by Dr. Tsilla Hershco
Veterans of the Jewish Resistance in France participated in the rescue of tens of thousands of Jews during WWII, including their part in the Exodus affair.
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The Exodus after British takeover, July 1947, photo by Frank Scherschel via Wikipedia
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BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,252, August 12, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Veterans
of the Jewish Resistance in France participated in the rescue of tens
of thousands of Jews during WWII. They provided emissaries from the Land
of Israel with vital infrastructure for clandestine Zionist activities
in France, including money, manpower, forged documents, accommodation,
and contacts among the French authorities. In July-August 1947, they
were significantly involved in the dramatic story of the Exodus 1947,
the ship full of Holocaust survivors turned back by the British. It is
regrettable that their contribution to the creation of the State of
Israel is almost entirely absent from the collective memory.
July and August 2019 mark the 72nd
anniversary of the Exodus 1947 ship (originally named the President
Warfield), perhaps the most dramatic post-WWII attempt to breach the
British naval blockade and bring Holocaust survivors to Mandatory
Palestine.
The ship, with over 4,500 Holocaust survivors on board, left the French port of Sète
on July 11, 1947. It was intercepted by the British, and after a
determined resistance its passengers were returned to Port-de-Bouc in
France on three deportation ships. The survivors refused to leave the
French coast, and stayed on the ships under difficult conditions in the
heavy August heat. They were ultimately led by force by the British to
Hamburg, Germany – the country that had just slaughtered six million of
their brethren.
The affair, which shocked the world, received
extensive media coverage and has been the subject of much research and
subsequent creative endeavor, including novels and films. There is much
to focus on: the Briha (clandestine escape from Europe to Mandatory
Palestine) movement, the clandestine immigration (Aliya Bet) movement,
the survivors themselves, the emissaries from the Land of Israel, and
the crew of the ship. Much has also been written on the political
circumstances surrounding the affair as well as its implications with
regard to the struggle for the creation of the state of Israel.
All these efforts are entirely appropriate. It is
regrettable, however – and historically unjustifiable – that the major
involvement of the heroes of the French Jewish resistance is almost
entirely absent from the numerous publications and commemoration
ceremonies relating to the Exodus affair as well as to the broader
struggle for the creation of Israel.
The Jewish Resistance organization in France, which included, inter alia,
Zionist networks such as the “Jewish Army” and the “Zionist Youth
Movement,“ participated in the rescue of tens of thousands of Jews in
France during the Nazi occupation through the fabrication of forged
documents, the hiding of children and adults, and the smuggling of
convoys to Switzerland and Spain.
At the end of the war, David Ben-Gurion appointed
Avraham Polonski (Monsieur Pol), a leader of the Jewish resistance in
France, as commander of the Hagana in France and North Africa. The
volunteers who joined the organization, mostly veterans of the Jewish
resistance, participated in many critical activities: the Briha;
clandestine and legal immigration; the forging of documents; the
transfer of arms to the Yishuv; and the setting up of communication
systems, immigrant camps, and military training camps. They provided the
emissaries from the Land of Israel with money, manpower, certificates,
accommodations, and contacts with French authorities. These contacts
were particularly important as the French security authorities,
motivated by human considerations, often turned a blind eye to the
“illegal” immigration of Holocaust survivors. Later, many veterans of
the resistance made aliya and participated in the War of Independence.
Members of the Hagana in France and North Africa
under Polonski’s command were involved in the Exodus operation from its
early stages: they forged travel documents, assisted in the transporting
of survivors to the Strasbourg-Mulhouse border, recruited medical
students, organized the reception of refugees by the Red Cross, and
accompanied the refugees on their journey from the border train stations
to Marseilles.
Members of the Hagana in France, under Polonski’s
leadership, also played an important role in preparing accommodations
for the refugees. By leveraging their contacts and making bribes, they
even managed to overcome the obstacle of a truck drivers’ strike in
Marseille by obtaining their leaders’ consent to transport the refugees
to their destination in Sète. Following the arrival of the
three British deportation ships to Port-de-Bouc with the Exodus
passengers, Polonski’s team assisted in preventing the British from
forcing the passengers to disembark.
The team followed British agents on the coast,
sought help from French trade unions, and provided supplies to the
survivors on the ships. Throughout the operation, a central
communications system, stationed in Paris, enabled contact among all the
actors.
It is a great injustice that the enormous
contribution of the veterans of the French Jewish resistance to the
creation of the state of Israel has been almost completely excised from
Israel’s collective memory. One possible explanation for their excision
from the narrative regarding the Exodus affair could be the patronizing
attitude of the emissaries from the Land of Israel and their emphasis on
their own contribution. It could also relate to the tendency of Jewish
resistance veterans to keep their postwar activities secret, which many
of them did for years afterward.
This injustice should be corrected. The
contribution of the French Jewish resistance – not only to the Exodus
affair, but to the very creation of Israel – deserves to take its proper
place as an integral part of Israel’s historical pantheon.
Source: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/jewish-resistance-exodus-1947/
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