The history of Jewish White Slaves during and after the Holocaust

The yellowed page of the handwritten summary attached to the medical records of Eta Löwy might not be of interest for an untrained eye. For me it includes quite a bit of her history during and first two years after the Holocaust.

The yellowed page of summary attached to the medical records of Eta Löwy might not be of interest for an untrained eye. For me it includes quite a bit of her history during and first two years after the Holocaust. Ber sjh Norrköping means Special Emergency hospital in city of Norrköping (Beredskapssjukhus) on the Swedish east coast. The number 15.7.45 is the date of July 15th, 1945. On that day Eta arrived in the group of former prisoners of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on the White boat HMS Prins Carl from Lubeck to Norrköping. Following lines are about different convalescent home she was at during 1945-1946. The last line, utr and the date means that she left the country, January 24th 1947.

The date 24.1.1947, January 24th 1947 is also, the common date for departure of 550 girls and women and 94 boys and men from the harbor of Trelleborg with destination Eretz Israel. Early on that wither morning they arrived with special trains to the Trelleborg Harbor and borded the ship S/S Ulua. The youngest ombord were 13 and the older in late thirties. All of the were Jewish Holocaust survivors. The biggest group was girls around twenty. Another, important characteristics of the group was that they were, mono-generation.  Monogeneration means without parents, younger brothers and sisters, without grandparents, without country to return. They arrived to Sweden at the end of WWII, between late April 1945 and mid of July 1945. During this particular period thousands of DPs (Displaced persons) were brought to Sweden in the actions remembered as White buses and White boats. There were also trains with Dos that came to Sweden through Denmark. Most of the non-Jewish DPs returned to their home countries.

For the Jewish survivors who saw their entire families to be murdered in the death camp, there was no place to return. Approximately half of the wanted to go to Eretz Israel, called at that time the British Mandate of Palestine. Others wanted to go to North and South America having relatives there, some of them wanted to wait with "the decision" until "IRC news" about their relatives that possibly survived will arrive from their countries of origin. In most cases the International Rede Cross (IRC) was unable to find their relatives as they were only present as the ashes or the dead bodies in the mass graves. Therefore the decision to leave rather comfortable Sweden was no that difficult. 

The young survivors had very strong family feelings in the group. One of the girls was thinking of staying in Sweden. The Swedish-Jewish family wanted to adopt her. She discussed the matter with her closest friend she shared the life in two camps. She got a straight answer "We are your only family"! She followed the group. 

Holocaust survivors arriving from concentration camps though Denmark to the harbour of Malmö, Sweden, on April 28, 1945. Among women, three young girls. The one laughing is Lola Preiss.

This group of young Jewish men and women, survivors of various concentration camps, were brought to Sweden and were cared for under the auspices of the Gordonia youth movement. They went to Trelleborg on the south coast of Sweden and from there to Forsbacka in the center of the country. The group was organized as a chevrat no'ar (a social - educational framework for youth). The eighty members, who spoke Polish, Russian or Lithuanian, attended school in Forsbacka. The boys were then taken to Furudal where they worked and received vocational training.

Furudal-Tappudden 1946. Most of the boys/men were in late December 1945 transferred to Furudal from the refugee camp in Öreryd. In Öreryd that was a common camp for Jew from Poland and Christians, there were several antisemitic accidents and therefore, similar to women camp in Doverstorp. Second fro the right Jakob Sylman.

Boarding S/S Ulua in the Port of Trelleborg

Battle with 6 British warships at Bat Galim, south of Haifa.

S/S Ulua on the ground south of Haifa. The end of the battle

When the ship "S/S Ulua" renamed later to the "Haim Arlosoroff." reached the shores of Eretz Israel on February 27, 1947 most of its passengers were arrested by British and deported to the detention camp on Cyprus. Here "Swedish group" with Lola Preiss in the middle and Jakob Sylman (withaout the shirt) standing behind her.

After one month trip S/S Ulua was spotted by Lancaster, British reconnaissance aircraft. Thereafter British destroyers followed S/S Ulua and intercepted the ship on February 27 near cost of Bat Galim: just south of Haifa. The captain succeeded to put the boat on ground. Some refugees jumped of the boat into the water but they had no chance to escape as barbed wire surrounded the beach and was watched by British paratroopers. Survivors of the Holocaust were sent to the camp again, this time detention camp no. 66 in Cyprus. The Time Magazine wrote about in in the issue of March 10, 1947.

Just four days later, on March 1, 1947,  S/S Abril left Southern France and Port du Bouc for Eretz Israel. Her decks were crammed with over 600 Holocaust survivors. While at sea, the SS Abril was renamed the SS. Ben Hecht. Seven days later, March 8, the ship was spotted by British reconnaissance aircraft. British destroyers intercepted the Ben Hecht. The ship was boarded, impounded and towed to Haifa under British control. The refugees were sent to the same prison camp in Cyprus as the refugees that arrived from Sweden with SS Haim Arlosoroff. The American crew was arrested and sent to the infamous Acre Prison.

As the British Mandate of Palestine was coming to an end, Jewish leaders proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The declaration of independence was followed by the establishment of a provisional government and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Aliyah is a verb in Israel. It means to go home, to return to Israel from the Diaspora, the Jewish historical dispersion. The Aliyah Aleph, or the first limited waves of immigration were the "legal" immigrations. The Aliyah Bet, or the second wave would be done "illegally". The Aliyah Bet is also known by a Modern Hebrew term, the Ha'apala. It too means Aliyah. The refugees who participated in the Ha'apala are called Ma'apilim. They were willing to face hardships, detentions, deportations and even death to reach Palestine.