9 Back In Palestine
The first thing I did after getting back, was to contact friends and relatives who, of course, were both surprised and pleased to see me again. However some of my so-called friends were disappointing. All my civilian clothes that I left with them had disappeared and money, which I had loaned to others, was lost or they refused to repay me. So, I had to start again from scratch. Although technically, I was still a soldier, (I was discharged only in March 1946), I was not required to stay in camp or carry out any duties. So I looked around for ways to start making a living. As I had some knowledge of diamond cutting, which I had learnt for a short time during my stay in Belgium before the War, I contacted some people in the diamond industry. A distant relative, Yosef Nadel - his sister was the wife of my cousin -was a director in a diamond factory. I was accepted, by his firm to cut diamonds, under the supervision of another acquaintance, who was the manager of this firm. So, within a few days after arrival in Palestine, I started to cut diamonds.
My earnings were very meagre, as I was still learning, and I was paid according to my output. However, I made ends meet, as I rented a room in a village outside Tel Aviv (Arlozorov in Givatayim), which I shared with another ex-soldier. The back pay, which I received from the Army, for the time I was a prisoner-of-war, helped considerably.
I spent a lot of time trying to find out what had happened to my parents and to the rest of the family, through correspondence with Yoine and Philip, and through contact with other relatives, who gradually arrived in Palestine from Europe. We established the details of their whereabouts in Poland. At the beginning of the war they lived in Krakow but, during 1940, they moved from Krakow to the Tarnow ghetto because the facilities were better and Krakow was very crowded. They shared a flat with another family, until the ghetto was dissolved in 1942, and all the Jews were sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. They arrived in Auschwitz on Erev Yom Kippur and suffered the same fate as hundreds of thousands of other Jews. We keep their Yahrzeit on the 12th of Tishrei, two days after Yom Kippur, (the day we believe they were murdered).
Meanwhile, the situation in Palestine went from bad to worse, as more and more displaced persons from Europe found their way legally or illegally to these shores. The British authorities enforced more and more restrictions on the Jewish population, while resistance groups like Hagana, Etzel and some smaller groups replied with sabotage, in order to ensure that more refugees reached the shores of the homeland. This led to some violence and reprisals, and brought suffering to the Jewish population. Very often during curfews, when people had to remain indoors, I was able to help people, especially the elderly, shop for food items. I could do this as a British soldier, as I had permission to move about.
It was 1947, life went on, and I started to think about ways and means to get married and bring Friedel to this country. Travelling, in those days, was not an easy task. In particular, to go from Palestine to England was almost impossible. I made applications from here and Friedel did the same from London. I sent a letter to the High Commissioner and she sent a letter to Her Majesty the Queen. My recommendation was the fact that I had served in the British Army. However, being a fully trained commando made me the perfect man to come to England in order to assassinate the Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin, or any other personality responsible for enforcing the present restrictions on immigration! Needless to say, a visa was not granted. However, with some evidence of my clear war record, the Home Office finally granted me the permit to come to England to get married. That was all I wanted! So the date was set - 29th May, 1947.
In those days, there was no El Al service to book through. With the help of some friends in a travel office, we tried every airline. I finally got a passage on a chartered flight, which came from South Africa, with a stop over in Lod, going via Athens, Rome and Paris to London. It was the best I could get and, with various delays and breakdowns, I finally arrived in Croydon, an airport outside London.
When I went through the customs hall, the Immigration Officer told me that I had to pass through a medical check up. He directed me to a smaller room where I was asked to strip completely. Then I was taken to yet another room where the medical check was carried out. While I was in that room, the security officers made a thorough search of my clothing and my luggage. Of course nothing was found, as, apart from personal belongings and an engagement ring that I had cut for Friedel, I had nothing. I had sent a cable from Paris announcing my expected time of arrival but I was so delayed by this check-up that Friedel, who had waited patiently after all the passengers from the plane had come out, had finally gone home. By the time I came out of the Customs Hall, no one was waiting, and there were no more buses left to take me to London. The Airport Authority apologised profusely and, together with an Arab passenger, who was also delayed for some reason, we were provided with an airport staff car which took us to London - first the Arab to the Savoy Hotel, and then me to Friedel's address. The driver even helped me with the luggage to the door. Imagine the surprise of the whole family as I stood there at the door, a uniformed driver holding my luggage!
The first thing I did after getting back, was to contact friends and relatives who, of course, were both surprised and pleased to see me again. However some of my so-called friends were disappointing. All my civilian clothes that I left with them had disappeared and money, which I had loaned to others, was lost or they refused to repay me. So, I had to start again from scratch. Although technically, I was still a soldier, (I was discharged only in March 1946), I was not required to stay in camp or carry out any duties. So I looked around for ways to start making a living. As I had some knowledge of diamond cutting, which I had learnt for a short time during my stay in Belgium before the War, I contacted some people in the diamond industry. A distant relative, Yosef Nadel - his sister was the wife of my cousin -was a director in a diamond factory. I was accepted, by his firm to cut diamonds, under the supervision of another acquaintance, who was the manager of this firm. So, within a few days after arrival in Palestine, I started to cut diamonds.
My earnings were very meagre, as I was still learning, and I was paid according to my output. However, I made ends meet, as I rented a room in a village outside Tel Aviv (Arlozorov in Givatayim), which I shared with another ex-soldier. The back pay, which I received from the Army, for the time I was a prisoner-of-war, helped considerably.
I spent a lot of time trying to find out what had happened to my parents and to the rest of the family, through correspondence with Yoine and Philip, and through contact with other relatives, who gradually arrived in Palestine from Europe. We established the details of their whereabouts in Poland. At the beginning of the war they lived in Krakow but, during 1940, they moved from Krakow to the Tarnow ghetto because the facilities were better and Krakow was very crowded. They shared a flat with another family, until the ghetto was dissolved in 1942, and all the Jews were sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. They arrived in Auschwitz on Erev Yom Kippur and suffered the same fate as hundreds of thousands of other Jews. We keep their Yahrzeit on the 12th of Tishrei, two days after Yom Kippur, (the day we believe they were murdered).
Meanwhile, the situation in Palestine went from bad to worse, as more and more displaced persons from Europe found their way legally or illegally to these shores. The British authorities enforced more and more restrictions on the Jewish population, while resistance groups like Hagana, Etzel and some smaller groups replied with sabotage, in order to ensure that more refugees reached the shores of the homeland. This led to some violence and reprisals, and brought suffering to the Jewish population. Very often during curfews, when people had to remain indoors, I was able to help people, especially the elderly, shop for food items. I could do this as a British soldier, as I had permission to move about.
It was 1947, life went on, and I started to think about ways and means to get married and bring Friedel to this country. Travelling, in those days, was not an easy task. In particular, to go from Palestine to England was almost impossible. I made applications from here and Friedel did the same from London. I sent a letter to the High Commissioner and she sent a letter to Her Majesty the Queen. My recommendation was the fact that I had served in the British Army. However, being a fully trained commando made me the perfect man to come to England in order to assassinate the Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin, or any other personality responsible for enforcing the present restrictions on immigration! Needless to say, a visa was not granted. However, with some evidence of my clear war record, the Home Office finally granted me the permit to come to England to get married. That was all I wanted! So the date was set - 29th May, 1947.
In those days, there was no El Al service to book through. With the help of some friends in a travel office, we tried every airline. I finally got a passage on a chartered flight, which came from South Africa, with a stop over in Lod, going via Athens, Rome and Paris to London. It was the best I could get and, with various delays and breakdowns, I finally arrived in Croydon, an airport outside London.
When I went through the customs hall, the Immigration Officer told me that I had to pass through a medical check up. He directed me to a smaller room where I was asked to strip completely. Then I was taken to yet another room where the medical check was carried out. While I was in that room, the security officers made a thorough search of my clothing and my luggage. Of course nothing was found, as, apart from personal belongings and an engagement ring that I had cut for Friedel, I had nothing. I had sent a cable from Paris announcing my expected time of arrival but I was so delayed by this check-up that Friedel, who had waited patiently after all the passengers from the plane had come out, had finally gone home. By the time I came out of the Customs Hall, no one was waiting, and there were no more buses left to take me to London. The Airport Authority apologised profusely and, together with an Arab passenger, who was also delayed for some reason, we were provided with an airport staff car which took us to London - first the Arab to the Savoy Hotel, and then me to Friedel's address. The driver even helped me with the luggage to the door. Imagine the surprise of the whole family as I stood there at the door, a uniformed driver holding my luggage!
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