Funeral services were held today in Haifa for Eliezer Dort. who won the title of “Father of Aliya” after his 50 years of work for immigration and immigrants. He died “Friday night at the age of 89. Mr. Dori came to Israel in 1904 from Odessa. He escaped from Russia after injuring a rioter who attacked him during a program in the Odessa Polytechnicum. When the Jewish Agency was. established after World War I, Mr. Dori was made head of its Haifa office. Haifa was then the main port of entry for immigrants.
When the State was declared, Mr. Dori was made the overall head of the immigration department of the Jewish Agency, a post he left on his retirement 20 years ago. He was an active Hagana member and an active member of Mosad Aliya Bet, the group that helped the “illegal” immigration of Jews during the Mandate period.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
