Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Between l943-l946, Yanni Avidov undertook many dangerous missions in neighboring, and hostile,
He was almost caught in Syria.
In 1946, he was sent to Egypt.

In September, 1946, Reuven Yatir יתיר was sent to Greece, where Yanni Avidov אבידב was stationed, to acquire boats for Mossad le Aliyah Bet.

Yosef Lazarovsky boarded a ship in Haifa חיפה, with no papers, but did have a belt that contained gold coins to be delivered to Yanni Avidov, chief of Mossad le Aliyah Bet in Greece.
When the boat arrived at Piraeus Πειραιάς, Benyamin Yerushalmi came aboard, and when he got off the boat, Yosef Lazarovsky followed him to the house Mossad leAliyah Bet used in Athens Αθήνα.

In 1947, Yanni Avidov, serving as representative of the Jewish Agency, arrived in Algers, and contacted Ephraim Ben Haim and Aizer Cherki, who described to him the plight of the Jews in Arab countries.
In May, 1947, as a result of the meeting, two boats sailed from Algeria, carrying Maapilim to Morocco.

 

After seven years living on kibbutz Ein Harod קיבוץ עין חרוד, Yanni Avidov, his wife, Nessia, and their children, moved across the valley.

In 1943, during the British Mandate period, the Haganah dug a weapons cache (slik), 5 meters deep and 25 square meters in area, under the cesspit for collecting cow urine, adjacent Yanni Avidov's cowshed, at moshav Nahalal מושב נהלל.
During Black Sabbath, June 28, 1946, the entrance to the slik was sealed to prevent discovery by the British.
Not until 1948, was the slik reopened; to provide arms to the combat forces during the 1948 War of Independence.

In September, 1946. MV Αθηνά Athinai was acquired by Mossad leAliyah Bet.
Reuven Yatir , who was sent to Greece, to work with Yanni Avidov, cites because of delays in arranging finances, seller and buyer agreed to move the vessel from Piraeus Πειραιάς to a protected bay in the island of Sapienza, out of reach of the Greek and British authorities.
The acquisition of MV Αθηνά Athinai was concluded in mid-October, 1946.
Reuven Yatir cites: "When the deal with the “Rafiah” was closed, we accompanied her to Bakar. En route we ran up onto a rock and had to be towed. No damage was visible. The British came along to check the identity of the vessel. We vanished on a fishing vessel that we had prepared for such an
emergency. When the whole affair was over the Greek Captain received orders to return to Piraeus. We met the “Rafiah” at sea, boarded it, took possession, and took it to Bakar."

In September, 1946, Reuven Yatir יתיר was sent to Greece, where Yanni Avidov אבידב was stationed, to acquire boats for Mossad le Aliyah Bet.

Levi Schwartz and Shaar 'Sharik' Yashuv looked for for orphaned Jewish children who they could send to Palestine.

Yanni Avidov, of Mossad leAliyah Bet, prepared Henriettta Szold הנרייטה סולד for the voyage from Greece.
Shmuel Samek Yanai שמואל סמק ינאי cites: "Yanni Avidov took the place of Levi Schwartz. Yanni’s chief aim in life was to save children. He, together with his helper, Shaar Yashuv (Sharik from Kibbutz Bet Hashita), went from monastery to monastery looking for Jewish children whose parents had left them there when they were taken to Auschwitz. They gathered about 400 children and brought them to a special camp. The next ship was to be for them. Even before we had a ship, Yanni had already named it the “Henriettta Szold”, in honor of the founder of the Aliyat Ha'Noar."

Ofer Avidov cites Yani Avidov "spent a lot of time with Alterman and was devastated by his death,"