Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael קיבוץ מעגן מיכאל, which means Michael Anchorage, in Hebrew, is the largest kibbutz in the country, with over 1,400 residents.
It was named Ma'agan Anchorage, based on the intent of its first settlers to make a living from the sea, and Michael in honour of Michael Polak, who donated money to the Palestine Immigrant Colonization Association (PICA).
Located 30 km south of Haifa, 70 km north of Tel Aviv, kibbutz Ma'agan Michae קיבוץ מעגן מיכאלl sits on the Mediterranean coast, below Mount Carmel, south of bordering kibbutz Ma'ayan Zvi, and north of the Taninim Stream.
Some of this land was reclaimed from Kabarra swamp, drained in the 1920s with money from Baron Rothschild,

On August 25, 1949, kibbutz Ma'agan Michael קיבוץ מעגן מיכאל was founded by a group of 154 members and 44 children who had joined together in 1942, mostly members of the Hebrew Scouts.
The group was originally based in a temporary Jewish Agency camp in Pardes Hannah, where they learned the essential skills needed to create an independent settlement, including how to manage citrus groves, cows, sheep, and chickens.
The group was joined by a larger group of younger immigrants without their parents from Germany and Austria (Youth Aliyah), and were undergoing preparatory training at Ein Gev.
The group stayed in Pardess Hannah until the end of World War II, while several members were sent abroad as emissaries; others joined the Jewish Brigade, the Palmach, worked in other kibbutzim, in the Dead Sea Works at Sdom, or in the newly established Military Industries.
In 1946, the HQ Staff of the Haganah relocated the group to a temporary settlement in Rehovot, later known as Kibbutz Hill.
This settlement was to serve as cover for a secret underground factory to manufacture 9 mm bullets for Sten submachine guns.
The kibbutz members lived a double life to keep information of the illicit underground arms factory away from the British Mandate Forces.
In 1948, the factory was moved to the newly founded Military Industries (TAAS).
The site at Kibbutz Hill in Rehovot was preserved as the Ayalon Museum.
The first members began settling the present site, erecting the first buildings which consisted of wooden huts prepared by carpenters in Rehovot.