Saturday, March 25, 2023
Friday, March 24, 2023
Jewish Memories at Metaponto beach.
There are two different memories från Metaponto bay.
The days before the ship was spotted were spent in preparation for confronting the British. Due to the strength and relatively fast speed of the ship, the escort team planned to try and break through to the shore while risking a collision with the destroyers that would try to block its way, and send immigrants swimming towards the shore. A great deal of effort was invested in preparing the immigrants for the collision: The ship was divided into areas that were manned, and "arms" such as clubs, cans, screws, and stones were prepared. A British reconnaissance aircraft spotted the ship on February 27th, about 60 km from Port Said, Egypt. Five destroyers joined it, and the "Chaim Arlosoroff" continued sailing towards the Gulf of Haifa.
On January 24th, 1947, the ship S/S Ulua left Trelleborg port in Sweden with 644 Maapilim, mostly women. Writing Maapilim as the name of passengers I mean that the final country for its travel was Eretz
Israel. However, when at Mediteranian the Hagana crew got a message to pick up additional 684 immigrants (75% men) at the bay, not port in the Italian city Metaponto. The Ulua ship left the bay of Metaponto early on February 21st. There were a total of 1 328 Holocaust survivors. Maapilim onboard. Too many. To diminish the cargo, all the language and the not necessary staff were immediate to be thrown into the water.
Israel. However, when at Mediteranian the Hagana crew got a message to pick up additional 684 immigrants (75% men) at the bay, not port in the Italian city Metaponto. The Ulua ship left the bay of Metaponto early on February 21st. There were a total of 1 328 Holocaust survivors. Maapilim onboard. Too many. To diminish the cargo, all the language and the not necessary staff were immediate to be thrown into the water.
This action was remembered by Chana Bressler when we talked about her memories from her time in Sweden. She remembered the White boat that brought her from L¨beck to Malmö in Sweden and that she was transferred for a 2-week isolation in the city of Lanskrona. Thereafter she remembered the school in Voxna. As I have seen some photos taken at this school I asked her if she had some of her own photos from that time. At this point, she told me that she had to discharge all her belongings at the Bay of Metaponto.
The days before the ship was spotted were spent in preparation for confronting the British. Due to the strength and relatively fast speed of the ship, the escort team planned to try and break through to the shore while risking a collision with the destroyers that would try to block its way, and send immigrants swimming towards the shore. A great deal of effort was invested in preparing the immigrants for the collision: The ship was divided into areas that were manned, and "arms" such as clubs, cans, screws, and stones were prepared. A British reconnaissance aircraft spotted the ship on February 27th, about 60 km from Port Said, Egypt. Five destroyers joined it, and the "Chaim Arlosoroff" continued sailing towards the Gulf of Haifa.
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The "Swedish White Bus from Volvo car company" at the exhibition in Jerusalem - "Take the Jews last".
To Yad Vashem,
Chairman Dani Dayan,
Members of Yad Vashem Directorate
info@yadvashem.org.il
Open letter
Herewith, I would like to ask Yad Vashem to reconsider having the "Swedish White Bus from Volvo car company" at the exhibition in Jerusalem. I also want Yad Vashem to reconsider the status of this artifact as the "rescue of Jews during the Holocaust". Thus, especially when a real artifact, the cattle wagon, with its well-known and documented history and regarded as the symbol of the death of 6 000 000 Jews, is exhibited at the same spot.
The empty cattle wagon
The empty cattle wagon is a recognized symbol of all Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. The German state railway company Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) played a key role in Nazi Germany's warfare and in the practical implementation of the Holocaust. Cattle wagons were used to deport Jews to Ghettos and later to Death and Concentration Camps. It is estimated that the DR and other train companies in Europe carried out 8 000 000 (8 million) such transports (to the ghettos, between the concentration camps, and to the extermination camps). Transports that DR was paid for by the SS. Transport of empty wagons from death camps was also paid for by the SS to the DR. My grandparents and over 375 000 Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp. Each train with 60 cattle wagons was sent daily from Warsaw and carried an average of 6 000 - 7 500 condemned to death, sometimes actually more. Trains arrived at the death camps from countless European countries. Therefore, the symbol of the Holocaust, a railway cattle wagon, can be found in several museums throughout the world. An original cattle car of that type can also be found in Jerusalem at Yad Vashem, and the spot it is placed at is called The Memorial to the Deportees. For the main part of Jewish visitors, this memorial is one of the most important artifacts at the museum.
The White Swedish Bus
There is another artifact at Yad Vashem, "The White Swedish Bus". According to the short description by Yad Vashem, "it stands as a tangible testimony to the rescue story of the Red Cross during the Holocaust".
One can also read that "Tens of thousands of prisoners – mostly women, and among them, many thousands of Jews – were brought from Germany to Sweden".
Unfortunately, I don't find the same kind of clear, unquestioned symbolism as there is a case in the cattle wagon or in the Danish fishing boat (another Scandinavian artifact). The word questioned symbolism is here in its proper place. The Swedish aid effort contains many question marks, so the historiography, which has already been revised several times, should be rewritten by Yad Vashem where the researchers must use primary sources. It is known that there were no "Tens of thousands of prisoners" and there were no "thousands of Jews" that were transported to Sweden. It is also known that White buses also transported during the entire mission German citizens (many of them with Swedish roots). How many Nazis fled to Sweden using White buses is not known. Not only German women and children (with Swedish roots) were rescued to Sweden. Valuables, dogs, and parrots were also transported.
Herewith, I would like to ask Yad Vashem to reconsider having the "Swedish White Bus from Volvo car company" at the exhibition in Jerusalem. I also want Yad Vashem to reconsider the status of this artifact as the "rescue of Jews during the Holocaust". Thus, especially when a real artifact, the cattle wagon, with its well-known and documented history and regarded as the symbol of the death of 6 000 000 Jews, is exhibited at the same spot.
The empty cattle wagon
The empty cattle wagon is a recognized symbol of all Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. The German state railway company Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) played a key role in Nazi Germany's warfare and in the practical implementation of the Holocaust. Cattle wagons were used to deport Jews to Ghettos and later to Death and Concentration Camps. It is estimated that the DR and other train companies in Europe carried out 8 000 000 (8 million) such transports (to the ghettos, between the concentration camps, and to the extermination camps). Transports that DR was paid for by the SS. Transport of empty wagons from death camps was also paid for by the SS to the DR. My grandparents and over 375 000 Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp. Each train with 60 cattle wagons was sent daily from Warsaw and carried an average of 6 000 - 7 500 condemned to death, sometimes actually more. Trains arrived at the death camps from countless European countries. Therefore, the symbol of the Holocaust, a railway cattle wagon, can be found in several museums throughout the world. An original cattle car of that type can also be found in Jerusalem at Yad Vashem, and the spot it is placed at is called The Memorial to the Deportees. For the main part of Jewish visitors, this memorial is one of the most important artifacts at the museum.
The White Swedish Bus
There is another artifact at Yad Vashem, "The White Swedish Bus". According to the short description by Yad Vashem, "it stands as a tangible testimony to the rescue story of the Red Cross during the Holocaust".
One can also read that "Tens of thousands of prisoners – mostly women, and among them, many thousands of Jews – were brought from Germany to Sweden".
Unfortunately, I don't find the same kind of clear, unquestioned symbolism as there is a case in the cattle wagon or in the Danish fishing boat (another Scandinavian artifact). The word questioned symbolism is here in its proper place. The Swedish aid effort contains many question marks, so the historiography, which has already been revised several times, should be rewritten by Yad Vashem where the researchers must use primary sources. It is known that there were no "Tens of thousands of prisoners" and there were no "thousands of Jews" that were transported to Sweden. It is also known that White buses also transported during the entire mission German citizens (many of them with Swedish roots). How many Nazis fled to Sweden using White buses is not known. Not only German women and children (with Swedish roots) were rescued to Sweden. Valuables, dogs, and parrots were also transported.
The Swedish Red Cross and the White Buses were exploited by the Nazis in various ways. In part, it was a matter of other prisoner transports between the concentration camps, where many died to make way for the Swedish rescue operation. These transports were operated by SS and the number of prisoners transported by SS using White buses was probably much higher than the total number of Jewish prisoners transported from Ravensbrück to Sweden (a few hundred). Several of the sick 2 000 French, Polish, and Belgian prisoners were transported by White buses to worse conditions in other concentration camps to make room for Scandinavian prisoners. Prisoners who died during these transports were just thrown out of the bus as reported by Swedish historian, Lomfors. Another fact that is often omitted, also in Yad Vashem, is that this mission of transporting Scandinavians to Sweden at the end of WWII was to start with the Norwegian initiative, and the largest number of transported prisoners were transported by Danish White buses.
It is known that Sweden wanted at the end of WWII, to appear as a humanitarian nation and get rid of some labels as a semi-neutral cooperation nation with the Nazis. So the statement that the White bus "stands as a tangible testimony to the rescue story of the Red Cross during the Holocaust" is not correct.
The biggest problem, however, is to have these two artifacts in the same place and give one of them the status of "Rescue of the Jews" while the second one, "Memorial of Deportees" symbolizes the death of 6 000 000 Jews.
The presence of the White bus in the area of Yad Vashem area gives not only false information about this mission itself but it also diminishes the value of the Memorial to the Deportees.
The Danish fishing boat is, as mentioned above, an artifact representing a true "rescue of Jews during the Holocaust".
The truth about "Swedish White Buses" and the Jews was partially reported in the Swedish Radio program "Take the Jews last" produced by Bosse Lindquist in the Spring of 1998. It resulted in the Swedish Red Cross rewriting the legendary story that was part of the Swedish "End of the war strategy". In 2005, Ingrid Lomfors described in her book SS and Gestapo controlled transport using White buses.
Roman Romuald Wasserman Wroblewski, Ph. D.
Chairman
SHMA - Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association
"transported 27,000 prisoners, among them several thousand Jews," - Not true, both concerning the number of "transported" and the number of transported Jews.
It is known that Sweden wanted at the end of WWII, to appear as a humanitarian nation and get rid of some labels as a semi-neutral cooperation nation with the Nazis. So the statement that the White bus "stands as a tangible testimony to the rescue story of the Red Cross during the Holocaust" is not correct.
The biggest problem, however, is to have these two artifacts in the same place and give one of them the status of "Rescue of the Jews" while the second one, "Memorial of Deportees" symbolizes the death of 6 000 000 Jews.
The presence of the White bus in the area of Yad Vashem area gives not only false information about this mission itself but it also diminishes the value of the Memorial to the Deportees.
The Danish fishing boat is, as mentioned above, an artifact representing a true "rescue of Jews during the Holocaust".
The truth about "Swedish White Buses" and the Jews was partially reported in the Swedish Radio program "Take the Jews last" produced by Bosse Lindquist in the Spring of 1998. It resulted in the Swedish Red Cross rewriting the legendary story that was part of the Swedish "End of the war strategy". In 2005, Ingrid Lomfors described in her book SS and Gestapo controlled transport using White buses.
When in Israel in February this year, I had a talk with the Swedish ambassador and informed him about the matter described above.
With best regards,
With best regards,
Roman Romuald Wasserman Wroblewski, Ph. D.
Chairman
SHMA - Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association
Stockholm, Sweden
Please read as well on my blog "How White and how Swedish were White buses?":
https://jimbaotoday.blogspot.com/2023/01/how-white-are-white-buses.html
https://jimbaotoday.blogspot.com/2023/01/yad-vashem-and-white-bus-mission.html
Please read as well on my blog "How White and how Swedish were White buses?":
https://jimbaotoday.blogspot.com/2023/01/how-white-are-white-buses.html
https://jimbaotoday.blogspot.com/2023/01/yad-vashem-and-white-bus-mission.html
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| Fake numbers at Yad Vashem |
Retyped text from the image of the photo taken in Yad Vashem:
Towards the end of World War II, when Nazi Germany’s defeat became inevitable, Count Folke Bernadotte, representing the Swedish Red Cross, reached an agreement with top SS leaders for the release of a number of prisoners from German Concentration Camps. This is one of the 36 buses of the Swedish Red Cross, which managed to enter Germany in March and April 1945 and transported 27,000 prisoners, among them several thousand Jews, mainly women, from Germany into Sweden.
Donated by the Sweden-Israel Friendship Society.
Fake numbers"transported 27,000 prisoners, among them several thousand Jews," - Not true, both concerning the number of "transported" and the number of transported Jews.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Children from Bergen-Belsen - talking to them when they are 80+ - 100 -.
When Bergen-Belsen was liberated, approximately 500 children―an unusually large number, most of whom were either orphan or had been separated from their parents―were among the survivors. Many of the children were placed at special Kinderheim barrack, many, however, were spread at different locations at the concentration camp.
Children were from eight months to fifteen years. In barrack number 211 they survived thanks to the motherly care of two female prisoners. The children came from a variety of countries and had different experiences of the Holocaust. "Polish children" in the Kinderheim were imprisoned in the ghetto already in October 1939. They were witnesses of the mass deportation of their friends and families to the death camps in 1942.
היום הוא יום השירה העולמי. לכן אני מפרסם את התמונה המפורסמת של קורצ'אק "המשורר הקטן מקריא לחבר מבוגר יותר... "וקטע מתוך הספר Jurek Snopek ושלי בהזדמנות זו. קורצ'אק לסיום הזכרונות מהמחנה כותב:
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| From the book of Roman Wasserman Wróblewski and Jurek Snopek (2023). |
"אם החברה לא יכולה לתת למאה וחמישים הילדים האלה שום דבר מעבר לשינה מדוגמת, אז לאחד מהם צריך להיות טיפול זהיר: הוא - הוא משורר סלנג בן 11, אוג'זר פוקי; הוא נהג ללכת לתלמוד-תורה, ושהאב עכשיו משתעל יותר ויש לו פחות אנרגיה לעבוד, אז הילד צריך לעבוד יחד עם אחותו ואחיו הקטן.
הנה התוכן של שניים משיריו:
ילדים שמחים לחזור הביתה להפוך את הירוק של היער לקירות לחים. פרחים צוחקים לשמש, אבל החורף מחכה להם כשהם נובלים.
הנפח עובד יומם ולילה; הפטיש לא נח בידיו. הפטיש קורא ואומר לנפח: שברו את השלשלאות, עבדו לשנות את הלילה. אבל הנפח לא מבין את הפעמון; הוא לא מבין את דברי הפטיש - וממשיך לחיות כפי שחי פעם. אם החברה לא יכולה לתת למאה וחמישים לילדים האלה שום דבר חוץ משינה, אז היא צריכה לתת להם את זה - בית ספר, שבו הוא יוכל לחנך. "
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
6/14 Lea Lazar - After 19 months of "recovery" in Sweden she went on the ship S/S Ulua from Trelleborg to Haifa, to build Eretz Israel.
5/14
The fifth of "my children" that came on the White Boats to Sweden and left 18th months later for Eretz Israel is Koplowicz Hersz. He lives in Tel Aviv. Today he received the Diploma of the Distinguished Member of the SHMA - Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association. Next year Hersz will be 100 years old.
His war history is partially mirrored in his DP-2 card that he received in Lübeck just before entering UNRRAs White Boat, M/S Kronprinsessan Ingrid.
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| The fifth of "my children" that came on the White Boats to Sweden and left 18th months later for Eretz Israel is Koplowicz Hersz. |
6/14
Today a zoom meeting with my "child" number 6/14 - Lea. She was most probably a prisoner of both Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. After 19 months of "recovery" in Sweden she went on S/S Ulua from Trelleborg to Haifa, to build Eretz Israel. Today, she received the Diploma of the Distinguished Member of the SHMA - Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association and the book "The Liberated 1945...".
Lea came to Sweden at the end of April 1945. She has been in for 2 weeks in Landskrona and thereafter she was transferred by train from Malmö to Hässelby (which is now part of Stockholm).
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