Susana (ship)
The Susana was a cargo ship that became known as the Shabtai Luzinski immigration ship during the illegal immigration of European Jews to Palestine in 1947.
Immigrant ship
The Susana was converted by Palyam members in Porto Venere in February 1947 for the transport of immigrants. Then she went to Metapont and took 650 immigrants on board. On March 4, the ship left for Palestine together with the Albertina . For this trip, the Susana was given the Hagana code name Shabtay Luzinsky , in memory of a Mossad member who was killed in a car accident in Rome on January 18, 1947 while serving as envoy for the Jewish Agency .
After a five-day journey, Susana took over the immigrants and part of the Albertina's Jewish team as planned . The Albertina, however, took over non-Jewish crew members from the Susana , as well as several Palmachniks and returned to Italy . The Albertina thus fulfilled the function of an escort ship .
With now 823 immigrants on board, the Susana continued the voyage to Israel. Around 130 of these immigrants were already militarily trained and trained in the camps in Europe according to a plan by David Ben Gurion , in order to reinforce the Hagana immediately after their arrival in Israel .
The Susana reached the coast at Nizanim near Tel Aviv undetected on March 12 at noon , where she was expected by the Palyam. Because of the storm and the high waves, the immigrants could not be brought ashore in the ship's own rowing boats as planned . In order to reduce the distance to the bank, the master steered the ship closer until the Susana ran aground about 120 m from the bank. A rope was stretched from the ship to the shore, and palyamniks pulled themselves from the shore to the ship with rowboats along the rope, took over immigrants and pulled themselves back to the shore by the rope. In order to speed up the disembarkation - the Susana was still not discovered by the British despite the daylight and the proximity to Tel Aviv - the healthy and stronger immigrants were instructed to jump into the water with life jackets and swim to the shore. On the bank, the immigrants were immediately distributed to the surrounding Jewish settlements and hidden there.
After about three hours, such a convoy , which was transporting the Susana passengers to a settlement, was accidentally stopped by a British patrol. The reinforcements, alerted immediately, cordoned off the stretch of beach and arrested the immigrants present there, and a British destroyer secured the area from the seaside . At that time around 250 immigrants were successfully hidden in the hinterland. A boat with sailors who were to take command of the Susana was set down from the destroyer. But the boat capsized in the rough sea, and three British drowned.
When it became known in the Jewish settlements that the Susana had been discovered, numerous Jewish civilians came to the beach and mingled with the immigrants. This was intended to hinder and confuse the British in their actions. However, the British arrested all Jews present and took them to the military base in Ashkelon for identification . Since the Jews had destroyed all documents and only answered all questions with "I am a Jew from Israel", the British were largely unsuccessful in Ashkelon as well. That is why over 900 Jews were transported to Haifa by truck .
After the thorough inspection in Haifa, around 240 Jews were released and around 700 were taken to the Xylotumbou internment camp in Cyprus with the two deportation ships Empire Rival and Empire Shelter as part of Operation Igloo . In two waves of layoffs on March 15 and 28, a total of 325 Jews were sent back to Israel. However, the British never managed to finally sort out the immigrants; at least 255 successful deceptions are known. There were both immigrants who passed through as "natives" in Ashkelon or Haifa, or who were sent back from Cyprus in March, as well as natives who in various cases remained in the camps in Cyprus until May 15, 1948.
Trivia
The solidarity between the locals and the immigrants of the Susana was sung by the well-known Israeli singer Haim Hefer in the song Schoschana, Schoschana.
The Susana was the only ship that was discovered by the British during the disembarkation of the immigrants. This event was picked up in the film " Milk and Honey " and mixed with the events on other immigrant ships.
Web links
- Susana at Palmach.org.il (engl.)