Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Three Hundred “non-certificated” Jewish Immigrants Landed in Palestine; Vessel Abandoned

December 27, 1945
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Eluding British naval craft, shore patrols and radar stations, the 200-ton motor ship Chana Szenes slipped into Palestinian waters sometime last night and disembarked 300 Jewish immigrants without immigration certificates.

The landing was disclosed this morning when the vessel, named after a Palestinian Jewish girl parachutist who was executed by the Germans in Hungary while on a mission for the British, was found abandoned within 300 yards of an encampment of the Arab Transjordan Frontier Force.

Flying from the ship was a blue-and-white banner on which was the following inscription in Hebrew: “This ship has unloaded immigrants. She is named for the heroine Chana Szenes. This ship will remain as a gravestone on the shores of Palestine for the 6,000,000 of our brothers and sisters who perished in Europe. Shame to the British Government.”

Later today the Haganah, the Jewish self-defense organization, distributed leaflets in Jerusalem announcing the landing of the immigrants.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement