Text & Photos: Lydia Aisenberg
The former British Mandatory Palestine Detention Camp at Atlit near Haifa is nowadays a truly impressive, if somewhat daunting, Israeli national heritage site and educational center. It tells the heart-wrenching story of the Jewish immigrants, many of them survivors of Nazi forced labour and extermination camps, desperate to reach the shores of Eretz Israel and rebuild their lives here.
The depth of thought, design, planning and incredible execution of all aspects of this presentation is amazing. It covers yet another difficult but fascinating period of Jewish-Israeli history when tens of thousands of Jews, fleeing persecution in Europe and Arab countries, arrived – by air, sea and in some cases by foot from neighbouring Arab countries – to Mandatory Palestine.
With the declaration of the State of Israel, some 120,000 Jews (around one-fifth of the population at that time) had been smuggled into the country. Tragically, some 3,000 would-be hopeful new immigrants lost their lives along the way, and just a few years later, hundreds of those who were successful in entering the country also lost their lives fighting in Israel's War of Independence.
The clandestine operations that smuggled the refugees, who were known as the Ma'apilim, began in 1934. Until the declaration of the State of Israel and the subsequent outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israel war, thousands of would-be immigrants were apprehended by the British and ended up detained at the Atlit camp. Many others were deported to similar British detention camps in Cyprus, where it is known that over 50,000 Jewish refugees had been held. The last of those camps was closed in February 1949.
With the establishment of the State of Israel, Atlit became a temporary reception center for new immigrants who were beginning to pour into the country in large numbers. Unbelievably, at a later stage the same site housed Arab prisoners captured during the 1956 Suez crisis, and in 1967 many more Arab prisoners were held there until an exchange of prisoners was brokered.
The Atlit Camp was closed in 1970. It was left neglected, becoming almost totally derelict and out of the public eye until the mid-1980s, when The Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel picked up the gauntlet and took on the enormous challenge to restore the site and create a heritage and education center.
Just the physical enormity of the site is jaw-dropping. Apart from the buildings and areas that would have been used by the detainees, the grounds are also home to a replica of the C46 aircraft that was used to save Jews from Iraq in August, 1947. "Operation Michaelberg" was named after American pilot Cpt. Leo Vessenberg and his co-pilot Mike, who flew out of Iraq undetected by the Iraqi authorities and landed amongst agricultural crops in a field in the Lower Galilee, under the radar of the British.
And, of course – the ship, which is not a replica but the real McCoy that was brought to Israel from Latvia in a highly complex operation. Many of the immigrants would have been aboard a ship like this during their perilous sea crossings.
Both the aircraft and ship have been internally remodeled as museums, with intriguing photo galleries and state of the art technology. It's like having entered a Tardis type time-machine, being almost instantly whisked backwards so many decades, to be part of, and even actually participate in one of those breathtakingly dangerous missions. With incredibly realistic film, sound and light effects, the visitor feels they were there, experiencing the emotional fears of being discovered by the British, and even possibly for those who have such a tendency, to feel more than a little seasick!
Even though the story of the illegal immigrants is well known and documented, here at Atlit one 'feels' history literally pulsating out from the wooden walls of the long shacks, packed with metal camp beds with a wooden crate by each bed serving as a bedside cabinet. Arranged in a corner are dolls, clothing, tin cups, plates and other personal items, donated to the center by former Atlit detainees or their families.
Particularly poignant are the etchings, cut deep into the dark wood of the walls, some depicting rough drawings of the ships they sailed on. There are also the names of detainees in Latin letters, some in Hebrew, Sefrei Torah, Shabbat candles and much more. Particularly powerful are messages to family members who might have survived the Holocaust and on their way to Israel, not knowing that they, the etcher, had also managed to survive and arrived before them in the Promised Land.
Bundles of clothing and other personal items hang from the rafters of the huts, high above each detainee's bed. The few precious personal belongings were literally strung up on high in order to protect those vulnerable items from the mice and rats that were a constant threat.
Of all the renovated buildings, particularly shocking and sending shivers down one's spine, is the enormous delousing center containing huge metal tanks, thick pipes, dials and wheels for operating the equipment. This was the first place the traumatized, desperately exhausted, undernourished adults and children would have had to pass through after arriving by bus. A renovated bus also stands nearby outside.
Knowing that a large number of the Atlit internees had passed through such an installation after being rounded up by the Nazis in Europe literally took my breath away. I thought about how relieved they must have been to have actually survived horrendous sea crossings and successfully reached the shores of Israel, then only to be detained by the British, sent to Atlit and find themselves standing in line, being sprayed with chemicals – this time on the hallowed ground of Eretz Israel.
Different buildings deal with various aspects of the Ha'apala (the smuggling of immigrants into pre-state Israel). Films are screened, photographic and other exhibits are displayed, together with some incredible stories – in print, graphics and photos – of the rescuers from the Yishuv, some of whom also perished on land and sea during rescue attempts.
At the ticket office and café at the entrance, a number of models of ships are on display in glass cases.Next to one of them stands a beautifully crafted wooden Hanukia, fashioned by Jewish refugees held in a British detention camp in Cyprus.
One of the models is of the Hagana ship Kaf-Tet B'November – 29th November – that was built by Italian sailor Mario Giacometti of Viareggo, Italy, where the original ship was built. The model, like hundreds of items on display throughout the Atlit Historical and Education Center was donated by his daughter Daniela in 2012.
The Kaf-Tet B'November, carrying 680 passengers, set out from France in December 1947, under the command of Palyam member Mordechai (Moka) Limon. It was captured by the British and all the passengers were deported to Cyprus.
With so much historical content to see, share and learn about in the most impressive of user-friendly ways, a visit to the Atlit Detention Camp is an incredible experience for all age groups, a true blast from the past focusing on an important period in the birth of the State of Israel.
Written in January, 2024
