus.[5]
On December 4, 1947, the HaPortzim ran the blockade and landed its 167 passengers at the mouth of the Yarkon River.[7]
On December 22, 1947, the Lo Fafchidunu (884 passengers) was intercepted.[7]
On December 28, 1947, the 29 BeNovember (680 passengers) was intercepted.[7]
On January 1, 1948, the HaUmot HaMeuhadot (537 passengers) ran the blockade and beached itself 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.[7]
On January 31, 1948, the 35 Giborei Kfar Etzion (280 passengers) was stopped.[7]
On February 12, 1948, the Yerushalayim Hanezura (679 passengers) was stopped.[7]
On February 20, 1948, the Lekommemiyut (696 passengers) was stopped.[7]
On February 28, 1948, the ex-Enzo Sede, renamed the Bonim v'Lochamim (982 passengers) was intercepted off Cape Carmel.[7]
On March 29, 1948, the Yehiam (771 passengers) was stopped.[7]
On April 12, 1948, the Tirat Zvi (817 passengers) was stopped.[7]
On April 24, 1948, the Mishmar HaEmek (782 passengers) was captured off Haifa.[7]
On April 26, 1948, the Nakhson (553 passengers) was captured off Haifa by the HMS Pelican after fierce resistance which left a number of people injured.[7]
The 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).
