Atlit Immigration Detention Center Heritage Site
The Atlit Immigration Detention Center is a museum dedicated to telling a number of stories — about clandestine or “illegal” immigration to Palestine between 1940 and the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 (the ha’apala), the detention of illegal immigrants by the British in the Atlit Immigration Detention Center, and the successful breakout of the detention center by the Palmach in October 1945. These stories are told in a very meaningful and effective way.
It is very easy nowadays to take visiting and living in Israel for granted. Just over 70 years ago this was far from being the case. More than 120,000 Jews attempted to enter Palestine despite British restrictions. About 3,000 illegal immigrants died in the attempt. On reaching the shores of Israel and being captured, they were immediately sent to a detention center such as at Atlit where they may have stayed for over a year, and they were then exiled to a detention center in Cypress.
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Directions: TEnter “Atlit” into Waze and click on “Atlit Detention Center.”
Admission: The center is open from Sunday to Thursday from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., with the last admission at 4.00 p.m. On Friday and holidays eves the center is open from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., with the last admission at 12.00 p.m. You will need to call in advance to book a tour in English. Outside the ticket office are picnic benches, some of them under shade. Drinks can be bought. There are restrooms by the entrance and by the ship. The buildings are air-conditioned. Admission is 33 NIS for an adult, 28 NIS for a child 6 to 18 years, and 28 NIS for a senior and student. This is their email: ha@shimur.org.il. Their telephone number is 04 984-1980. This is their website:
Public transport: Enter “Atlit Detention Center” into Moovit. The museum is a 500-meter/6-minute walk from the Atlit Interchange.
The Galina immigrant boat
British backtracking of the Balfour Declaration
To best appreciate this site, some knowledge of the Balfour Declaration is helpful.
The Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government of Lloyd George in November 2, 1917, just before the end of World War I, in the form of a letter to Lord Rothschild, who was regarded as the leader of the Jewish community. The First World War was fought between the British and its allies, France, Italy and Russia, against Germany and the Turkish Empire.
This letter read as follows:
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
A very relevant question is what induced the British government to issue this declaration? A number of reasons have been proposed. There was intense lobbying by the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, who worked as director of the British Admiralty laboratories and who was very well connected with influential figures in the British government. He was assisted in his Zionist advocacy by Lord Herbert Samuels, an influential politician, who was a member of the British cabinet. The British government felt they owed Weizmann a favor for his discovery of a means of producing acetone using bacterial fermentation for the manufacture of cordite, a smokeless propellant used in munitions, and which was crucial for the British war effort. The Nili spy organization had lobbied the British that they attack the Turks through Palestine, which they eventually did, and their spy activities had been important to the British in successfully achieving this invasion. The Jewish Mule Corp, a unit of Jewish soldiers from Palestine, had been active in fighting for the British against the Turks. The British required a loyal power in Palestine that would guarantee their access to the Suez Canal, a critical route to colonial possessions in India, and that would maintain their interests in the area, particularly to counteract the French. The British sought the support of Jews worldwide, particularly from the US and Russia, for strengthening their war effort. The British appreciated that the establishment of a Jewish home was a very small fraction of the territorial gains that the Arabs were due to achieve from an allied victory. And finally, and most important, many of the politicians involved in this declaration were evangelical Christians and believed in the role of the Jewish people in establishing a Jewish state that would facilitate the final reincarnation of Jesus.
The British Mandate for Palestine, which included their plan for a Jewish homeland, was accepted by the Allies at the San Remo Conference (19–26 April 1920). Many legal scholars regard the San Remo Resolution as the foundational international decision giving legal force to the Balfour Declaration. However, the decisive legal act was the League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations, unanimously approving the text of the Mandate on 24 July 1922. Because the United States never joined the League of Nations, Congress was not bound by League decisions. Instead, on 30 June 1922, both houses of the U.S. Congress approved a joint resolution expressing support for the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home in accordance with the Balfour Declaration. This was signed by President Warren G. Harding on 21 September 1922. The principal American legal act was the Anglo-American Convention signed in London on 3 December 1924. Thus, international acceptance of a Jewish homeland in Palestine is incontrovertible.
Some years later, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, Winston Churchill clarified the British government’s interpretation of the Balfour Declaration. Although strongly supportive of this declaration, he attempted to balance the conflicting interests of the Arabs in Palestine. The Cairo Conference of 1921 limited the Jewish homeland to west of the Jordan River, rather than the entire area of the mandate, and Churchill installed Emir Abdullah (later King Abdullah I) as the ruler of Transjordan to fulfill wartime promises made to the Hashemite family because of their support of the British against the Ottomans. It was also envisaged that his kingdom would be a home for Arabs who objected to the concept of a Jewish homeland.
By the 1920’s, primarily under the influence of the Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini, the Arabs began objecting to Jewish immigration and al-Husseini instituted the first of several Arab riots, leading to the death of Jews and Arabs.
As a consequence of Arab opposition, the British gradually backtracked on full implementation of the Balfour Declaration. Particularly as World War II approached, the British needed to secure stability in the Middle East and to maintain favorable relations with the Arab world. The Peel Commission, appointed in 1937 to investigate unrest in Palestine, recommended the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The British acceptance of this report indicated a recognition that the original vision of the Balfour Declaration was unworkable. The 1939 White Paper issued by the Labor government constituted a definite backtracking by limiting Jewish migration to 75,000 over the next five years and restricting land sales to Jews.
By the end of World War II, Jews who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust were desperate to enter the Jewish homeland, particularly as the gates of other countries were closed. This is the background to the illegal immigration, called the ha’apala. The movie “Exodus” is based on a true story that took place during this period.
The British intercepted many of the rickety boats that the Zionist used to bring Jews to Palestine and the immigrants were placed in detention camps, first in Palestine and then in Cypress. Also interred in this camp were detainees from the Black Shabbat and resistance fighters arrested by the British. Between 52,000 and 53,000 Jewish refugees, mostly Holocaust survivors, were interned there. About 2,200 children were born in the camps.
It was only after the British left Palestine in May 1948 and the State of Israel was declared that the detainees in these camps were able to enter Israel legally under the Law of Return. These people would constitute one-fifth of the population of the future State of Israel. The camps in Cyprus were closed in 1949.
The tour:
The tour starts at the disinfectant hut where all detainees and their clothes were disinfected. This also happens to be the only original building in the complex. The others are reconstructions. At the back of this building is shown a movie on the daring and successful breakout of the detention center by the Palmach in October 1945, and how the Yishuv prevented the roundup of the escapees.
You are then taken to the dormitories. There were separate sections of the camp for men and women separated by a fence. Husbands and wives could meet each other once a day over the fence. The guide points out that the British did not act like Nazis. Nevertheless, they were dealing with people who had just gone through the horrors of the Holocaust and had failed to completely achieve their objective, which was settlement in then Palestine
A transport plane is then entered to view a movie about the rescue of a group of young Jews from Iraq during this period.
Finally, visitors ascend the Galina Ship which contains an impressive display, primarily in the form of movies, that simulate the perilous journey by sea and hardships endured on the way to Palestine during the ha’apala, as one moves from different sections of the boat to the next.
The disinfectant hut
Watching a movie in the transport plane.
A dormitory.
An exhibit in the ship.
What was the ha’apalah?
The ha’apala was also called Aliyah Bet to distinguish it from Aliyah Aleph. Aliyah Aleph refers to the very limited legal immigration permitted by the British, whereas Aliyah Bet is a shortened form of Aliyah bilti legalit or illegal immigration.
The ha’apala occurred in two phases. The first was from 1934 to 1942 and was led by several Zionist organizations, including the Revisionists, to enable European Jews to escape from Nazi persecution and genocide. The second stage is known as the Bricha (flight or escape) and occurred after the end of the Second World War. This involved Zionist organizations bringing to Palestine desperate Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who were languishing in refugee camps in post-war Europe, especially in Allied-occupied Germany and Austria.
This effort was led by the Mossad LeAliya Bet (the Institute for Aliyah Bet), and was an arm of the Haganah, specifically its maritime branch, the Polyam, which took responsibility for commanding and sailing ships from Europe to Mandatory Palestine. HaGid'onim were male and female radio operators of the Haganah who kept up a constant communication between stations in Europe, headquarters in Palestine, and the ships at sea. Over 200 youngsters from the United States and Canada also volunteered to serve on the ha’apala ships.
During this time, over 100,000 people attempted to enter Mandatory Palestine illegally in 142 voyages in 120 ships. The British navy imposed a blockade on the coast of Palestine that was implemented by 45 battleships. Nevertheless, 66 ha’apala ships succeeded in making it to the shores of Eretz Israel with more than 70,000 immigrants (ma'apilim).
Initially, the British placed illegal immigrants who were caught in a detention camp in Atlit. When this camp was full, they established additional camps in Cyprus. These detention centers were not meant to be pleasant so as to deter further immigration, but this had no effect and desperate immigrants continued to arrive in ma’apilim ships.
Of considerable interest is the role of the Jewish Brigade. These were Jewish soldiers who had fought in the British army during World War II. After the war, and before they were demobilized, they operated in displaced persons camps and brought refugees to boats that would take them to Palestine, often using British army transport. All this was, of course, completely against British policy, but in the chaos following the war they were able to get away with it and help thousands of Jews.
The actions of the British and their dealings with the ma’apilim elicited considerable world sympathy for the Zionist cause. This included for the Exodus boat, which was sent back by the British to a deportation center in Germany. This sympathy may have helped achieve a successful vote in the United Nations General Assembly for a Jewish state in November 1947.