Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

SS Pacific
Built: 1880
Capacity: 563 tons

In late 1940, while the Germans were trying to deport the Jews of Europe, rather than exterminating them, and Adolf Eichmann headed The Committee for Sending Jews Overseas, Berthold Storfer, a Jewish businessman, worked under Adolf Eichmann. and organized two groups of transports, one organized on behalf of the Jewish community of Wien, and the second, organized with Betar.
Adolf Eichmann was happy to make trouble for the British by allowing Jews to leave for Palestine, counter to the policy of the British White Paper of 1939, and against the unofficial British policy, which did not even allow Jews into Palestine.
The Committee for Sending Jews Overseas, chartered three ships in Romania:
* Atlantic
* Pacific
* Milos

Judith Caro cites: On September 14, 1940, they walked across the gangway from S/S Uranus to SS Pacific, watched by the Romanian military.

On October 1, 1940, crew arrived by boat.
Judith Caro sites: "They were Greeks and looked as if they had been recruited from a jail."
The crew went on strike on the second day, demanding to be paid in advance, in dollars.
The Captain, who was also Greek taught the passengers how to keep the overloaded ship balanced.

On October 6, 1940, SS Pacific sailed from Tulcea at midday, and passed Sulina.
The crew had checked the six lifeboats on board, and greased the anchor winches, after moving sixty sacks of ships' biscuits which were stored on top of the anchor chain.

On October 6, 1940, David Shpitzer, his wife and son, Dan, age 14 years, sailed on SS Pacific sailed from Tulcea for Palestine.
Dan Shefy cites: Au mois de décembre, 1939, "nous sommes arrivés à Bratislava, mais le fleuve du Danube était gelé. Nous avons dû patienter jusqu'au mois de septembre pour entreprendre la traversée vers Israël. Nous avons alors navigué vers Tulcea, en Roumanie, et de là nous avons faitescale au bord du Pacific.¨
"We arrived in Bratislava, but the frozen waters of the Danube prevented us from sailing on to the Land of Israel. Finally, in September 1940, we sailed from Tulcea, a Romanian port city, aboard the Pacific."

On October 8, 1940, SS Pacific left the grey waters of the Danube River, and entered the green water of the Black Sea.

On October 10, 1940, SS Pacific was spotted by the Bulgarian Coast Guard, and she had to enter Varna.
She was supposed to take twenty more Maaplim, and in exchange, she was to be given food, coal and drinking water, but after lengthy negotiations, forty extra people came on board, and, in exchange, only half of the food promise was delivered.

On October 11, 1940, SS Pacific פסיפיק sailed from Sulina, organized by Mossad leAliyah Bet, carrying 962 passengers.
Abraham J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit cite SS Pacific פסיפיק sailing from Tulcea, carrying 1,100 passengers.
Dahlia Ofer cites SS Pacific פסיפיק carrying 1,061 passengers, including 470 Hechalutz and Zionist movement members from Berlin, 432 Maapilim from Bratislava, 84 from Wien, and 75 maapilim who boarded in Bulgaria.
Judith Caro cites: "All 1,125 passengers from the Uranus must board the Pacific.", SS Pacific sailed from Tulcea.
Isaac Nehama cites SS Pacific פסיפיק sailed from Tulcea on Sepyember 11, 1940, carrying 1,33 passengers.

On October 16, 1940, Pacific stopped for fuel and food at Istanbul, and a pilot came on board, because the Bosphorus was mined.

On October 20, 1940, SS Pacific פסיפיק entered the Mediterranean Sea, and stopped at a small island, where the heating pipes could be cleaned.
The crew went ashore to deposit their wages into the Greek bank, or otherwise the English would confiscate the money.

On October 22, 1940, SS Pacific entered the Bay of Aghios Nikolaos Άγιος Νικόλαος, where she took on barrels of drinking water, fresh bread and vegetables.
Sephardic Horizons (Isaac Nehama) cites SS Pacific פסיפיק docked at Lavrio Λαύριο and Heraklion Ηράκλειον in early November, 1940, for provisions.

On November 1, 1940, Pacific arrived in Haifa חיפה, and dropped anchor within 300 meters of the harbour entrance.
The yellow quarantine flag flew from her mast and the emergency light was still on.
Geneviève Pitot, Donna Edouard, and Helen Topor cite Pacific arrived on November 3, 1940.
She was intercepted by British Naval Patrol, having run out of coal 48 hours earlier.
The Captain and crew were arrested and interned in Akko for 6 months.
At 11:00AM, an English police boat arrived, and three officers inspected SS Pacific.
They left a guard on board and the harbor doctor came on board at 13L00PM, because they had a few cases of typhoid, and sent drinking water, oranges and fresh bread.
On November 3, 1940, Milos מילוס arrived in Haifa, having reached Palestinian waters a few days after the Pacific.
With advance warning of the ships' arrival, the British Colonial Office was determined to refuse entry to the immigrants, and had the British Royal Navy intercept the three ships sailing in convoy, Pacific, Atlantic and Milos מילוס, and escort them to Haifa חיפה.

On November 6, 1940, the Maapilim on board SS Pacific and Milos were informed that we were to be transferred to a troop transporter, Patria, in the harbour for a two week quarantine.

On November 10, 1940, the health commission came aboard SS Patria, and the Maapilim were vaccinated against typhoid.
The following day, the Maapilim were individually interviewed by German-speaking CID officers.
The leaders applied to the High Commissioner, for asylum for the Maapilim, and newspapers were smuggled aboard, from which the Maapilim learned that the efforts were not getting anywhere.

On November 12, 1940, British warships forced SS Pacific to sail towards Cyprus Κύπρος.
Some of the passengers were transferred to SS Patria,for transfer to Mauritius.
On November 20, 1940, an explosion on SS Patria during the transfer, later disclosed as sabotage carried out by Haganah הגנה, took the lives of 267 passengers.
Sirens went off in Haifa harbor, Jewish rescue forces came to help. and all kinds of boats came to save the Maapilim.
Dan Shefy cites: "We descended in boats to a storehouse in the port. Families reunited and many waited long hours until information came in about the fatalities,"
"Only at night we learned who wasn't rescued. The scenes were heartbreaking."