 Curiously, Jews, Holocaust survivors emigrating from Sweden to Eretz Israel* on S/S Ulua were not like migrating birds but like homing birds, and the home was of course Israel. It was similar to other Jewish Displaced Persons (DPs) in entire Europe. Escaping from the DP-camps in France, Germany, Austria, and Italy, they were homing south to Eretz Israel.  |
| A ketubah, tuba, a Jewish marriage contract issued by rabbi Kronheim in Stockholm. The marriage was between two Holocaust survivors from Poland that came to Sweden by UNRRA White Boat mission at the end of WWII and left Sweden on January 24, 1947 on S/S Ulua/Haim Arlosoroff. |
Birdwatcher's thoughts
Every spring I am watching the birds from my boat. Spring is a special time for both boat owners and for birds. I am always amazed by the fact that just three weeks after the birds build the nest I can hear the noise of the newborn. Only a few days later, clusters of small ducks are swimming around. The age at which birds fledge, or begin to fly, varies widely from species to species but usually, it is a question of only 3-5 weeks. Just a few months later in the fall, I can watch bird migration from north to south. A young bird born in the spring is mature enough to follow its parents on the path south.
Poland
My parents (although their wings were cut by the Holocaust era) started to build their nest just one week after the end of WWII. My father was allowed to leave the Berlin area where his army group dissolved and he drove with his driver Felek on Willys the distance between Berlin and the city of Łowicz, a town in central Poland approximately 500 km east of Berlin.
My father arrived in Łowicz on May 15th, 1945. He was amazed to see that my mother's little flat was filled with flowers. He forgot that my mother's "war name" was now Zofia, not Lucyna, her name before the war. On May 15th was her "imieniny, her name day. As she was a teacher at the school in Łowicz she received hundreds of bouquets of flowers from the children and their parents. Counting back from the date of my brother's birth, I understand that it was on that particular day my parents started building their nest... But according to my father, on two occasions (1946 and 1956), he and my mother were thinking of leaving Poland for Israel. Why? One of the reasons was that the miracle that they hoped to happen, did not materialize. The miracle they were counting on was that they might find family members who survived the Holocaust. Of the large Rozental and Wasserman families, only one person from each survived besides my parents. The Kielce pogrom in 1946 was both the first alarm signal and the first possibility to emigrate. However, at that time, my brother was a newborn, suffering from heart dysfunction. As a Polish officer, my father was commandeered to monitor the biggest Polish Jewish emigration after WWII. With him was another responsible officer, major Rudawski, chief of the border forces at the time. Approximately 175 000 Jews left Poland legally at that time. Major Rudawski and major (Wasserman) Wroblewski were happy to shake hands with the army troop officers at the Tcheckoslovak border and Bricha representatives. Both Wroblewski and Rudawski left Poland in 1969. They were among the group of about 12 000 Jews who left Poland in the aftermath of the so-called "March-1968" events, following the 1967 six-day war and a wave of antisemitism. Their graves in Stockholm are just five meters from one another. Both were active fighting in WWII and both were closely bound to the State of Israel throughout their lives.
* During the League of Nations mandatory period (1920–1948) the term "Eretz Yisrael" or the "Land of Israel" was part of the official Hebrew name of Mandatory Palestine. Official Hebrew documents used the Hebrew transliteration of the word "Palestine" פלשתינה (Palestina) followed always by the two initial letters of "Eretz Yisrael", א״י Aleph-Yod.
** The Law of Return (Hebrew: חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ḥok ha-shvūt) is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section 1 of the Law of Return declares that "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant]". Knesset July 5th 1950.
Every spring I am watching the birds from my boat. Spring is a special time for both boat owners and for birds. I am always amazed by the fact that just three weeks after the birds build the nest I can hear the noise of the newborn. Only a few days later, clusters of small ducks are swimming around. The age at which birds fledge, or begin to fly, varies widely from species to species but usually, it is a question of only 3-5 weeks. Just a few months later in the fall, I can watch bird migration from north to south. A young bird born in the spring is mature enough to follow its parents on the path south.
Poland
My parents (although their wings were cut by the Holocaust era) started to build their nest just one week after the end of WWII. My father was allowed to leave the Berlin area where his army group dissolved and he drove with his driver Felek on Willys the distance between Berlin and the city of Łowicz, a town in central Poland approximately 500 km east of Berlin.
My father arrived in Łowicz on May 15th, 1945. He was amazed to see that my mother's little flat was filled with flowers. He forgot that my mother's "war name" was now Zofia, not Lucyna, her name before the war. On May 15th was her "imieniny, her name day. As she was a teacher at the school in Łowicz she received hundreds of bouquets of flowers from the children and their parents. Counting back from the date of my brother's birth, I understand that it was on that particular day my parents started building their nest... But according to my father, on two occasions (1946 and 1956), he and my mother were thinking of leaving Poland for Israel. Why? One of the reasons was that the miracle that they hoped to happen, did not materialize. The miracle they were counting on was that they might find family members who survived the Holocaust. Of the large Rozental and Wasserman families, only one person from each survived besides my parents. The Kielce pogrom in 1946 was both the first alarm signal and the first possibility to emigrate. However, at that time, my brother was a newborn, suffering from heart dysfunction. As a Polish officer, my father was commandeered to monitor the biggest Polish Jewish emigration after WWII. With him was another responsible officer, major Rudawski, chief of the border forces at the time. Approximately 175 000 Jews left Poland legally at that time. Major Rudawski and major (Wasserman) Wroblewski were happy to shake hands with the army troop officers at the Tcheckoslovak border and Bricha representatives. Both Wroblewski and Rudawski left Poland in 1969. They were among the group of about 12 000 Jews who left Poland in the aftermath of the so-called "March-1968" events, following the 1967 six-day war and a wave of antisemitism. Their graves in Stockholm are just five meters from one another. Both were active fighting in WWII and both were closely bound to the State of Israel throughout their lives.
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Sweden
Thinking about Jews, Holocaust survivors in Europe after WWII, I am always thinking about the homing pigeons! Homing pigeons have an innate ability to find their way home, even from a long distance. Homing pigeons cannot be directed to fly to a particular address or a person. However if taken away from home, they can always find their way back. This ability has made them valuable as messengers since at least the time of ancient Egypt.Curiously, Jews, Holocaust survivors emigrating from Sweden to Eretz Israel* on S/S Ulua were not like migrating birds but like homing birds, and the home was of course Israel. It was similar to other Jewish Displaced Persons (DPs) in entire Europe. Escaping from the DP-camps in France, Germany, Austria, and Italy, they were homing south to Eretz Israel.
Similar to my parents' reunion after WWII and their wish to build a family, there were many other young survivors, hoping to start a new life and raise a new generation. As in other places, survivors in Sweden were forming couples and getting married while waiting for the possibility to go to Israel. In Sweden as in other places, there were four to five times more males than females, making it a difficult task.
In Harrison report to the President Truman one can read following analysis and thereafter the conclusions concerning the Jews in DPs camps.
With respect to possible places of resettlement for those who may be stateless or who do not wish to return to their homes, Palestine (Eretz Israel) is definitely and pre-eminently the first choice. Many now have relatives there, while others, having experienced intolerance and persecution in their homelands for years, feel that only in Palestine will they be welcomed and find peace and quiet and be given an opportunity to live and work.
In the case of the Polish and the Baltic Jews, the desire to go to Palestine is based in a great majority of the cases on a love for the country and devotion to the Zionist ideal. It is also true however, that there are many who wish to go to Palestine because they realize that their opportunity to be admitted into the United States or into other countries in the Western hemisphere is limited, if not impossible. Whatever the motive which causes them to turn to Palestine, it is undoubtedly true that the great majority of the Jews now in Germany do not wish to return to those countries from which they came.
** The Law of Return (Hebrew: חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ḥok ha-shvūt) is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section 1 of the Law of Return declares that "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant]". Knesset July 5th 1950.
