5

DETRO4T JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

Friday, September 15, 1944

RESCUE IN ERETZ ISRAEL • • •

Now Refugees from the Balkan Countries
Find Their Way to and are Welcomed at
the Frontiers of Jewish Palestine
A Newsletter from Beirut, Syria

By M. BEN-DAVID

We left for the Turkish-Syrian
frontier to meet a group of refu-
gee immigrants there and accom-
pany them to Palestine. We went
by bus as far as Tripoli, continu-
ing our journey . northward to the
frontier by train. There is a
railway line between Beirut and
Tripoli, but only at present for
military purposes. The bus was
crowded with Arabs, Armenians,
Kurds and Jews, representing all
the races and peoples inhabiting
yria.
All the way from Beirut to
Thaurus, over a distance of about
60 kilometers, stretches the Maro-
nite stronghold, an area densely
populated. One might imagine one-
self in the suburbs of Beirut.
The villages are clean and tidy.
The cottages of stone with red-
tile droofs are built in the Swiss
style, all with vegetable gardens.
Fruit trees grow on terraced
mountain slopes. Water is plen-
tiful; flowing down the mountain
slopes, it is carried along trenches
to each plot. Imposing monas-
teries are found on the hill tops
above every village. They are,
as it were, a first defense line,

protecting the villages in the
valley against attack from the
mountains. In the Taurus the
mountains rise from the sea-
shore and so the "fortress" is
closed and so well protected.
Tripoli lies on the Lebanese-
Turkish frontier. We continued
our journey by the Taurus Ex-
press which connects Cairo with
Constantinople via Haifa, and
thence through the Orient Ex-
press with Middle and Western
Europe. This railway, by which
those saved from the Nazi hell
now arrive, is of great import-
ance, especially to us Jews. Now
the train traverses huge areas.
Isolated settlements are scattered
here and there. Syria is a spa-
cious but under-populated coun-
try. Sitting for hours contem-
plating the vast stretches of land
and the map of Arab countries
on the wall of the coach, on
which only a short boundary line
marks our own country, one
thinks of the protest raised by
the Governments of Arab coun-
tries against the Palestine Reso-
lution of the American Senate
Committee. It gives one a lump
in one's throat.
In the morning we reach Alep-
po, where we must wait for the
Rosh Hashonah Greetings!
group of immigrants arriving
from Turkey. The director of
the transport agency proceeds
to the frontier to meet the new
arrivals. They should have
reached Aleppo at 3 a. in., but
did not arrive until 1 p. m. the
following day. We were eager
to see our brethren to hear of
what was happening "over there,"
in the Nazi hell. The train slow-
ly entered the station. Young
faces peeped through the win-
dows. They looked tired but
happy. These were youths from
Bulgaria. Many wore school uni-
forms with college caps. In the
next carriage there were elderly
people. We could not approach
the train until the passport con-
trol and investigation were over.
MALLORY HATS
Formalities over, each group left
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its carriage. The immigrants were
surprised to hear Hebrew al-
A Fine Display of Men's Wear
ready. They were tired by the
For Fall and the Holidays
journey and their first question
was "when will we arrive in Pal-
estine?" In a corner sat an old
man from Hungary, who though
— STYLIST FOR MEN
unable to speak Hebrew fluently,
persisted in trying. He asked for
11832 DEXTER
a Megilla (scroll) for it was
At Elmhurst
Purim. I promised him a Bible,
but he insisted on the Scroll.
♦
The immigrants were taken from
i the
the station to a restaurant in
town. The old people went in
Le Shono Toro Tikoseru!
cabs; the young ones marched in
step. The appearance of the
group wearing strange clothes
roused surprise among the pop-
ulation of the Arab town. After
the meal, we conversed on gen-
eral topics in Hebrew, French,
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all at once. Hands helped to ex-
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•

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•

•

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A Happy

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New Year To All!

press their thoughts when words mother and his sister. He had
failed. The young people told been sent to work at the Exter-
us about conditions in Europe, 'inflation camp of Yerosolimski,
and inquired mainly about the had fled from there and had been
chances of immigration of their wounded by the guards. Assist-
fathers, mothers and relatives ed by a Polish woman, a former
who remained behind. servant in his home, he had man-
The group had been ready to aged to escape. What an ocean
immigrate for two years. A num- of human misery, what tragedy!
ber of the youngsters showed a These were brands saved from
lively interest in the life of the the burning. I couldn't help lik-
communal settlements. others in ing a boy of 10, who knew only
problems of labor and opportuni- one word in Hebrew: Tel Itzhak,
ties for studies. They carried the name of the place he was
with them their school certifi- going to. I felt grateful tc him
cates. They spoke good Hebrew for his cheerfulness, in spite of
with special accentuation of "1" all he had gone through.
In the evening we returned to
and "r". During recent years,
the majority of the Jewish schools the station and continued our
in Bulgaria had introduced the journey to Beirut and Haifa. We
study of Hebrew. The old peo- travelled via Rayak. It was a
ple requiring kosher food were
seated in a corner. The tired look very long and tiring journey
on their faces bore witness to through Syria and the Lebanon.
their past sufferings. Penniless, There were not enough buses to
they were worried about the take all the party to Beirut.
future.
Four children who had only a
few months ago fled from Poland
Greetings of the Season!
sat alone, silent and fearful.
Gradually, they joined in the
conversation. One was a boy of
16. He told us what had hap-
pened in the ghetto of Bochnia,
near Cracow, adding: "You won't
believe me. I begin to doubt
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whether what I saw with my own
eyes three months ago really
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happened." Another boy, the son
of a well-known Zionist worker,
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•
whose father had been murdered
•
by the Gestapo under charge of
alleged political activity, and Ills
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ashes sent to his family, had wit-
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nessed the murder of both his •

Night came on. The children sat
crowded in the third-class car-
riage. Some slept on the knees
or shoulders of friends. Any-
thing was good enough to sup-
port a tired head and enable the
child to have a nap. The deep
silence of those awake, and the
tired breathing of those asleep,
reflected an indescribable sad-
ness. With the morning light and
sunrise, the cheerful mood re-
turned, and after a meal con-
sisting of bread and cheese, the
children started singing Bulgar-
ian popular songs accompanied
by the harmonica. But for the
many bundles and general fa-
tigue, one would have thought
it was an excursion of school chil-
dren. After a journey of 22
hours we reached Beirut—the last
but one station. We slept and
rested there prior to proceeding
to the Land of Promise, land of
our yearning.

•

A Happy New Year to All

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On the eve of

A NEW YEAR

•

• With deep gratitude in our hearts
• With hopeful prayers on our lips

t

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• With thanks for the opportunities in America.

WAR

THE UNITED DAIRIES

Wishes to express their
appreciation for the loyal
patronage of the many
thousands of Jewish
customers we have
been privileged
to serve
and
extend our sincerest wishes for
HEALTH, HAPPINESS
and SECURITY

1:17:r

rve

"May you be inscribed for a Happy New Year"

* *

THOMAS C. MURPHY

WAYNE COUNTY

JUDGE OF PROBATE

UNITED DAIRIES, Inc.

4055 PURITAN

UNiversity 1-2800

