Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Bratislava
Bratysława
Братислава
Preßburg
Pressburg
Prešporek
Pozsony
Prešpurk
Presbourg
Presburgo
Posonium
Požun
Pojon
Ιστρόπολις Istropolis, meaning Danube City
The city's first recorded name, in the 10th century Annales Iuvavenses, was Brezalauspurc Braslav's Castle.

On March 14, 1939, Bratislava was declared the capital of the first independent Slovak Republic, which quickly fell under Nazi influence.

The voyage of SS Sakariya סאקאריה was organized by Betar בית"ר, and partially funded by the American Friends of a Jewish Palestine.
The refugees left Wien on Danube river boats, with permission from auspices of Adolph Eichmann.
On November 19, 1939, Saturnus sailed and picked up 600 at Bratislava.
On December 17, Grein sailed, carrying 530 refugees.
Spyroula carried the Paltin Group from Bratislava.
The refugees were kept at Sulina, in frigid conditions with few amenities for weeks until their ship arrived.

S/S Uranus was forced to return to Bratislava, after she had passed Budapest, towards Yugoslavia, because the Yugoslavian authorities refused to let her pass flying the Nazi flag.
Yehuda Bauer cites the Captain of S/S Uranus refused to sail after reaching the Iron Gates Ђердапска клисура Vaskapu rapids on the Hungarian-Yugoslav border, forcing transfer of passengers to Yugoslav boats.

Ehud Avriel went to Bratislava and bribed the police chief.
S/S Uranus sailed past Budapest, towards Yugoslavia, but had to return to Bratislava, because the Yugoslav authorities refused to let the ship pass throw with a Nazi flag.

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 August 30, 1940, S/S Helios sailed from Bratislava (Pressburg). after additional passengers from Prague, aboard Slobadarni, came on board.

Hilda הילדה Orion took on passengers from Bratislava, who had come down the Danube River, travelling on a collective Paraguayan visa.
She was supposed to pick up the Kladovo Group.
Hilda הילדה Orion's 726 passengers, were crammed on board, agreed to wait until visas for the Kladovo Group had been attained, and they waited for almost a month.
Hilda הילדה Orion was frozen to the pier and unable to sail, most of the members of the drunken crew had left, the fresh water was frozen, they were almost out of food, two passengers were nearing the ends of their pregnancies and, if something had not been done immediately, the passengers intended "to inform the world that they were being held in bondage under inhuman conditions" in Balchik Балчик.

After the war, Joe Schlesinger returned to Bratislava, and found out that his parents had perished in the Holocaust.

In 1941–1942 and 1944–1945, the Slovak government expelled most of Bratislava's 15,000 Jews, most were sent to concentration camps.