Atlit Detention Camp

Ask anyone who makes Aliya to Israel about their story and you will hear an amazing tale. Well, today our fellow travelers went back in time to 1945 and learned of the amazing stories of immigrants attempting to make Aliya to what was then called Palestine under the British Mandate. Please remember that in 1945 the majority of Jews making Aliya were Holocaust survivors. Refugees who lost most or all of their family members. Refugees living with the trauma of the Holocaust. Refugees who could fit all of their belongings in a sack.

They had one dream – to live in Israel. They boarded ships from Europe and made the long voyage to the Holy Land only to be met by the British and placed in Atlit, a Detention Camp that was used from 1938-1945. The British were reluctant to let in Jews. Their reasons were political and their methods were not at all caring to the refugees.

Atlit was a detention camp designed to hold 4,000 detainees at a time. The British surrounded it with barbed wire. They separated men, women and children. They disinfected them. They assigned the refugees to bare barracks to await their fate. For a Holocaust survivor, it felt as if they had gone back to Hitler’s Germany. While the conditions at Atlit were harsh, one thing remains true. Jewish people had hope that they would one day be able to leave Atlit for a better life as Jews in Israel. 500 babies were born at Atlit while it was under British rule.

We learned of a daring operation to free over 200 immigrants who were to be sent back to Europe in October of 1945. Jews were ready outside with guns and at 1:00 a.m. entered the camp by cutting the barbed wire. Miraculously no one was hurt and they were able to get all the refuges out. They all then began to walk to Haifa over mountains in the dark while carrying their belongings. As they neared Haifa they could hear the British trucks coming. What a sight met their eyes!! All the residents of Haifa came out to create a human barrier and did not allow the British to enter. The immigrants were them able to sneak into a Kibbutz.

As our fellow travelers listened to Shlomit, their guide tell the history, they were amazed to hear about Shlomit’s mother. She was a twin, who survived Auschwitz and Dr. Mengele, with her sister to be held by the British at Atlit. The miracle is that now there are 4 generations of this family thriving in Israel today.

At Atlit, our fellow travelers enjoyed a simulation of how immigrants felt as they made their way on illegal ships to Palestine under the British mandate. They saw how they lived in cramped quarters and at times were attacked by British planes.

At this living museum, the story Operation Michaelberg came to life. This was a daring rescue of over 100 Jewish people from Iraq in 1947. Two American airplane pilots were hired and paid for through Israel Bonds to airlift young Iraqi Jews and safely brought them to Kibbutz Yavniel under the British rule as well.

Atlit is an amazing place of courage, perseverance and hope. As you walk through the stories it is amazing to think of the generations of Jews and how hard they had to fight and sacrifice for the right to live in our Jewish Homeland.