La Spezia affair

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The La Spezia affair was an event during the Alija Bet in 1946, as a result of which 1,014 Jews could legally immigrate to Palestine . The affair had repercussions up to and including the abandonment of the League of Nations mandate , which in late 1947 led to the UN resolution to partition Palestine.

prehistory

The Italian port city of La Spezia was an important starting point for illegal immigration to Palestine between 1945 and 1948. The total number of Jews who emigrated to Palestine via Italy is estimated at around 21,000 people who departed from Italy on 35 refugee ships. Italy was particularly suitable for the Alija Bet for several reasons. Due to the war damage and high unemployment, there was no infrastructure to supply the flow of refugees. An early onward journey for the refugees was therefore welcome and encouraged. In addition, as the loser of the war, Italy was controlled by unloved occupying powers . Supporting the Jewish refugees despite the well-known position of the British occupying power was therefore an opportunity for the active opposition. Furthermore, many Italians suffered from the consequences of fascism and, like the refugees, were victims of German war crimes , which supported an emotional fraternization with the Jews.

Despite the large number of Jewish refugees, the actions took place covertly and largely unnoticed. When the two ships Fenice as Hagana ship Eliahu Golomb and Fede as Dov Hoz were ready in the port of La Spezia for the reception of the refugees in April 1946 , some activities of the Mossad le Alija Bet were noticed by the population. This led to increasing rumors and speculation about what was going on in the port. The most common variant was that a group of Italian fascists would try to leave the country and move to Spain . When the local authorities became aware of the rumors, the refugee convoys were ambushed, which were taking the refugees to La Spezia in trucks from various assembly camps. The Italian police arrested a total of 38 trucks with around 1,000 emigrants and some Italian escape helpers. The trucks were stolen British military vehicles.

The claim that the convoy was a secret British military operation did not allay the suspicions of the authorities. Therefore, the Jewish refugees were first arrested and the British secret service in Italy contacted. However, when the rumor of the fleeing fascists was clearly refuted (including by some Jews showing their concentration camp number tattooed on their arms), they were released and taken on board the waiting ships on April 8th. However, the escape operation had already been exposed and the British authorities had been informed.

The La Spezia affair

The exposure made the public aware of the action on a large scale. What previously caused suspicion by the rumors has now turned public opinion into sympathy for the Jewish refugees. The possibility of "wiping out" the unpopular British occupying power in Italy with the support of the Jews increased the wave of popular sympathy. The British administration tried by all means to prevent the departure of the refugee ships. British warships put up a blockade in front of the port of La Spezia to prevent the refugee ships from sailing. There was also strong political pressure on the Italian authorities, and British soldiers continued to board the ships to prepare for the deportation.

Yehuda Arazi , the head of Mossad le Alija Bet in Italy, boarded the Fede and took over the leadership in the resistance against the British blockade. Major Hill of the British Secret Service wanted the ships to be evacuated, but received no support from the Italian police and clear resistance from the Jews. Arazi threatened to blow up the ship if British soldiers tried to get Jewish refugees off board. In addition, Arazi explicitly stated that he could not ensure the safety of British soldiers on board, so that they would have to leave the ships. Citizens of La Spezia repeatedly held pro-Jewish and anti-British rallies in the port. First in the local, and after a short time also in the national press such as B. the Corriere della Sera has been reported. Arazi took advantage of this situation and gave daily press conferences in which, among other things, he called for the release of the Italians who were active as escape helpers . The fate of the Jewish refugees was picked up in the press, from the Holocaust to the struggle for survival in the camps to the hope of a Jewish home in Palestine.

The dispute came to a head on April 25 with a demonstration in La Spezia against the British blockade, led by Jewish demonstrators from the two ships. As a further measure, a hunger strike by the Jewish refugees was called to force the British to surrender. The affair has now become known worldwide through the presence of the media. In addition, Arazi actively sought help and support from great people of the time, including Stalin . Numerous celebrities expressed their sympathy for the Jews through telegrams of support and through petitions to the British ambassador in Rome. The British lost the battle for public opinion and came under increasing pressure. So Sir Harold Laski , leader of the Labor Party , visited La Spezia. He publicly promised to stand up for the interests of the Jews at Attlee and Bevin . Laski's commitment led to the hunger strike being suspended. Arazi, meanwhile, continued the fight for public opinion and organized receptions for dignitaries and influential figures from politics and the military in the port of La Spezia. An Italian police officer was awarded a medal of honor who had been under arrest for helping the Jews to escape.

At first, the British wanted only half of the Jews to enter Palestine legally, the other half should return to their European countries of origin. This was not accepted by the refugees and the hunger strike was resumed. In a press conference announced Arazi that they prefer before the eyes of the world the decision of the refugees suicide wanted to celebrate, as they would give up their goal Palestine. The Jewish refugees in La Spezia were thus more radical than the Zionist leaders in Palestine, who spoke out in favor of a compromise in order to save human lives. Ultimately, the British gave in and promised legal entry for all 1,014 refugees into Palestine. However, this number would be deducted from the annual quota of legal entries into Palestine. Since the Mossad le Alija Bet basically ignored such a quota, it had no influence on further immigration efforts.

On May 8, the Dov Hoz and the Eliahu Golomb La Spezia left for Haifa , which they reached on May 13, 1946. Arazi secretly withdrew and returned to his underground work in Italy. Yehuda Arazi later received the first Medal of Honor for Services to Illegal Immigration for his involvement in the affair.

consequences

The affair damaged the image of British politics in the world. Great Britain's reputation suffered further damage a year later in the wake of the Exodus affair . Both affairs played a major role in Britain's mandate.

After the La Spezia affair, other refugee ships were often accompanied by journalists on board, or at least observed from close by. The two ships involved were able to return to Italy unmolested after the refugees disembarked in Haifa. The Fede made another trip to Palestine at the end of August under the Hagana code name Arba Cheruyot , as did the Fenice as Bracha Fuld in October . Both ships were seized by the British on arrival and the passengers were interned in Cyprus .

The city of La Spezia received the title “Gate to Zion” (Schaar Zion) because of its special role in the Bricha . As such, the city is marked on some Israeli maps. The Exodus was also connected to La Spezia, as the ship was converted into a refugee ship in the nearby port of Porto Venere before going to Sète to take the people on board.

Exodus price

In memory of the two affairs, the Exodus Prize is awarded annually in La Spezia in recognition of intercultural solidarity , in memory of the moral courage and bravery of the Jewish refugees and the citizens of La Spezia. The winners include Moni Ovadia , Tullia Zevi , Elio Toaff , Amos Luzzatto , Predrag Matvejević , Jossi Harel , David Grossmann and Massimiliano Fuksas .

Trivia

The elements of the La Spezia affair, the hunger strike and the ultimately legal entry into Palestine were mixed up with the story of the Exodus in both Leon Uris ' novel Exodus and in the film of the same name . Yehuda Arazi, one of the important people of the Jewish Agency in Italy and heavily involved in the events of the La Spezia affair, also provided the model for Uri's fictional character Ari Ben Kanaan.

literature

  • Thomas Albrich, Ronald W. Zweig: Escape Through Austria: Jewish Refugees and the Austrian Route to Palestine ; Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., London 2002; ISBN 0-7146-5213-X
  • Idith Zertal: From Catastrophe To Power: Holocaust survivors and the emergence of Israel ; University of California Press, Los Angeles; ISBN 0-520-21578-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.israelidecorations.net/Haganah.htm
  2. ↑ The city and its history. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011 ; accessed on March 12, 2018 .

Web links