A handwritten diary by one of the Exodus illegal immigrants. [Germany? ca. August-September 1947]. Yiddish.
The illegal immigrant ship SS Exodus (or in its Hebrew name – Yetzi'at Eiropa) left the port of Sète, France, in July 1947, carrying 4554 passengers, most of them Holocaust survivors. The ship was intercepted by the British and its passengers were sent, after a bitter struggle, to DP camps in Northern Germany. The high-profile struggle of the illegal immigrants was publicized worldwide; the public dismay at the way the British authorities treated Holocaust survivors helped turn public opinion in favor of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.
As evident from the diary entries, the events were recorded in the diary shortly after their occurrence, in DP camps in Northern Germany, where Exodus illegal immigrants were gathered, or aboard the deportation ship Runnymede Park, after the deportation from Haifa port.
The diary documents the story of the Exodus illegal immigrants chronologically and from a personal perspective: the departure from the port of Sète in France, arrival in Haifa port, embarking the deportation ship SS Runnymede Park, sailing to Port-de-Bouc in France and the long stay there (while the immigrants refused to disembark) and later, the trip from France to Germany (the diary ends when the ship crosses The Strait of Gibraltar on its way to Germany).
The author recounts his experiences and feelings using mainly plural form: "We reached Haifa on July 18th. While standing in the port we listened to the radio. They spoke to us in Hebrew and handed out leaflets in English and in Hebrew announcing that we would sail to Cyprus… who could have imagined!!! Unfortunately, we could only see Haifa from far away. With tears in our eyes we looked at the land we longed for but could not set foot in. We saw no civilians around us, only soldiers and more soldiers. With heads bent down, looking at the Holy Land, we embarked the Runnymede Park. I was one of the last passengers to embark, there was no place to sit, we were packed like herring in a small barrel” (p.4).
The writer continues to tell about the immigrants' refusal to disembark in France and the decision to start a hunger strike, as well as the decision not to allow pregnant women and children to disembark in Gibraltar; about the Red Cross physician who boarded the ship in France; about "Mordechai" (probably Mordechai Roseman, leader of the immigrants on the ship) and an address he gave to the illegal immigrants; about observing Shabbat on the ship; about journalists coming on board in Port-de-Bouc; about the flag the immigrants prepared and waved in front of the journalists in France – a British flag with a swastika ("we prepared a British flag with a swastika from a blanket, red toothpaste and condensed milk. The journalists immediately took pictures of it, and we celebrated in front of the English… we flew the flag continuously... The English looked on, grinding their teeth"), and more.
Enclosed with the diary is a full translation into Hebrew.
The diary is written in blue ink, in a notebook starting with Hebrew studying exercises (in pencil). [12] diary pages + [16] pages with exercises. Notebook: 11X17 cm. Fair-poor condition. Wear. Stains and tears. New paper cover; placed in an elegant case.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Wooden chess set made by Josef Rosenblum, a prisoner at the Atlit detention camp. Atlit, 1940.
A chess board and chess pieces in a wooden case inscribed with a dedication. The lid reads "S.I. Koegel / As a souvenir / by: Josef Rosenblum" (Hebrew). Additional inscription etched on the inside of the lid: "Made in Atlit 5700" (Hebrew). The black squares on the chess board and the black pieces were painted black, but the inscriptions, the place and the date, and chess board pattern on the lid were etched into the wood.
The "Bintivey Haapala" database lists Josef Rosenblum as an illegal immigrant who immigrated to Palestine on board of the illegal immigrant ship SS Hilda. The recipient, Koegel (Kogel) Shraga Iser (Filip) of Prešov, Slovakia, was also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda as well as a prisoner of the detention camp in Atlit together with Josef Rosenblum. After his release from the camp, he enlisted into the 51st Middle Eastern commando unit of the British Army and fought in World war II.
The SS Hilda left Sulina, Romania, in January 1940 carrying refugees from European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. The ship was intercepted by the British when arriving at the shores of Istanbul, held in high seas and after prolonged negotiations, during which the British threatened to deport the illegal immigrants to Paraguay, the ship docked in Haifa, where the women were taken to an immigrants' house while the men were sent to the detention camp in Atlit. The women were released after three weeks; but the detained men in Atlit remained there for about six months, during which they celebrated Passover, writing a special Haggadah telling their personal Exodus story – The Haggadah of the Atlit Illegal Immigrants, 1940.
The conditions in the British detention camps varied between camps; but in every one of them the problem of inaction and boredom was most bothersome. In many camps, the detainees kept themselves busy in various ways including handcraft and art. Art workshops guided by artists existed in several camps, including the detention camp in Atlit, where artist Isidor Ascheim, also an illegal immigrant on board of the SS Hilda, was active and contributed his talent to the Haggadah of the illegal immigrants of Atlit; alongside the "high" art, the prisoners at the various camps made an abundance of useful and decorative works of applied art with wood, stone and metal.
Sawn, glued, painted and etched wood; hinges and nails. Chess board: 33.5X34 cm. Case: 23.5X16X7 cm. One white piece is missing; replaced by a wooden cube. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes. Minor fractures. Stains.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Seven photographic "Shanah Tovah" greeting cards sent by detainees of the detention camps in Cyprus. Cyprus, the eve of Rosh HaShanah, 1947-1948.
· Four personal cards bearing their sender's portrait, surrounded by sights of the camps, tents, watchtowers, the bridge between camp 65 and camp 66 and ships sailing to Palestine. · Two "Shanah Tovah" greeting cards bearing photographs of the "summer camps" where the detainees lived in tents. One of them is folded and signed in the plate "Foto Pais". With handwritten greeting for the New Year by the members of the joint camp secretariat. · "Shanah Tovah" greeting card by the "Zionist Youth" Movement in Cyprus, bearing the slogan "To Fulfillment" (Hebrew). Handwritten greeting on verso, signed "To Fulfillment in Cyprus" (Hebrew).
5.5X8 to 7.5X9 cm. (one card is folded in half). Good overall condition. Minor blemishes. Creases. Stains.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Album with a chiseled stone binding by a detainee in the Cyprus detention camps and a collection of photographs taken in the camps. Cyprus, 1947-[1949].
stone binding carved with a relief of a sailboat in a medallion and with the inscription "Cyprus 1947", mounted on a felt base (new).
With 13 corner-mounted photographs taken in the detention camps in Cyprus. Some are captioned in the plate "Memory from Cyprus" (Hebrew) and "Cyprus 5708" (Hebrew) and some are inscribed "Lehagshamah" (to fulfillment). Alongside the photographs, the album contains two "Shanah Tovah" greeting cards published by "Palphot", one depicting illegal immigrants getting off a ship at the shores of Palestine, inscribed within with the wish "We hope that you too will be among the arrivals this year" (Hebrew).
Album: approx. 11X24 cm. Good condition. Scratches and scuff marks to stone. Photographs: size and condition vary. Good overall condition. Some photographs captioned and dated by hand on verso (English).
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.