Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Menachem Zaira served in the 4th Battalion גדוד הרביעי, and in the Harel Brigade חטיבת הראל.

Nahum Shomroni joined Palyam פלי"ם with a group 14 members of Hakhsharat Neve Yam הכשרת נוה-ים who were sent to Sdot Yam שדות ים.

Palyam פלי"ם‎ No. 7 Seamanship course קורס שביעי, in 1946:
Instructors:
* Nimrod Eshe
* Yoske Kriege
Attendees:
* Menachem Zeira
Menachem Zeira cites: "Half the participants in the course were at Michmoret and the other half at Neve Yam. I was in the Neve Yam group."
"Toward the end of the course we were sent, in two boats, to Caesarea to help unload olim. We didn't know that the ship had already been caught and as soon as we hit shore, were arrested by the British. We were taken to Pardes Chana and from there to Latrun, and then to jail in Haifa for a week. When the course ended we were sent to Kibbutz Maabarot where we trained and worked.

On March 13, 1947, Shabtai Lozinsky שבתאי לוז'ינסקי went aground in the sand about 120 meters from the shore near Nitzanim ניצנים.
Sztetl.org.pl cites: "After 8 days of sailing, in the dawn of March 12, 1947 the ship dropped anchor 200 meters before Nizanim beach. But the sea was very stormy and it tried to come closer to the beach but it touched the ground and the Ma`apilim were told to jump to the sea and swim to the beach. Abraham and Baruch jumped and started swimming."
"The Palmach organized people from the nearest settlements like Kibbutz Nizanim and Gedera to come and mix with the Ma`apilim so the British couldn’t find them."
USHMM cites: Shabtai Lozinsky שבתאי לוז'ינסקי landed in Ashdod אשדוד, on March 12, 1947.
Avraham Rickman Karni cites: "At night she veered sharply north and made for the shore near Nitzanim. It was early in the morning of the 12th of March, 1947. The waves were so high that the boats on shore could not get to us. It was decided to raise anchor and come into shore and beach the vessel. The Italian captain did not like this decision because of damage that the vessel might suffer, but he accepted it. The ship went in and was stranded about 50 meters offshore. We strung a cable from ship to shore to facilitate unloading the Olim. There were Palmachniks on shore and others in the area, to help as well."
Palyam פלי”ם members waded out to the ship and stretched a rope from ship to shore.
They filled rubber boats with Maapilim and pull the boats to shore.
Some Maapilim jumped into the water and they brought them to the ropes so that they could pull themselves along to the shore.
Local residents from nearby settlements were recruiteed pick up the Maapilim and take them to their settlements and to places inland.
The Maapilim came ashore and mingled with hundreds of local residents who came to their rescue so that the authorities could not distinguish between them.
British destroyers appeared and sent launches with sailors to round up the Maapilim, but the launches flipped over and several of the sailors drowned, while some swam to shore.
Avraham Rickman Karni cites: "A ship of the British Navy discovered us but could not approach us. It came as close as it could, and contacted British ground forces which sealed off the area. Most of the new Olim were successfully moved from the area to surrounding
kibbutzim. A fire was lit on the shore and everyone there threw his ID card into it so that the British found it difficult to identify Israelis from Olim."
Most of the Maapilim and members of settlements were taken by the British Army to its camp at Ashdod אשדוד; the Maapilim were taken by truck to Haifa חיפה, and loaded onto the deportation ships, but most refused to go and offered passive resistance, so each one had to be carried unto the deportation ship.

Levi Aniv was one of the Palyamniks who helped the Maapilim on Shabtai Lozinsky שבתאי לוז'ינסקי come ashore at Nitzanim ניצנים.
Levi Aniv cites: "On the 12th March an immigrant ship succeeded in escaping the blockade of the coast of Palestine and came ashore near Nitzanim, in the south. The ship came as close as possible to the shore and ran aground in the sand about 120 meters from the shore. We swam out to the ship and stretched a rope from ship to shore. We filled rubber boats with the olim and tugged the boats to shore. Some of the olim preferred to jump into the water and we brought them to the ropes so that they could pull themselves along to the shore. At the same time a call went out for people from nearby settlements to come and pick up the olim and take them to their settlements or elsewhere inland. British destroyers appeared and sent launches with sailors to round up the Olim but the launches flipped over and several of the sailors drowned while others swam to shore"

Menachem Zeira was one of the Palyamniks who helped the Maapilim on Shabtai Lozinsky שבתאי לוז'ינסקי come ashore at Nitzanim ניצנים.
Menachem Zeira cites: "We could guess by the activity at our headquarters when a ship of refugees was due to arrive. We would receive orders to dress in clean work clothes and be prepared to move out. We boarded buses and were driven to the shore at Nitzanim. When we arrived, we emptied out at some distance from the shore and sought cover behind the dunes. It was dark and we waited for hours but tension was so high that it was impossible to fall asleep."
"The boat signaled, moved on, and then returned. The sea was rough, the waves were high, and it didn't seem possible at first that we would be able to use the rubber life boats to take the olim to shore. The vessel came as close toward shore as possible and became stuck. We swam out to the vessel and were given a rope which we took back to shore. We managed to haul the rope and tie it firmly to a stable object so that it was as taut as we could make it. We then waited for the olim to enter the water. I swam back out to the vessel where several of us were ready to help the olim into the rafts, but no one came...My job was to swim alongside the vessel and see that the olim reached a raft or the line so that they could pull themselves to shore."
"The olim came ashore at a decent pace, but at dawn a plane appeared overhead and spotted us. When the olim saw the plane, they started to jump into the water in a manner that was difficult to control, as the sea was still quite rough. At the same time people from settlements in the surrounding area started arriving and they directed the olim to places away from the beach. A small group of us had been in the water for about five hours. I came ashore to ask some of the people there to come in and help us, but someone grabbed me and said: “This guy is blue!” A blanket appeared from nowhere and they wrapped me up tightly and I couldn't return to the water."
"English soldiers came and rounded up everyone still on the beach."
"Toward evening we were loaded onto trucks, 20 men to a vehicle, and driven to Haifa. When we got there we refused to leave the trucks and had to be carried down by the British soldiers."

Menachem 'Katoni' Zeira was sent to Cyprus aboard HMT Empire Rival.

Menachem 'Katoni' Zeira, after landing at Famagusta, was interned at Camp #55.
Menachem 'Katoni' Zeira cites: "We were taken from Famagusta to Summer Camp 55, and there I remained until they reviewed us again. Until then, we lived with the olim and told them about life in Palestine, so that many of the olim were classified as Israelis and transferred together with us."

Zalman Abramov served with other Palymniks, unloading Maapilim from haPortzim הפורצים, when she landed near Tel Aviv תל אביב.

Menachem Zaira was one of the Palyamniks who helped the Maapilim from haPortzim הפורצים, when she landed near Tel Aviv תל אביב.

Menachem Zaira served with the 4th Battalion גדוד הרביעי, Portzim Regiment גדוד הפורצים, Harel Brigade חטיבת הראל, fighting in the Seige of Jerusalem מערכה על ירושלים, during the War of Independence מלחמת העצמאות.

Meir Zorea served as a Battalion Commander in the Seige of Jerusalem מערכה על ירושלים, during War of Independence מלחמת העצמאות.

Regarding the destruction of the Jewish Quarter, Colonel Abdullah el Tell, commander of the Jordanian Arab Legion, cites in his Memoirs: "The operations of calculated destruction were set in motion. . . . I knew that the Jewish Quarter was densely populated with Jews who caused their fighters a good deal of interference and difficulty. . . . I embarked, therefore, on the shelling of the Quarter with mortars, creating harassment and destruction. . . . Only four days after our entry into Jerusalem the Jewish Quarter had become their graveyard. Death and destruction reigned over it. . . . As the dawn of Friday, May 28, 1948, was about to break, the Jewish Quarter emerged convulsed in a black cloud — a cloud of death and agony. . . ." The Jordanian commander who led the operation is reported to have told his superiors: "For the first time in 1,000 years not a single Jew remains in the Jewish Quarter. Not a single building remains intact. This makes the Jews' return here impossible."