page_title: Aliyah Bet
section_title: After VE Day
hierarchical_section_title: Aliyah Bet / Timeline / After VE Day
caption_attribution_description: English: Eight-year-old Yisrael Meir (Lulek) Lau is held by a fellow Buchenwald survivor, Elazar Schiff, as they arrive in Palestine aboard the RMS "Mataroa." Haifa, Palestine, July 15, 1945. Čeština: Přeživší z koncentračního tábora Buchenwald po připlutí do Haify, 15. července 1945. עברית: אלעזר שיף, וישראל מאיר לאו בן ה-8, ניצולי מחנה הריכוז בוכנוולד, על סיפון האונייה "מטרואה", בהגיעם לנמל חיפה - 15 ביולי 1945
context_page_description: Aliyah Bet was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees from Nazi Germany, and later Holocaust survivors, to Mandatory Palestine between 1934–48, in violation of the restrictions laid out in the British White Paper of 1939.
  In modern-day Israel it has also been called by the Hebrew term Ha'apala. The Aliyah Bet is distinguished from the Aliyah Aleph which refers to the limited Jewish immigration permitted by British authorities during the same period. The name Aliya B is also shortened name for Aliya Bilty Legalit.
context_section_description: On 28 August 1945 the Italian fishing vessel Dalin, made in Monopoli, carrying 35 immigrants, landed at Caesarea, disembarked its passengers, and returned to Italy.
  On 4 September 1945, the Natan, carrying 79 immigrants, landed in Palestine, carrying seamen and radio operators from the Palmach and Jewish Agency emissaries on the return trip to Italy. On October 1, 1945, the Natan again ran the blockade arrived at Shefayim with 73 immigrants.
  On 9 September 1945, the Gabriela, carrying 40 passengers, arrived undetected in Palestine.
  On 17 September 1945, the Peter, carrying 168 immigrants, landed in Palestine undetected by the British. She again slipped into Palestine undetected and arrived at Shefayim on 22 October, this time carrying 174 passengers.
  On 23 November 1945, the Berl Katznelson, carrying 220 Jewish refugees, arrived in Shefayim. As the ship was landing immigrants she was intercepted by the Royal Navy sloop HMS Peacock. Of the passengers, 200 reached the beach and escaped, and 20 were arrested.
  On 14 December 1945, the ship Hannah Senesh, carrying 252 passengers, was beached at Nahariya in Palestine after evading Royal Navy patrols. The passengers were brought ashore via a rope bridge, and evaded capture.
  On 17 January 1946, the Enzo Sereni, carrying 908 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Talybont and escorted to Haifa.
  On 13 March 1946 the schooner Wingate, carrying 248 passengers, ran the blockade and attempted to land. British Palestine Police opened fire from the shore, killing a female Palmach member. The ship was captured and escorted to Haifa by the destroyer HMS Chevron.
  On 27 March 1946 the steamer Tel Hai, carrying 736 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Chequers 140 miles out at sea as it approached Palestine.
  On 13 May 1946, the Max Nordau, carrying 1,754 immigrants, was captured by the destroyers HMS Jervis and HMS Chequers. The same day, the ships Dov Hos (675 passengers) and Eliahu Golomb (735 passengers) arrived in Palestine legally. The British had blockaded the Dov Hos after it had arrived in La Spezia, but the passengers responded with a hunger strike and a threat to blow her up, compelling the British to give them entry permits.
  On 8 June 1946, the Haviva Reik, carrying 462 passengers, was intercepted by HMS Saumarez on 8 June 1946. Some 150 people had previously transferred from the Haviva Reik to the Rafi off the Palestinian coast, and the crew had disembarked.
  On 26 June 1946, the Josiah Wedgwood, carrying 1,259 passengers, was intercepted by HMS Venus.
  On 20 July 1946, the Haganah, carrying 2,678 passengers, departed from France, and transferred 1,108 of its passengers to the small steamer Biriah west of Crete. The Biriah was intercepted by HMS Virago on 2 July. The Haganah picked up a new party of refugees at Bakar, Yugoslavia, and set sail for Palestine, this time also carrying 2,678 passengers total. She was found at sea with its engines broken down and no electrical power, and was towed to Haifa by HMS Venus. Her passengers were arrested and interned.
  On 11 August 1946, the Yagur, carrying 758 passengers, was intercepted by the destroyer HMS Brissenden, with passive resistance from the immigrants.
  On 12 August 1946, the Henrietta Szold, carrying 536 passengers, was intercepted. The same day, the British announced that illegal immigrants would be sent to Cyprus and other areas under detention. The first British deportation ship sailed for Cyprus on the same day, with 500 illegal immigrants on board.
  On 13 August 1946, two immigration ships were intercepted: Katriel Jaffe (604 passengers) by HMS Talybont, and Twenty Three (790 passengers) by HMS Brissenden. There was desperate resistance on board Twenty Three. The same day, two British ships with 1,300 Jewish detainees on board set sail for Cyprus. A crowd of about 1,000 Jews attempted to break into the Haifa port area, and British troops responded with live fire, killing three people and wounding seven.
  On 16 August 1946, the yawl Amiram Shochat, carrying 183 passengers, evaded the British blockade and lan
caption: Yisrael Meir Lau (aged 8) in the arms of Elazar Schiff, survivors of Buchenwald concentration camp on their arrival at Haifa, 15 July 1945
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