''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', "
Aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...
'B'" –
bet being the second letter of the
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewis ...
) was the code name given to illegal immigration by
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
, most of whom were
refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. escaping from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
,
and later
Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...
,
to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
between 1920 and 1948,
in violation of the restrictions laid out in the British
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British governmen ...
, which dramatically increased between 1939 and 1948.
With the
establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, Jewish displaced persons and refugees from Europe began streaming into the new sovereign state.
In
modern-day Israel it has also been called by the Hebrew term ''Ha'apala'' ( he, הַעְפָּלָה, "Ascension"). The ''Aliyah Bet'' is distinguished from the ''Aliyah Aleph'' ("Aliyah 'A'",
Aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These let ...
being the first letter of the
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewis ...
) which refers to the limited Jewish immigration permitted by British authorities during the same period. The name ''Aliya B'' is also shortened name for ''Aliya Bilty Legalit'' ( he, עלייה בלתי-לגאלית, "illegal immigration").
Organization

During ''Ha'apala'', several
emissaries from the Yishuv,
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
A number of Jewish partisan groups operated across Nazi-occupied Euro ...
, the
Jewish Brigade
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv Jews from Manda ...
of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
,
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
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...
" quotas.
As the
persecution of Jews
The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history, prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BCE, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. ...
dramatically intensified in
German-occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 19 ...
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
Bricha ( he, בריחה, translit. ''Briẖa'', "escape" or "flight"), also called the Bericha Movement, was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post–World War II Europe to the British Mandate for ...
'' ("flight" or "escape"),
was an effort to find homes for
Jewish survivors of the
Nazi crimes (''
Sh'erit ha-Pletah
Sh'erit ha-Pletah is a Hebrew term for Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps, and the organisations they created to act on their behalf with the Allied authorities. These were active between 27 May 1945 and 1950–51 ...
'', "Surviving Remnant")
who were among the millions of
displaced persons
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, ...
("DPs") languishing in refugee camps scattered across
post-war Europe,
primarily located in
Allied-occupied Germany
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
."
During the first phase, several Zionist organizations (including
Revisionists) led the effort; after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the
Mossad LeAliyah Bet
The Mossad LeAliyah Bet ( he, המוסד לעלייה ב', lit. ''Institution for Immigration B'') was a branch of the paramilitary organization Haganah in British Mandatory Palestine, and later the State of Israel, that operated to facilitate Je ...
("the Institute for Aliyah B"), an arm of the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...
, took charge. The
Palyam
Palyam ( he, פלי"ם, an abbreviation of ''Plugat HaYam'' (), lit. ''Sea Company'') was the sea force of the Palmach.
History
Palyam was set up in April 1945 as the Palmach's tenth company (Pluga Yud) which originated from the Palmach's Naval ...
, a maritime branch of the
Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmac ...
, 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
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
n occupation sector,
Bad Reichenhall
Bad Reichenhall ( Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Sta ...
and
Leipheim
Leipheim is a town in the district of Günzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, west of Günzburg, and northeast of Ulm. The village Riedheim and the hamlet Weissingen are districts of Leipheim. Since 1993, Leipheim ha ...
. From there, the refugees travelled in disguised trucks, on foot, or by train to ports on the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
, 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
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, 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
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...
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 armed naval patrols to prevent immigrants from landing in Palestine.
History
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
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
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
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
: (Karaolos near
Famagusta
Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under t ...
,
Nicosia,
Dhekelia, and
Xylotymbou
Xylotymbou ( el, Ξυλοτύμπου [] or ) is a small town in Larnaca District in south-eastern Cyprus. It is one of the four Cyprus#Exclaves and enclaves, enclaves surrounded by the Eastern Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a Brit ...
. Some were sent to the
Atlit detention camp in Palestine, and some to
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. The British held as many as 50,000 people in these camps (see
Jews in British camps on Cyprus
The Cyprus internment camps were camps maintained in Cyprus by the British government for the internment of Jews who had immigrated or attempted to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine, which was in violation of British policy. There were a total of ...
). 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
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
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
Isidor Feinstein "I. F." Stone (December 24, 1907 – June 18, 1989) was an American investigative journalist, writer, and author.
Known for his politically progressive views, Stone is best remembered for ''I. F. Stone's Weekly'' (1953–1971), ...
in his 1946 book ''
Underground to Palestine
''Underground to Palestine'' is a 1946 book by American journalist I. F. Stone chronicling some of the hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors attempting to reach the Jewish homeland in Mandatory Palestine from post-WWII displaced persons ...
,'' a first-person account of traveling from Europe with displaced persons attempting to reach the Jewish homeland.
Some 250 American veterans, including
Murray Greenfield (of the ship ''Hatikva''), from World War II 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
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...
, 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 23 August, the ''Parita'', 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.]
During World War II
* On 2 September, the ''Tiger Hill'', a 1,499-ton ship built in 1887, was intercepted and fired on by Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
gunboats off Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, killing two passengers (Dr Robert Schneider and Zvi Binder); the ship HMCS ''Belleville'' beached on the shore with 1,205 immigrants on board; the ''Tiger Hill'' had sailed from Constanţa, Romania, on 3 August 1939, with about 750 immigrants on board and had taken on board the passengers from the ''Frossoula'', another illegal immigrant ship that was marooned in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
.
* 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.
* 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.
* On 24–25 November 1939, a large group of immigrants traveled by train from Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...
and about 2 weeks later sailed from there on the riverboat ''Uranus'' down the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...
. At the Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
n border, the three smaller riverboats to which they had been transferred on December 14 on entering Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
were intercepted and the immigrants were forced to disembark at the old fortress town of Kladovo
Kladovo ( sr-Cyrl, Кладово, ; ro, Cladova or ) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube river. The population of the town is 8,913, while the population of t ...
. 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
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...
, with 514 passengers, mostly Betar
The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After ...
members. The ''Pencho'' sailed down the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...
to the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
and into the Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...
. On 9 October, her engines failed and she was wrecked off Mytilene
Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...
, in the Italian-ruled Dodecanese
The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited ...
Islands. The Italians rescued the passengers and took them to Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
. All but two were then placed in an internment camp at Ferramonti di Tarsia
Ferramonti di Tarsia, also known as Ferramonti, was an Italian internment camp used to intern political dissidents and ethnic minorities. It was located in the municipality of Tarsia, near Cosenza, in Calabria. It was the largest of the fifteen in ...
in southern Italy. They were held there until Allied forces liberated the area in September 1943.
* In October 1940, 1,770 Jewish refugees sailed from Tulcea
Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city.
Names
T ...
to Haifa in two ships. The arrived off Haifa on 1 November, followed a few days later by the . 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 , for deportation to Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. They were followed from Tulcea by another 1,634 refugees aboard the , which arrived on 24 November 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
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...
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.
* 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
Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
on 1 November, followed by the ''Milos''. 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 267 people. The British, by order of Winston Churchill, allowed the survivors to remain in Palestine.
* In December 1940 the ''Salvador'', a small Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...
n schooner formerly named ''Tsar Krum'', left Burgas
Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...
with 327 refugees. On December 12 the ''Salvador'' was wrecked in a violent storm in the Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...
, near Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. 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
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
.
* 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
Submarines of the Soviet Navy were developed by numbered "projects", which were sometimes but not always given names. During the
Cold War, NATO nations referred to these classes by NATO reporting names, based on intelligence data, which did no ...
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
* On 28 August 1945 the Italian fishing vessel ''Dalin'', made in Monopoli
Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,2 ...
, carrying 35 immigrants, landed at Caesarea
Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...
, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy.
* On 4 September 1945, the ''Natan'', carrying 79 immigrants, landed in Palestine, carrying seamen and radio operators from the Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmac ...
and Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
emissaries on the return trip to Italy. On October 1, 1945, the ''Natan'' again ran the blockade arrived at Shefayim
Shefayim ( he, שְׁפָיִים, ''lit.'' High Hills) is a kibbutz in central Israel located 2.5 miles north of Herzliya along the Mediterranean coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a popu ...
with 73 immigrants.
* On 9 September 1945, the ''Gabriela'', carrying 40 passengers, arrived undetected in Palestine.
* On 17 September 1945, the ''Peter'', carrying 168 immigrants, landed in Palestine undetected by the British. She again slipped into Palestine undetected and arrived at Shefayim
Shefayim ( he, שְׁפָיִים, ''lit.'' High Hills) is a kibbutz in central Israel located 2.5 miles north of Herzliya along the Mediterranean coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a popu ...
on 22 October, this time carrying 174 passengers.
* On 23 November 1945, the ''Berl Katznelson'', carrying 220 Jewish refugees, arrived in Shefayim
Shefayim ( he, שְׁפָיִים, ''lit.'' High Hills) is a kibbutz in central Israel located 2.5 miles north of Herzliya along the Mediterranean coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a popu ...
. As the ship was landing immigrants she was intercepted by the Royal Navy sloop . Of the passengers, 200 reached the beach and escaped, and 20 were arrested.
* On 14 December 1945, the ship ''Hannah Senesh'', carrying 252 passengers, was beached at Nahariya
Nahariya ( he, נַהֲרִיָּה, ar, نهاريا) is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton (river is ''nahar'' in Hebrew), which bisects it.
His ...
in Palestine after evading Royal Navy patrols. The passengers were brought ashore via a rope bridge, and evaded capture.
* On 17 January 1946, the ''Enzo Sereni'', carrying 908 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer and escorted to Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
.
* On 13 March 1946 the schooner ''Wingate'', carrying 248 passengers, ran the blockade and attempted to land. British Palestine Police
The Palestine Police Force was a British colonial police service established in Mandatory Palestine on 1 July 1920,Sinclair, 2006. when High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel's civil administration took over responsibility for security from Gener ...
opened fire from the shore, killing a female Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmac ...
member. The ship was captured and escorted to Haifa by the destroyer .
* On 27 March 1946 the steamer ''Tel Hai'', carrying 736 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer 140 miles out at sea as it approached Palestine.
* On 13 May 1946, the ''Max Nordau'', carrying 1,754 immigrants, was captured by the destroyers 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
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest ci ...
, but the passengers responded with a hunger strike and a threat to blow her up, compelling the British to give them entry permits.
* On 8 June 1946, the ''Haviva Reik'', carrying 462 passengers, was intercepted by on 8 June 1946. Some 150 people had previously transferred from the ''Haviva Reik'' to the ''Rafi'' off the Palestinian coast, and the crew had disembarked.
* On 26 June 1946, the ''Josiah Wedgwood'', carrying 1,259 passengers, was intercepted by . The passengers were sent to the internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
at Atlit
Atlit ( he, עַתְלִית, ar, عتليت) is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. The community is in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council in the Haifa District of Israel.
Off the coast of Atlit is a submerged Neolithic village. Atl ...
.
* On 20 July 1946, the ''Haganah'', carrying 2,678 passengers, departed from France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, and transferred 1,108 of its passengers to the small steamer ''Biriah'' west of Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...
. The ''Biriah'' was intercepted by on 2 July. The ''Haganah'' picked up a new party of refugees at Bakar
Bakar ( it, Buccari; hu, Szádrév) is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The population of the town was 8,279 according to the 2011 Croatian census, including 1,473 in the titular settlement. Ninety percent of the ...
, 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 12 August 1946, the ''Henrietta Szold'', carrying 536 passengers, was intercepted. The same day, the British announced that illegal immigrants would be sent to Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
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 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 people and wounding seven.
* On 16 August 1946, the yawl
A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put.
As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
''Amiram Shochat'', carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and landed near Caesarea
Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...
.
* On 2 September 1946, the ''Dov Hos'', this time named the ''Arba Cheruyot'', carrying 1,024 passengers, was seized by the destroyers and . The boarding was strongly resisted, and two people drowned after jumping off the ship.
* On 22 September 1946, the brigantine
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Old ...
''Palmach'', 611 passengers, was seized by the minesweeper . The Royal Navy tried to board the ship four times before finally seizing her, and one passenger was killed.
* On 20 October 1946, the ''Eliahu Golomb'', renamed the ''Braha Fuld'', carrying 806 passengers, was captured off Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
by the destroyer and minesweeper .
* On 19 October, the ''Latrun'' (1,279 passengers), was intercepted by HMS ''Chivalrous'' and the minesweeper . Four people had died ''en route'', and the ship was leaking and listing heavily when she was intercepted.
* On 9 November 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 and HMS ''Brissenden'' and minesweepers HMS Octavia and 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.
* On 5 December 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.
* On 9 February 1947, the wooden brigantine ''Lanegev'' (647 passengers) was captured by after a battle which left one refugee dead.
* On 17 February 1947, the steamer ''HaMapil HaAlmoni'' (807 passengers) was intercepted by , captured after a violent battle, and taken in tow by the minesweeper .
* On 27 February 1947, the ''Haim Arlosoroff
Haim Arlosoroff (February 23, 1899 – June 16, 1933; also known as Chaim Arlozorov; he, חיים ארלוזורוב) was a Socialist Zionist leader of the Yishuv during the British Mandate for Palestine, prior to the establishment of Isr ...
'', after the name of an assassinated leader of the Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
(1,378 passengers) was intercepted by Royal Navy destroyer HMS ''Chieftain'', and the passengers put up fierce resistance. The ship ran aground at Bat Galim
Bat Galim ( he, בת גלים, ''lit.'' Daughter of the Waves) is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel, located at the foot of Mount Carmel on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches. The neighborhood spans from R ...
, south of Haifa, just opposite a British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
camp. The passengers were arrested and deported to Cyprus.[''Unalga'' 1912, Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office]
* On 9 March 1947, the ''Ben Hecht'' (597 passengers), the only ship sponsored by the Irgun
Irgun • Etzel
, image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px
, caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...
, was captured without resistance by the destroyers HMS ''Chieftain'', HMS ''Chevron'' and HMS ''Chivalrous''.
* On 12 March 1947, the ''Shabtai Luzinsky'' (823 passengers) ran the blockade and beached itself north of Gaza
Gaza may refer to:
Places Palestine
* Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon
* Ghazzeh, a village in ...
, where the passengers disembarked, and most escaped a British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
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.
* On 30 March 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 , minesweeper HMS ''Octavia'' and frigate , and the Royal Navy towed ''Moledet'' to Haifa.
* On 13 April 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.
* On 23 April 1947, the ''Shear Yashuv'' (768 passengers) was intercepted by destroyer .
* On 17 May 1947, the '' Hatikva'' (1,414 passengers) was intercepted, rammed and captured by the destroyers HMS ''Venus'' and HMS ''Brissenden''.
* On 23 May 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.
* On 31 May 1947, the Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...
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 18 July 1947, the ship , carrying 4,515 immigrants, was intercepted by the cruiser 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
Port-de-Bouc (; oc, Lo Pòrt de Boc) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rh ...
, 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."18 July 1947, British Soldiers Removing Jews from the Exodus in the Port of Haifa"
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
.
* 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 Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
n 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
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...
. 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
The Yarkon River, also Yarqon River or Jarkon River ( he, נחל הירקון, ''Nahal HaYarkon'', ar, نهر العوجا, ''Nahr al-Auja''), is a river in central Israel. The source of the Yarkon ("Greenish" in Hebrew) is at Antipatris, Tel ...
.
* 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
Nahariya ( he, נַהֲרִיָּה, ar, نهاريا) is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton (river is ''nahar'' in Hebrew), which bisects it.
His ...
. 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 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

The success of ''Aliyah 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 (the
Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...
) and for the Holocaust-survivor refugees in Europe (
Sh'erit ha-Pletah
Sh'erit ha-Pletah is a Hebrew term for Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps, and the organisations they created to act on their behalf with the Allied authorities. These were active between 27 May 1945 and 1950–51 ...
).
The immigrants who drowned in the sea and whose bodies were found were buried in the National Cemetery in
Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
See also
*
Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries
The Jewish exodus from the Muslim world was the departure, flight, expulsion, evacuation and migration of around 900,000 Jews from Arab countries and Iran, mainly from 1948 to the early 1970s, though with one final exodus from Iran in 1979� ...
*
Jewish Agency for Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
*
Yom HaAliyah
Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day ( he, יום העלייה), is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually according to the Jewish calendar on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel as ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Aliyah Bet and Machal Virtual Museum
* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Aliyah Bet
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.
The background to Aliyah Bet{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222205102/http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/educational_materials/shapira_survivors.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki , date=2014-02-22
Jewish Agency for Israel
Yishuv during World War II
Blockades
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Articles containing video clips
Mandatory Palestine in World War II