... to illegal immigration in Palestine

La Bricha (the leak)

As soon as the war ended, survivors of the ghettos founded a structure, the Bricha (the escape in Hebrew), whose goal is to find escape paths towards Eretz Israel, by mainly helping the populations of Eastern Europe to join the camps for displaced persons and more generally the West. In September and October 1945, emissaries of the Haganah, structured this network which became, in 1947, the branch of a larger clandestine organization, Mossad Lé Alyah Beth or "Organization for parallel immigration". This organization is divided into four branches: the Bricha, responsible for the escape of Jews detained in camps for displaced persons, the Haganah-Europe, for the supervision of convoys to boarding areas, the Haapala, for the crossing of the Mediterranean and the Réchek, for arms purchases.

The boats

Before the war, illegal immigration took place on boats chartered by the Haganah. But the British threats have a deterrent effect on boat owners and, after the war, the Mossad is forced to acquire its own boats. The situation improved somewhat with the purchase in the United States of boats used during the Second World War.

Often in bad condition, these boats sometimes have to be completely refitted because they are most often merchant cargo ships unfit to accommodate passengers. many of whom are women, children, and elderly people.

The crew consists of volunteers motivated by the Zionist cause, the others are paid for their work. The majority of the boats are intercepted by the British. Also, the disembarkation of passengers is an extremely delicate operation that takes place on a few beaches, easily accessible, such as Naharia, in the north, Caesarea, Shéfayim, Tel Aviv, the estuary of Wadi Rubin and Nitzanim. The boat approaches the beaches as much as possible and the passengers reach the shore, for the most able to swim, the others by means of canoes driven by members of the Haganah. A unit of the Haganah is responsible for informing the boats about the activities of the British troops in order to avoid arrests. Others take care of the new immigrants and are responsible for dispersing them in Palestine, equipped with false identity papers. The first French ship, the Tel Haï, leaves for Eretz Israel on 17 March 1946. It carries 732 people who have crossed France in Haganah trucks to reach the Côte d'Azur. From April 1946 to May 1948, about fifteen boats carrying a total of 20,000 people left France for the Jewish National Home.

Cyprus: the camps for deported people

Wishing to intensify its fight against illegal immigration, the British government announced on 12 August 1946 the creation of camps for deported persons on the island of Cyprus. The first passengers to be transferred there are those of the Yagour and the Henrietta Szold, coming respectively from France and Greece. They are usually forcibly disembarked from the boat on which they arrive and transferred directly to the one that will take them to Cyprus. The passengers try to resist the British troops who come in numbers and do not hesitate to use their batons or tear gas. These operations take place under the gaze of the international press and sometimes under the booing of Jewish protesters who came to support their companions.

Transfers to Cyprus take place over twenty months, from August 1946 to April 1948. A total of 52,260 people, or half of the total number of illegal immigrants, pass through these camps. About 2,000 children are born there. At the end of 1946, a small number of detainees were released for humanitarian reasons. Later, half of the 1,500 monthly certificates granted by the Mandatory power are awarded to internees from Cyprus. At the end of 1947, orphans but also young children and their parents, nearly 4,000 people are allowed to emigrate to Palestine.

The first camp, made up of tents, is built in Famagusta. After November 1946, another camp located 26 km from the first was opened, surrounded by a double row of barbed wire three meters high. The food is insufficient and the living conditions are very rudimentary. The Jewish Agency and humanitarian organizations are trying to improve the daily lives of internees, especially children. The Haganah infiltrates some of its members in order to organize resistance from within. Escape attempts, demonstrations of protest, the internees do not admit defeat. Despite their promise, the British did not release the last internees until January 1949.

Camp of Poppendorf, Germany. Demonstration by former passengers of the Exodus. "From one camp to another. Until when?" August-September 1942
© Shoah Memorial / CDJC

The passengers of the Exodus 47 are disembarked in the port of Haifa, after their boat was intercepted by the British, July 1947.
© Shoah Memorial/ CDJC.

• contact
• mentions the gales