From 1944 to 1948, Irgun and Lehi men were deported by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities to internment camps in Africa, located in Sembel (near Asmara, Eritrea), Carthago, Sudan, and Gilgil (north of Nairobi, Kenya). Irgun (ארגון shorthand for HaIrgun HaTzva'i HaLe'umi BeEretz Yisra'el, he הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל "National Military Organization Lehi ('lɛxi Hebrew acronym for Lohamei Herut Israel, "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel" לח"י - לוחמי חירות The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement Sembel was the site of a village near Asmara however it is now a suburb of Asmara, Eritrea to the south Asmara (English ( Ge'ez: ኣስመራ Asmera, formerly known as Asmera, or in أسمرا Asmaraa Eritrea () ( Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritriya) officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in Nairobi (naɪˈroʊbɪ is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south The deportees were returned only after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in July 1948. The Israeli Declaration of Independence (הכרזת העצמאות Hakhrazat HaAtzma'ut or מגילת העצמאות Megilat HaAtzma'ut) made on 14 May

Meir Shamgar (right} next to Shmuel Tamir and other detainees in Gilgil. Meir Shamgar (b Danzig, 1925 was President of the Israeli Supreme Court from 1983 until 1995 Shmuel M Tamir (שמואל תמיר born Shmuel Katzenelson on 10 March 1923, died 29 June 1987) was a prominent Israeli

The deportation

Irgun posters. Left: "Remember: Today it's them, tomorrow it's you who shall be deported". Right: "Banishment of Jews from their homeland - unpredicated disgrace, unforgivable crime".

The decision

The decision to deport the underground members to Africa was made by the British following the radicalization of their activities and the recommendation of the chief secretary, substitute of the High Commissioner, John Shaw. High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking special executive positions held by a commission of appointment John Shaw may refer to any of the following people Captain John Shaw (navy (1773&ndash1823 Captain in the United States Navy John Shaw After several successful escapes from the Latroun internment camp, the chance of them recurring in Africa seemed smaller. Latrun (اللطرون al-Latrun; לטרון is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley overlooking the road to Jerusalem. ^[1] The British also believed the deportation to have a strong deterring element. The proponents of the decision did not believe it to be a substitute for the political solution of dividing the land, but hoped it would weaken the undergrounds and allow the moderate Jewish forces to promote a compromising solution.

The execution

"Operation Snowball" was executed in one day, October 19, 1944, with speed and surprise. The detainees in Latroun were put on board airplanes. The first wave included 251 detainees and eventually a total of 439 men, approximately half of the underground detainees, were deported. ^[2][1] According to estimations, approximately 60 percent of them were Irgun men, 30 percent were Lehi members and the rest neutral.

The undergrounds reacted strongly and denounced the deportation as a Nazi act, and intended to carry out a fight to return them. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German In fact, the assassination of Lord Moyne by Lehi men brought about "The Hunting Season". Walter Edward Guinness 1st Baron Moyne DSO and Bar Queen's South Africa Medal MID PC ( 29 March 1880 – 6 November The Hunting Season or The Saison (הסזון short for) was the name given to the struggle conducted by the Haganah against the Irgun in late The Yishuv institutions' protest was feeble, if at all. Yishuv (ישוב literally "settlement" or Ha-Yishuv (the Yishuv הישוב or the full term הישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל Hayishuv Hayehudi ^[3] This raised suspicions among the detainees that the Jewish Agency might be involved in the deportation plans. The Jewish Agency for Israel (Hebrew הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) also known as the Sochnut or JAFI

The legal struggle

Irgun men, headed by Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, appealed to the Supreme Court which accepted their claims in part, noting that the rendition was unauthorized, but that the arrest was nevertheless legitimate, since it was enforced by a warrant from the Eritrean government. Aryeh Ben-Eliezer (אריה בן אליעזר 16 December 1913 – 29 January 1970) was a Revisionist Zionist leader Irgun A supreme court, also called a court of last resort or high court, is in some Jurisdictions the highest judicial body within that jurisdiction's Despite the legal setback, it was a moral victory which led the local newspapers to disfavor the deportation. Most of the detainees were not tried and were interned by the power of the emergency regulations, according to which they could be arrested based on mere suspicion, a fact that was criticized in the internal British correspondence as well.

The conditions of internment

The conditions in the Sembel camp were not inferior to the ones in Latroun, despite the lack of many means of convenience, from books to clothes and toothbrushes. ^[3] For religious, national honor, and provocation reasons, the detainees insisted on receiving kosher food, and eventually kosher meat was brought to them from the Jewish community of Khartoum. Khartoum ( الخرطوم al-Kharṭūm) is the Capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State.

The conditions were worse in the Carthago camp, to which they were taken in early 1945, mostly due to the heat and lack of water. Yishuv officials who tried to intercede on behalf of the detainees were told that the complaints were completely made up. The detainees stayed there for nine months, and then taken back to Sembel. ^[3]

The Gilgil camp.

Things were not much better in the third camp, the one in Gilgil, were they were held from March 1947. Formerly a military prison, the place contained dark and suffocating cells and was full of mosquito and sewage water. A mutinous act by the detainees, in which they demolished a wall to cover the drainage finally convinced the camp commander to improve their conditions. ^[3]

The British encouraged an extensive educational activity, including language classes by detainee Uzi Ornan, and others, including Meir Shamgar^[4] and Shmuel Tamir^[5] studied law through correspondence with British universities. Uzzi Ornan (עוזי אורנן also Uzi Ornan) (born June 7 1923 is an Israeli Linguist and social activist. Meir Shamgar (b Danzig, 1925 was President of the Israeli Supreme Court from 1983 until 1995 Shmuel M Tamir (שמואל תמיר born Shmuel Katzenelson on 10 March 1923, died 29 June 1987) was a prominent Israeli

The bloody incident

Relations with the command staff were generally good, albeit with one notable exception. On January 17, 1946, in the Sembel camp Sudanese soldiers shot two detainees dead. The incident started when a detainee refused to back off from the fence as ordered, he was shot. The guards delayed his taking to a hospital, and the detainees broke down the gate. The guards opened fire and killed two of them. For reasons that remain unclear, the British refused to transfer the bodies to burial in Eretz Israel, and it only took place after the state of Israel was established. For other uses see Israel (disambiguation The Land of Israel ( Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל Eretz Yisrael) is ^[3]

The Yishuv was infuriated, and demanded the appointment of an inquiry committee, but the British army insisted that the guards behaved correctly. ^[3] Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was eventually sent to the camp as moderator, and his activity was more satisfactory to the British than the detainees. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1889&ndash1959 also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State, his term lasting from 1921

Escape attempts

First attempts

The first attempt was made Sembel in January 1945, when three detainees buried themselves in an athletics field. When the guards left it at night, they came out and went to Asmara. A man from the Jewish community tried to help them, but they were caught at a British checkpoint when they took a bus to the border.

The second attempt, in March 1945, at Carthago, consisted of a run to the hills by three Lehi men, but without a plan they were caught in no time.

The third attempt, in September 1945, was carefully planned. Three men, including Yitzhak Shamir^[6] and Yaakov Meridor, who was so eager to escape he did not try to use his senior position in the Irgun to become a leader in the camp, tried to hide in water tanks and bribe the Sudanese driver transporting them. (יִצְחָק שָׁמִיר born Icchak Jaziernicki on 15 October 1915 was Prime Minister of Israel from 1983 to 1984 and again from 1986 to 1992 Yaakov Meridor (יעקב מרידור born Yaakov Viniarsky on 29 September 1913, died 30 June 1995) was a Revisionist They traveled across Sudan, using fabricated British Intelligence certificates. The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS) colloquially known as MI6 is the United Kingdom 's external Intelligence agency. The certificates finally aroused the suspicion of a train conductor in Khartoum, who called the security service, which caught them six days after their escape. ^[7][1]

Attempts in Asmara

The fourth attempt was made in Sembel in November 1945. It was relatively spontaneous and based mostly on trust put in the assistance of the local Jewish community. Their trust paid off, and two escapees arrived in Ethiopia, disguised as Arab women. NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page There, they were arrested and placed in Ethiopian prisons. The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie was pressured by the British as well as Jews, and eventually agreed to turn them in, perhaps in exchange for an imprisoned family member. Haile Selassie I ( Ge'ez: am ኃይለ፡ ሥላሴ "Power of the Trinity " 23 July 1892 &ndash 27 August 1975 born Tafari Makonnen, was A third escapee stayed in Eritrea and was caught. The fourth escapee, Eliyahu Lankin, who further utilized local Jews, was jailed in Addis Ababa, but was released thanks to interceding with the emperor. Eliyahu Lankin (אליהו לנקין 25 September 1914 – 10 August 1994) was a Revisionist Zionist activist Irgun Addis Ababa (sometimes spelled Addis Abeba, the spelling used by the official Ethiopian Mapping Authority Amharic In early 1947 he became the only escapee to arrive in Europe before 1948. ^[7][1]

The fifth attempt, in July 1946 in Asmara, was a mass one. Two deep tunnels were dug. 54 out of 150 detainees who were to escape were divided into two groups, one to be headed by Meridor and the other by Shlomo Lev-Ami. The first was to wander to Ethiopia using carefully made British uniform costumes. ^[1] The other was to hide in Asmara. The first group was soon caught. They kept their promise and did nor resist. The second group managed to hide for a longer while. Five of them, including Shamgar, tried to hide in an oil tanker but were caught. The British managed to trace a few more of them through the Jewish community, but some remained at large.

The sixth attempt, in September 1946 in Sembel, once again included Meridor and another Irgun man, was made by breaking holes in the ceilings. Meridor and his comrade escaped and met with the remaining escapees from the fifth attempt. They were all eventually caught by the British intelligence.

The seventh attempt

This attempt, in Sembel, took advantage of the superficial blocking of one of the tunnels dug in the fifth attempt. The detainees dug a short tunnel to bypass the block. Meridor was once again involved, along with four others, including Shamir. Using The Asmaran Jews was no longer an option, but through the camp's Rabbi an Italian Jew, Dr. Giuseppe Levi, was contacted. He assisted them in finding shelter for a fee with an Italian national in Asmara.

After over a month in hiding they arrived, after many hardships, in Addis Ababa. Two of them, Shamir and Ben-Eliezer, turned to Djibouti, with the help of a local Rabbi. Djibouti ( جيبوتي Jībūtī, Somali: Jabuuti) officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the On arrival, they were anticipated by British policemen, but the French were reluctant to turn them in, and they used fabricated South American certificates to demand their release. They were eventually transfered to France, using the Irgun's excellent contacts with French government officials, and were released in early May 1948. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

The other three were returned to the camp in August 1947, after a long hiding period in Addis Ababa and just before boarding a plane chartered by Irgun supporters to get them to Paris. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

The eighth attempt

The eighth and last attempt took place in Gilgil in late March 1948. The attempt was controversial, considering the previous failures, and even the Irgun commander Menachem Begin's support was tepid. (מְנַחֵם בְּגִין Mieczysław Biegun Менахем Вольфович Бегин 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992 was the sixth prime minister of the State of Israel

Once again it was led by Meridor and involved digging a tunnel. Using improvised printing machines and the Larousse Encyclopedia, El Salvador and Honduras passports were forged, complete with replications of their symbols. El Salvador ( República de El Salvador,) is a country in Central America. Honduras in Spanish, República de Honduras) is a democratic republic in Central America. The plan also involved the support of two Rabbies, detainee David Kahane, and the Johannesburg Rabbi, Levi Rabinowitz, who smuggled in vital information. Johannesburg ( Pronounced /jō-hān'ĭs-bûrg'/ is the largest city in South Africa.

Having crawled to the other side of the fence, a ride was there to take them to Uganda. The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. From there, they made it to Belgian Congo. The Belgian Congo ( Dutch: Belgisch Kongo French: Congo Belge German: Belgisch Kongo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic From that point on, the flight to Brussels went smoothly, and by early April the six Irgun men were free. Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is

Another escape attempt was planned, but was thwarted once the success of the previous one was published. Unaware of the fact that the escapees were already safely in Europe, the British authorities raided Kenya.

Return to Israel

Despite their intention to leave Palestine, by the end of 1947 the British were still reluctant to return the detainees. The authorities were concerned that they might beat their rear, assuming that the British might go back on their word once the violent struggle is over. ^[8]

Even after the declaration of independence, the British still postponed the detainees' return, despite their protests. The reason given was the need for keeping the truce rules, which included banning the entrance of young men eligible for military service. An additional difficulty arose from the need to get them across the Suez Canal via Egypt, who would had no reason to allow it. The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Another factor that might have affected the decision was a pro-Arab line of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the United Kingdom Government heading the Oppositely, the governor of Kenya was afraid of riots and put pressure to get them out of his country. ^[8]

Ironically, it was eventually Folke Bernadotte - who would later be assassinated by Lehi - who decreed that their return would not violate the truce. Despite the Altalena affair, the Jewish authorities expressed an unequivocal support of their return, although Moshe Sharett did not rule out the option of arresting them immediately on arrival, fearing that they might subvert the government. The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun, a paramilitary Jewish group Moshe Sharett (משה שרת born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew משה שרתוק on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second ^[8]

The final decision was made following a question by Samuel Segal. Samuel Segal Baron Segal MRCS, LRCP, MA (Oxon ( 2 April 1902 &ndash 4 June 1985) was a British doctor and ^[8] On July 9, the ship boarding the detainees set sail to Israel and arrived three days later. ^[1] They were not greeted by any formal ceremony and quickly turned to take part in the 1948 Israeli-Arab War.

References

This article is, entirely or partially, a translation from Hebrew Wikipedia.

Bibliography

• Eliash, Shulamit (1996). Irgun and Lehi in exile: In the internment camps in Africa, 1944-1948. Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press. ISBN 9789652261557.   (Hebrew)
• Meridor, Yaakov (1985). Long is the road to freedom, 1st U. S. ed, Distributed by Sparks & Co, 363. ISBN 0933447000.  
• Omer, Devorah (1976). The escape to freedom. Karni, 243.   (Hebrew)