Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

מחנה המעצר בעתלית
מחנה המעפילים בעתלית
Atlit Detention Camp
Atlit Illegal Immigration Detention Camp
Atlit detainee camp
Atlit
Ahtlit

Atlit עתלית is located several kilometers south of Haifa, near the remains of the ancient port city of Atlit.
Atlit was inhabited during the Early Canaanite, Late Canaanite and Israelite periods.
Its Canaanite name was Qarta or Certha.
Later, its natural large bay, Atlit served as a Phoenician port, which, during the 8th and 9th century BC, probably served the commerce with the Israelite Kingdom.
Atlit was originally an outpost of the Crusaders, built in conjunction with the castle in Caesarea.
In the 13th Century, the Crusaders built Chateau Pelerin (Castellum Peregrinorum), one of the biggest citadels in the Holy Land, to add a port and protect the pilgrimage road from Acco to Jerusalem.
Atlit was the last remaining Crusader outpost to withstand the assaults of Baibars.
In 1291, Atlit was evacuated by the Crusaders.
The fortress was repaired and held by the Mamlukes, but subsequently ordered the much of the fortifications dismantled for fear it might be reoccupied.
During the 19th century, the fort was heavily damaged by an earth quake, and many of its stones were looted and reused by the Turks in other cities. but Its ruins are still visible.

In 1880, the authors of the Survey of Western Palestine described Atlit as a hamlet of adobe bricks with about 200 Arab inhabitants.
In 1903, Jewish settlers build a nearby village also named Atlit, on land purchased by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

During the British Mandate of Palestine, the Arab and Jewish villages of Atlit were treated statistically as part of the same community.
In 1938 there were 508 Arabs and 224 Jews.
The Arab presence underwent a sharp decline in the 1940s due to land sales.
By 1944/5, there were only 150 Arabs still living there (90 Muslims and 60 Christians) alongside about 2000 Jews.

In 1938, the a British built military camps and ammunition dumps at Atlit, which, from 1939 -1948, functioned as a detainee facility for thousands of Maapilim, illegal Jewish immigrants.
The camp was run like a concentration camp, surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers.
Many of the Maapilim had escaped Nazi Europe, refused entry to Palestine because the British authorities succumbed to Arab demands to limit Jewish immigration.

In November 1940, the British authorities sent 5,000 "illegals" to Mauritius.
One of these ships was Patria.
On November 25, 1940, to stop the deportation, the Haganah הגנה exploded a bomb in Patria's hold, but the size of the explosive charge had been miscalculated, and it blasted a larger hole than expected.
Patria sank, and of the 1,800 refugees on board; 216 drowned, aswell as two dozen British soldiers, drowned
The survivors of the Patria disaster were detained in Atlit עתלית, not deported to Mauritius, and released after a few months.

In March, 1941, Darien II arrived with 800 passengers, who were detained at the Atlit Detention Camp until September 1942, when the camp was shut down.

In 1945, the Atlit Detention Camp was reopened, following World War II, as more and more "illegals" arrived. Most were Holocaust survivors from DP camps in Europe, who made the journey through Brichah and Haapalah (Aliyah Bet) clandestine immigration network.
Palyam.org cites: "From January to July 1946, 10,200 ma’apilim were interned in Atlit. They arrived on 11 Aliya Bet vessels that did not succeed to run the British blockade."

On October 10, 1945, Nahum Sarig and Yitzhak Rabin led the 1st Company of the Palmach פלמ"ח in a military operation, breaking into the Atlit Detention Camp מחנה המעצר בעתלית, and freeing the 208 detainees.
Sara Yoheved Rigler cites: "At 1 AM on the night of October 9, 1945, two platoons of the Palmach (the elite strike force of the Hagana), led by Nachum Sarig, cut the barbed wire fences on the north end of the camp. Some Palmach fighters stealthily climbed the watch towers and knocked out, tied, and gagged the guards. Others woke up the sleeping prisoners, whose belongings were already packed."
Zehava Yariv cites 210-220 Maapilim at Atlit Detention Camp מחנה המעצר בעתלית, who, according to rumor, were not going to be given certificates, and would be sent somewhere outside Palestine.
Yitzhak Rabin planned the raid, Nachum Sarig commanded the operation, and Yoske Yariv was among the leaders of the operation.
The main group of Palmach פלמ"ח went from Yagur קיבוץ יגור to Beit Oren קיבוץ בית אורן, then down the Carmel to Atlit Detention Camp מחנה המעצר בעתלית, where several men had already prepared the Maapilim, and would overpower the guards on watch.
Yitzhak Rabin and Nachum Sarig went with the Maapilim to Yagur קיבוץ יגור, while Yoske Yariv and the rest of the platoon stayed to clean up.
This signaled the beginning of the armed struggle of the Palmach פלמ"ח against the British, which contined until the summer of 1947.
In response, the British began deportion of Maapilim to internment camps in Cyprus Κύπρος, that operated from 1946 through the establishment of the State of Israel ישראל, in 1948.

On November 22, 1945, Berl Katznelson ברל כצנלסון Demetrius was sighted by HMS Peacock, lying close to shore, with 4 or 5 small boats ferrying Maapilim ashore.
Fritz Liebreich cites: on November 25, 1945, approximately 200 Maapilim landed at Shefayim שפיים from the Berl Katznelson ברל כצנלסון Demetrius.
Ninian Steward cites: "No resistance was offered to Peacock's boarding party of an officer and five men, who found 20 dirty but fit and well clothed illegal immigrants onboard."
"Three hours after the Peacock's suspicions were first aroused, HMS Haydon on an adjacent patrol line sighted another flare and pursued two small fishing boats making for the shore. These were rounded up with some difficulty, the final arrest taking the destroyer drawing 17 feet, into only 30 feet of water. Similar craft were seen on the beach, as were people on the low sand cliff tops, and since these events took place between 0300 and 0500 they were thought to be a reception party."
"Both the captured boats were towed by the Haydon's motorboat to Jaffa and handed over to the Police with their crews, who spent six months in prison."
The British arrested 20 Maapilim and Palyamnikim, who were interned at Latrun לטרון‎.
Uzi Dayan cites: Moshe Rabinovitch, Yedidya Tzafrir and eleven passengers were caught and sent to Atlit עתלית Detention Camp, and a dozen Palyam members, including Yosef Almog and Yosef Dror, who had aided transfer of passengers with their rowboats, were arrested, and interned at Latrun לטרון‎ for 6 months.

On June 29, 1946, Black Saturday, following the British search for Palmach members and their weapons in kibbutz Yagur and Sdot Yam, all the prisoners were moved to Atlit Detention Camp.
After few days of interrogation, the prisoners were transferred to Rafiah Detention Camp.
The British had also intercepted Josiah Wedgwood at the same time, and her Maapilim were detained in a temporary tent camp adjacent to Atlit Detention Camp, where they remained until those arrested on Black Saturday were released or transferred from Atlit Detention Camp, to make room.

On August 16, 1946, Idéros Amiram Shochat עמירם שוחט neared the coast at Caesarea.קיסריה, at 32° 32’ N 34° 50’ E
Yonatan Kinarti (Palyam) cites "During the night, Amiram Shochat set ashore her 180 passengers, and turned back to sea, returning outside territorial waters, where she could not be arrested."
Fritz Liebreich cites an unknown caique, believed to be the Ile de la Rose, renamed Amiram Shochat עמירם שוחט, landed at Atlit עתלית on August 15/16, 1946.
Fritz Liebreich cites Idéros Amiram Shochat עמירם שוחט landing ar Sdot Yam שדות ים (It had never been made clear whether Ile de la Rose and Idéros were in fact one and the same vessel.)
Three small boats, Tirza תרצה, Rivka רבקה and Dov דוב‎, rowed out to unload the passengers.
Passengers were taken to Hadera חדרה, Binyamina בנימינה, kibbutz Sdot Yam קיבוץ שדות ים, Neveh Haim נווה חיים‎, and the religious moshav, Kfar HaRoeh כפר הרא"ה.
Ilan Braun cites Serge Christian Texier stated that Idéros Amiram Shochat עמירם שוחט was deliberately rammed by a British warship right after the landing in Palestine, and suffered much structural damage as well as damage to her engine.

In 1948, immediately following the establishment of the State of Israel, the 25 acre camp at Atlit became an absorption center.

Mataroa docked at Haifa, and all the passengers were put unto railway wagons, and transported by the British soldiers to Atlit detention camp.

The Atlit Detention Camp became a museum dedicated to the pre-State illegal immigration, and a national monument, telling the story of the struggle of Jews fleeing Europe from NAZI persecution and death, trying to reach British controlled Palestine.

Atlit עתלית is the base for Israel's naval commando squadron, Shayetet 13, and the port is not open to the public due to the nature of its operations, used exclusively by the Israeli Navy.

Menachem Katz won prizes in architecture, published a book on architecture, and designed the museum at kibbutz Baram in memory of the Jews of Berezhany.
He initiated the renovation of the Atlit Detention Camp and designed the reconstructed camp.