Shabbat in Tel-Aviv - Memory of Aliyah Beth and Maapilim

Now the London Park is filled by two monuments commemorating  Maapilim - the Holocaust survivors that were trying to reach Eretz Israel during and after WWII.

Maapilim - the Holocaust survivors that were trying to reach Eretz Israel during and after WWII. Most of the ships with Maapilim were captured by British and Maapilim - the Holocaust survivors were sent to detention camps in Cyprus or in Palestine.

Next to my hotel in Tel-Aviv at Hayarkon street, was London Park. The park was dedicated to the people of London by the Tel Aviv municipality in 1942, in a gesture of admiration for their heroic stand in the face of German bombs.

Now, ironically, the London Park is filled by two monuments commemorating Maapilim - the Holocaust survivors that were trying to reach Eretz Israel during and after WWII. Most of the ships with Maapilim were captured by British –and Maapilim- the Holocaust survivors were sent to detention camps in Cyprus or in Palestine. Many of Maapilims were wounded when British soldiers tried to capture Maapilim ships.

Maapilim on the way to Eretz Israel

Over 100,000 Maapilim attempted to illegally enter Eretz Israel. There were 142 voyages by 120 ships. Over half were stopped by the British patrols. The Royal Navy had eight war ships on station in Mandate of Palestine, and additional ships were tasked with tracking suspicious vessels heading for Palestine. Most of the intercepted immigrants were sent to internment camps in Cyprus.