Figure 1.--After the British withdrew (May 1948), there was no longer were restrictions on Jewish immigration. Jews gained cintrol of Haifa early in the fighting with the Palestinian Arabs and invading Arab armies. Here Jews from DP camps in Europe arrive in Haifa during 1948. Photographer: Robert Capa.

The NAZI Holocaust was a systematic state genocide to extinguish the entire Jewish people. Religion was almost incudental. It was the NAZI concept of rave tht was at the heart of the NAZI effort. The NAZIs suceeded in killing about half of the 12 million European Jews. Most of the Jews to fall into German hands were killed, including skilled workers that could have assisted in the German war effort. Some Jews were able to hide. A few countries (notably Bulgaria, Denmark, and Italy) protected their Jews to varying degrees. Other Jews survived in unoccupied areas, primarily the Soviet Union. More than half of the surviving Jews wwre in the unoccupied area of the Soviet Union. After the NAZI surrender (May 1945), surviving Jews in Western Europe could pick up their lives, with the exception of Germany. The survivors, however, found it difficult to return to the Soviet occupied areas of Eastern Europe. Some Jews trying to return to Poland and other countries were attacked. DPs were cared for in refugee camps while they tried to plan a future. Jews tended to cluster together. They represented a unique problem because mabny wre unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin. Many wanted to go to the United States and Congress passed new laws to allow increased immigrantion making this possibler. Others traumitized by the Holocaust or inspired by the Zionist dream wanted to go to Palestine. The British who controlled Palestine tried to prevent this both during and after the War because of Arab objections. The Hagenah organized efforts to bring Jews to Palestine in violation of British regulations. The Royal Navy brought Jews intercepted to internment camps on Cypres. The last British forces departed ((May 1948). Only after the British withdraw from Palestine did unrestricted emigration become possible. The large Soviet Jewish popuilation was not allowed to participate in this migration until well after Isreal was established (1970s). About half of Israeli Jews are of European origins, but many came before World War II. The emigration set in motion by the NAZIs approximately doubled the Jewish population in Palestine, although we have noted varying numbers.

The Holocaust

The NAZI Holocaust was a systematic state organized and executed genocide to extinguish the entire Jewish people. Religion was almost incudental. It was the NAZI concept of rave tht was at the heart of the NAZI effort. The NAZIs suceeded in killing about half of the 12 million European Jews. Most of the Jews to fall into German hands were killed, including skilled workers that could have assisted in the German war effort. Some Jews were able to hide. A few countries (notably Bulgaria, Denmark, and Italy) protected their Jews to varying degrees. Other Jews survived in unoccupied areas, primarily the Soviet Union. More than half of the surviving European Jews wwre in the unoccupied area of the Soviet Union. America became the country with the largest Jewish population.

Displaced Persons

After the NAZI surrender (May 1945), there were millions of displaced people in Germany. There were severl causes for these millions of displaced. The single most important was that the The NAZIs had brought millions of from all over Europe people into the Reich to work in German war industries. Some came willingly or as contract workers. Others were brought as slave labor. Conditions in the camps varies, depending on the race abd status of the workers. There were other reasons such as war damage, the bombing, Lebenborn, revenge, anti-Parisan campaigns, POWs, and other matters. sIt was a huge job to help get such a huge number of people home. The greatest pripority was to provide food and medical care to the many who were held in dreaful conditions. The second priority was how to get these people home. Transportation for so many people was a challenge in the best of circumstances. But as a result of the War, Germany's tranportation system had been destroyed and the tranport system in the countries that had been occupied by Germany only in marginally better conditioins. .

Jewish Survivors

Only the allied victory in Europe brought an end to NAZI killing. With the NAZI surrender, the Allis found small numbers of Jewish survivors in the liberated concentration camps in the Reich. They wre near death from disease, starving, and emaciated. Other Jews also emerged from hiding. They were soon joined by more than 150,000 other Jews fleeing antisemitiic attacks in Poland as well as Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union. The Jewish survivors of the Holocaust were a special category. Allied authorities ar first assumed that the surviving Jews, with the exception of Germany, could simply go home and pick up their lives. This proved to be a serious miscalculation. Unlike other DPs, the NAZI killing machine had been so efficent, that few of the Jews who survived had families to which they could return. All or most of their families had been murdered. People had taken possession of their homes and belongings. . Banks and insurance companies refused to honor claims. This was a special problem in the East where anti-Semitism had aided the NAZIs during the Holocaust, especially Poland. Some Jews trying to return to Poland and other countries were attacked. Other Jews did not want to return to Soviet occupied countries.

DP Camps

DPs were cared for in refugee camps while they tried to plan a future. Some former NAZI camps wre converted for this purpose. Jewish survivors tended to cluster together for safety and support. They represented a unique problem because many wre unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin. Thus as other DPs greadually were able to leave the camps and return home, Jews became the primary group remaining. The initial Transit Camps gradually turned into DP camps, mostly located in Austria and Germany. This was where people from all over Europe had been brought to support the German war effort. Millions of people had been brought into the Reich under various circumstances. Many of these people were able to quickly return to their home countries. This was the case for people from Western European countries. The distances were rather short, the transportation links being reestablished, and the governments there able to aid in repatriation. Eastern Europe was a different matter. conditions were worse there and many people were reluctant even afraid to return with the Communists seizing power. Jews were another special problem. Most did not have communities to which they could return. The NAZIs had destroyed Jewish communities throughout Europe, especially In Eastern Europe. And some Jews attempting to return were attacked in Eastern Europe.

Resettlement

Jewish survivors gradually made homes in many differnt countries. The two most common choices were America and Palistine. Many Jewish DPs wanted to go to the United States and Congress passed new laws to allow increased immigrantion making this possibler. Others traumitized by the Holocaust or inspired by the Zionist dream wanted to go to Palestine. The British who controlled Palestine tried to prevent this both during and after the War because of Arab objections. The British to accomodate the Arabs set very strict quotas. Here British polocy was not just focused on Palistinian Arabs, but the wider Arab world and Iran where huge oil resoyrces had been discovered. The Hagenah organized efforts to bring Jews surepticiouly to Palestine in violation of British regulations. The Royal Navy brought Jews intercepted to internment camps on Cypres. The last British forces, however, departed (May 1948). Only after the British withdraw from Palestine did unrestricted emigration become possible. The large Soviet Jewish population was not allowed to participate in this migration until well after Isreal was established (1970s). As a result, about half of Israeli Jews are of European origins, but many came before World War II. The emigration set in motion by the NAZIs approximately doubled the Jewish population in Palestine, although we have noted varying numbers.

Created: 6:17 AM 4/29/2011
Last updated: 12:10 PM 7/31/2016