Aliyah Bet

death toll as a percentage of the total pre-war Jewish population in Europe During ''Ha'apala'', several emissaries from the Yishuv, Jewish partisans, the Jewish Brigade of the British Army, Zionist youth movements and organizations worked together to facilitate the immigration of Jews escaping from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine beyond the established "White Paper" quotas. As the persecution of Jews dramatically intensified in German-occupied Europe during the Nazi era, the urgency driving the immigration also became more acute. ''Ha'apala occurred in two phases. The first one, from 1934 to 1942, was an effort to enable European Jews to escape Nazi persecution and genocide. The second one, from 1945 to 1948, in a stage known as Bricha ("flight" or "escape"), was an effort to find homes for Jewish survivors of the Nazi crimes (Sh'erit ha-Pletah'', "Surviving Remnant") who were among the millions of displaced persons ("DPs") languishing in refugee camps scattered across post-war Europe, primarily located in Allied-occupied Germany and Austria, and Italy." During the first phase, several Zionist 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 Palyam, a maritime branch of the Palmach, was given responsibility for commanding and sailing ships from Europe to Mandatory Palestine. ==Routes==

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. 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. More than 70,000 Jews arrived in Palestine on more than 100 ships. 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. The British set up naval patrols to prevent immigrants from landing in Palestine. ==History==

, c. 1937 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. 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 Xylotymbou. 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 ''Ha'apala program was the incident in 1947. Exodus was intercepted and boarded by a Royal Navy patrol. Despite significant resistance, passengers from Exodus'' were forcibly returned to Europe, and eventually put in camps in 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 from Europe with displaced persons attempting to reach the Jewish homeland. More than 300 volunteers, most of them American World War II veterans, including Murray Greenfield (of the ship HaTikva), 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. ==Timeline==

Before World War II • 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 the Jewish 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 the Haganah, 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. • On 19 August, the Aghios Nicolaus, a Greek owned ship, transferred 840 immigrants to smaller vessels off the coast and sent them to shore. • On 16 September, the Rudnitchan transferred 364 Jewish refugees into five lifeboats outside the territorial waters of the Mandate and sent them ashore as illegal immigrants. About 1,100 refugees were stranded there and came to be known as the Kladovo-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 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 9 October, 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. • 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 , and sailed on 11 October 1940. They arrived at Haifa on 1 November, followed by the a few days later. The British transferred all the immigrants to the French liner 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 around 260 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). • On 11 December 1941, the 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 23 February 1942, Turkish authorities towed her back into the Black Sea and cast her adrift. Early the next day the torpedoed and sank her. Between 767 and 791 people were killed, and there was only one survivor. • On 20 September 1942, the Europa sailed from Romania with 21 passengers. She was wrecked in the Bosphorus. • On 21 April 1944, the Belasitza sailed from Romania with 273 passengers including 120 children, who went from Istanbul to Palestine by sealed train. • On 5 August 1944, Bulbul, and Morino sailed from Constanţa carrying about 1,000 refugees between them. In the night the Soviet submarine sank Mefküre by torpedo and shellfire, and then machine-gunned survivors in the water. 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. After VE Day (aged 8) and Elazar Schiff, survivors of Buchenwald concentration camp, arrive at Haifa, July 1945 • On 28 August 1945 the Italian fishing vessel Dalin, made in Monopoli, carrying 35 immigrants, landed at Caesarea Maritima, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy. • On 20 July 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 on 2 July. 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 engines broken down and no electrical power, and was towed to Haifa by HMS Venus. Her passengers were arrested and interned. • On 11 August 1946, the Yagur, carrying 758 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer , with passive resistance from the immigrants. • On 16 August 1946, the yawl Amiram Shochat, carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and landed near Caesarea Maritima. • On 9 March 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. • On 28 July 1947, the 14 Halalei Gesher Haziv, carrying 685 Eastern European Jews was intercepted by HMS Rowena. The Shivat Zion, carrying 411 North African Jews, was intercepted without resistance by the minesweeper. . • On 27 September 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. • On 2 October 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. • On 15 November 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. • On 16 November 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. After the UN Partition Resolution • On 4 December 1947, the HaPortzim ran the blockade and landed its 167 passengers at the mouth of the Yarkon River. • On 22 December 1947, the Lo Tafchidunu (884 passengers) was intercepted by and taken in tow by the sloop . • On 28 December 1947, the 29 BeNovember (680 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Chevron. • On 1 January 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 ''Atzma'ut (7,612 passengers) and the Kibbutz Galuyot'' (7,557 passengers) were intercepted by the cruisers and and taken to Cyprus. • On 31 January 1948, the 35 Giborei Kfar Etzion (280 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Childers. • On 12 February 1948, the Yerushalayim Hanezura (679 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Cheviot. • On 20 February 1948, the Lekommemiyut (696 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Childers. • On 28 February 1948, the ''Bonim v'Lochamim formerly the Enzo Sereni, (982 passengers) was intercepted off Cape Carmel by HMS Venus'' . • On 29 March 1948, the Yehiam (771 passengers) was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Verulam. • On 12 April 1948, the Tirat Zvi (817 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Virago. • On 24 April 1948, the Mishmar HaEmek (782 passengers) was intercepted by HMS Chevron off Haifa. • On 26 April 1948, the Nakhson (553 passengers) was intercepted off Haifa by the sloop after fierce resistance which left a number of people injured. ==Conclusion==