The Resistance on board Haapala Ships
The decision to engage the entire immigration population – men and women of all ages and conditions – against the British Naval force, demanded a careful steering of the power struggle; one that would resonate more powerfully among the international public opinion, without deteriorating into uncontrolled violence with disastrous results for the immigrants.
Throughout the battle years against the British, from 1945-1948, the Haapala ran under the initiative of the political leadership in Israel, via 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet.' Some European Holocaust survivors as well as Jewish volunteers from around the world took part in it (financial help as well as serving as crew members on the ships.) The objective of the Haapala effort was to release the Jews from camps across Europe after the war, despite the immigration limitations of the British Mandate, and in doing so, solicit the support of the international public opinion in the political struggle against the British policy in Israel. The names given to the ships by the head of 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet,' Shaul Meirov (Avigur), as they neared the country's shores, symbolized the Yishuv's struggle for free immigration and for building its national home in Israel.
The decision to engage the entire immigration population – men and women of all ages and conditions – against the British Naval force, demanded a careful steering of the power struggle; one that would resonate more powerfully among the international public opinion, without deteriorating into uncontrolled violence with disastrous results for the immigrants (which is why Ben-Gurion's colleagues in the Zionist leadership were not in favor of his suggestion to organize an 'Aliyah Gimel' – with arms.) Over time, the unwritten "rules of the game" were agreed upon on both the British and the Jewish sides, regarding the approach to the Haapala struggle. Any violation of those rules, such as immigrants using firearms, could have been disastrous when the fervent spirit arose against the British who came to detain them.
During the resistance in the Haapala ships, ten immigrants were killed and hundreds were wounded. The complexity of the resistance issue influenced the difference - sometimes even contrast - in the views held by the Yishuv leadership towards it, especially following incidents where the resistance took the lives of Holocaust surviving immigrants. However, the Haapala organizers reserved the right to give specific orders to each ship, as to the character and degree of resistance its commanders should display based on the political circumstances that reigned in Israel around its arrival time.
The resistance on board Haapala ships split into a number of stages:
1) From August 1945 to July 1946, Palmach warriors and the Yishuv people carried the main burden of resisting the Haapala blockade. The Haapala ships were ordered to counteract their captivity.
2) From August 1946 to September 1947, most of the immigrants on ships captured by the British engaged in a desperate and willful physical struggle against the British security forces, who transferred them to the detention camps in Cyprus. The struggles resulted in injuries and deaths.
3) From October 1947 to May 1948, the resistance on board Haapala ships receded, and received a symbolical, mostly ceremonial expression, in light of the change in the political climate.
The decision to engage the entire immigration population – men and women of all ages and conditions – against the British Naval force, demanded a careful steering of the power struggle; one that would resonate more powerfully among the international public opinion, without deteriorating into uncontrolled violence with disastrous results for the immigrants (which is why Ben-Gurion's colleagues in the Zionist leadership were not in favor of his suggestion to organize an 'Aliyah Gimel' – with arms.) Over time, the unwritten "rules of the game" were agreed upon on both the British and the Jewish sides, regarding the approach to the Haapala struggle. Any violation of those rules, such as immigrants using firearms, could have been disastrous when the fervent spirit arose against the British who came to detain them.
During the resistance in the Haapala ships, ten immigrants were killed and hundreds were wounded. The complexity of the resistance issue influenced the difference - sometimes even contrast - in the views held by the Yishuv leadership towards it, especially following incidents where the resistance took the lives of Holocaust surviving immigrants. However, the Haapala organizers reserved the right to give specific orders to each ship, as to the character and degree of resistance its commanders should display based on the political circumstances that reigned in Israel around its arrival time.
The resistance on board Haapala ships split into a number of stages:
1) From August 1945 to July 1946, Palmach warriors and the Yishuv people carried the main burden of resisting the Haapala blockade. The Haapala ships were ordered to counteract their captivity.
2) From August 1946 to September 1947, most of the immigrants on ships captured by the British engaged in a desperate and willful physical struggle against the British security forces, who transferred them to the detention camps in Cyprus. The struggles resulted in injuries and deaths.
3) From October 1947 to May 1948, the resistance on board Haapala ships receded, and received a symbolical, mostly ceremonial expression, in light of the change in the political climate.