Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

After leaving university, I.F (Isador Feinstein) Stone joined the Camden Courier-Post.
In 1933, he moved to the New York Post, and supported Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal
In 1948, he joined the New York Star.
Until 1952, he worked at the Daily Compass until it ceased publication.
In 1953, he started his own political paper, the I. F. Stone's Weekly, led the attack on McCarthyism and racial discrimination in the United States.

In 1946, the Nation's editor Freda Kirchwey fired I.F.Stone when she found out that he had signed with the New York afternoon newspaper, PM, as a foreign correspondent covering the Jewish underground in Mandatory Palestine.

In 1970, I.F. Stone received a Special George Polk Award.
In 1976, he received the Conscience-in-Media Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

I.F. Stone wrote:
* The Court Disposes (1937)
* Business as Usual (1941)
* Underground to Palestine (1946)
* This is Israel (1948)
* The Hidden History of the Korean War, 1950-1951 (1952)
* The War Years, 1939-1945
* The Truman Era, 1945-1952
* The Haunted Fifties (1969)
* In a Time of Torment, 1961-1967 (1967)
* Polemics and Prophecies, 1967-1970 (1970)
* The Killings at Kent State (1971)
* The I.F. Stone's Weekly Reader (1973)
* The Trial of Socrates (1988)
* The War Years, 1939-1945 (1988)
* The Truman Era, 1945-1952 (1988)
* The Hidden History of the Korean War, 1950-1951 (1988)

George 'Sammy' Applebaum served aboard SS Norsyd Haganah הגנה when she sailed from New York.

David Baum served as Second Engineer, and Engineering officer aboard SS Haganah הגנה K18 and K28.
David Baum cites:when SS Haganah הגנה arrived at Marseille, "Our first contacts were Rudy (Shmaria Tzameret) and the Baharlia Brothers (ship chandlers), all very impressive people. The crew worked on regular maintenance while a shore gang installed the wooden shelves which served as bunks for the olim."

Arye Friedman served aboard SS Norsyd Haganah הגנה when she sailed from New York.
Bernard Marks cites: "the Norsyd “Hagana” bound for Marseilles, France. It was here that our Scandinavian Captain debarked and we all moved up a notch. Arieh became captain, Larry Silverstein became first mate and I became second mate."

Bernard Marks served as Second Mate aboard SS Haganah הגנה K18 and K28.
Bernard Marks cites: "I presented myself to Captain Arieh Friedman (an Israeli) on board SS Norsyd which was moored alongside the SS Beauharnois in Brewers Drydock on Staten Island. These sister ships were Canadian corvettes and the first ships from America to enter the Aliya Bet “trade”. In fact, this situation was so new that we actually picked up bunker oil in British Gibraltar. We departed Staten
Island in the afternoon on an early February 1946 day. The Beauharnois “Wedgwood” bound for Italy and the Norsyd “Hagana” bound for Marseilles, France."

In 1946, Harry Silverman was asked by Yona Yanai of kibbutz Ein haShofet, Shaliach for haShomer haTzair in the United States, to sign up to serve on a Haapalah boat.
Harry Silverman sailed to France, aboard SS Haganah הגנה., and await passage to Palestine.
Harry Silverman remained aboard SS Haganah הגנה and served in the Galley.
Harry Silverman cites: "five men from my kibbutz (Gimel) and from Kibbutz Daled sailed on the "Haganah" for France, and I was one of them."

I.F. Stone sailed aboard SS Haganah הגנה to France, where he joined displaced persons as they sought a clandestine port of embarcation, joined an illegal convoy, ran the British blockade, and landed illegally in Palestine.
I.F.Stone sent regular dispatches on the conflict between the British and Palestinian Jews, and Harry Silverman helped him with photographs of the ship and its passengers.
Underground to Palestine first appeared as a series of articles published in PM, which won the Newspaper Guild of New York, Page One award in 1947.
It was published in 1946, then reprinted in 1978 as Underground to Palestine - and Reflections Thirty Years Later
I.F. Stone cites: “They have been kicked around as Jews and now they want to live as Jews. Over and over I heard it said: ‘We want to build a Jewish country. ... We are tired of putting our sweat and blood into places where we are not welcome.' ... These Jews want the right to live as a people, to build as a people, to make their contribution to the world as a people. Are their national aspirations any less worthy of respect than those of any other oppressed people?”
I.F. Stone cites in Underground to Palestine: "We felt proud and exultant to arrive with the Jewish flag at our mast. The refugees looked for the first time upon the Holy Land with wondering and often tear-filled eyes. This was the sight for which they had longed with all their hearts, the sight for which they had risked their lives crossing one illegal border after another and on the high seas.¨

David Baum served aboard SS Haganah הגנה on her voyage from Sète.
David Baum cites: "Visitors from Mosad I'Aliyah Bet came to see the first volunteer-Jewish crew. We were taken to the camp at St. Gerome and met with the staff and our future passengers. This was a mutually beneficial experience: for us, it was our first contact with survivors anxious to get to Eretz Yisrael. For them, it was a much-appreciated surprise to meet the Jewish-American crew.
Upon completion of the preparations, we boarded 999 olim at Port-de-Bouc and set sail."

In 1946, Harry Silverman was asked by Yona Yanai of kibbutz Ein haShofet, Shaliach for haShomer haTzair in the United States, to sign up to serve on a Haapalah boat.
Harry Silverman sailed to France, aboard SS Haganah הגנה., and await passage to Palestine.
Harry Silverman remained aboard SS Haganah הגנה and served in the Galley.
Harry Silverman cites: "five men from my kibbutz (Gimel) and from Kibbutz Daled sailed on the "Haganah" for France, and I was one of them."

I.F. Stone sailed aboard SS Haganah הגנה to France, where he joined displaced persons as they sought a clandestine port of embarcation, joined an illegal convoy, ran the British blockade, and landed illegally in Palestine.
I.F.Stone sent regular dispatches on the conflict between the British and Palestinian Jews, and Harry Silverman helped him with photographs of the ship and its passengers.
Underground to Palestine first appeared as a series of articles published in PM, which won the Newspaper Guild of New York, Page One award in 1947.
It was published in 1946, then reprinted in 1978 as Underground to Palestine - and Reflections Thirty Years Later
I.F. Stone cites: “They have been kicked around as Jews and now they want to live as Jews. Over and over I heard it said: ‘We want to build a Jewish country. ... We are tired of putting our sweat and blood into places where we are not welcome.' ... These Jews want the right to live as a people, to build as a people, to make their contribution to the world as a people. Are their national aspirations any less worthy of respect than those of any other oppressed people?”
I.F. Stone cites in Underground to Palestine: "We felt proud and exultant to arrive with the Jewish flag at our mast. The refugees looked for the first time upon the Holy Land with wondering and often tear-filled eyes. This was the sight for which they had longed with all their hearts, the sight for which they had risked their lives crossing one illegal border after another and on the high seas.¨

On June 30, 1946, Balboa SS Haganah הגנה transferred her passengers at sea, about 100 miles off the coast of Palestine, to a Turkish boat, Akbel, renamed Beriah ביריה, after a Zionist settlement which had been taken over by the British earlier that year.
Palyam.org cites "Balboa SS Haganah הגנה tcarried them within 50 miles of Palestine. She met with the old Turkish tub, the "Akbel" at a preset coordinateat sea, and transferred all the Maaplim to the Turkish vessel by launch."
Bernard Marks cites: Balboa SS Haganah הגנה was "followed by a small Turkish “tub” caller Akbel and renamed “Biria”. The ruse was that we were to pretend we were disabled and signal our distress to Akbel, when she came to our rescue, take her by force. We would then install our “cargo” on her and the shoo-shoo would compel her to sail to Haifa, while we returned to Europe for another load."
Akbel Beriah ביריה was intercepted by HMS Virago and towed into Haifa, and her passengers were interned.

Avraham Lichovsky served as Gidoni גדעוני, wireless radio operator, aboard SS Haganah הגנה.

On June 19, 1946, Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד sailed from Vado, near Savonna, carrying approximately 1,250 Eastern European passengers, half of whom were Polish, most of the remainder were Greek, with a few Italians and a few Russian partisans.
She sailed south along the coast of Italy and through the Strait of Messina.
Yehuda Silverman Sela cites: "on the ‟Wedgwood‟ there were 30 crew members; five of them were Israelis, three of them specialists including the Captain and the First Mate. The other twenty-two were all members of youth movements who intended to remain in Palestine."
Benyamin Strasberg Native cites: Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד sailed northwest from Savona "to a place where there is now a power station and a pier for loading bulk products, we anchored and waited for the Ma’apilim."
"They waited for passengers, who were coming from several distant places in Italy. In the morning, Italian police appeared, and took up positions around Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood, the maapilim boarded. When they were all on board, lines to the shore were cut and the ship moved out and sailed to the south leaving the police helpless. Eliezer Tal and and Yisrael Rotem left in a lifeboat, and returned to shore."
David Gottlieb cites: As the Maapilim boarded Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד, the Carbonari were sent to stop the loading, and encountered Yehuda Arazi and American journalist, Izzie F. Stone. “When Stone saw the Carbonari, he took out his press credential, which had been issued by the U.S. State Department, and said he would report them to Washington for preventing Holocaust survivors from going to their homeland. The Italian police captain wanted Izzie to come to the police station and asked him to get the ship to promise we wouldn’t leave. However, we were given permission to finish loading, and once we did, we cut our lines and headed out to sea, leaving Stone behind.”
Dov Magen served as Commander aboard Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד when she sailed from Vado.
In his report, Dov Magen cites: "the crew was of low standard, technically."
Israel Auerbach served aboard aboard Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד when she sailed from Vado.
Israel Auerbach cites: “The crew was not bad. The men were disciplined and ready to do whatever had to be done. Most of the trouble was with the Captain and the First Mate (who were usually uncontrollably drunk). The relations between the officers and the Palyamnikim and sailors were warm and good. My conclusion is that it is always better to work with our own people than with foreigners. We can get along with our own people better.”

On June 19, 1946, David Gottlieb served in the engine room aboard Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד from Vado, for Palestine.
David Gottlieb cites: He was given additional duties once they were underway. “There was a lot of seasickness, and people were really crowded together. Some got sick, so there was clean up to be done. That’s when I noticed many passengers had numbers that had been tattooed on their arms.”
He helped with feeding, serving the passengers their meals and cleaning up afterwards. “Believe it or not, with all those people on board, we managed to keep kosher. The food was cooked in big pots and the people had canteens, which we would fill, mainly with soup, tuna fish or rice. I noticed most people weren’t that hungry, maybe because they were uncertain or maybe because conditions were so crowded. Or, maybe it was because it was difficult for them, having gone through so much, to adjust to yet another strange environment."
“Because I could speak Yiddish, and because most passengers could speak Polish, I was often called upon to be a translator. I also got to know some of the younger people on the ship, and we gave chocolate bars to the kids, only to discover several days later, they had carefully rationed themselves to only a bite or two each day. This was because they weren’t sure when they would eat again, something the camps had taught them.”

On June 19, 1946, Ajzyk Asatanowicz sailed on Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד from Vado, for Palestine.

On June 19, 1946, Eliezer Eisenshmidt and his wife, Yehudit Dafner, sailed on Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד from Vado, for Palestine.