August 25
Bob Witnesses the Arrival of Jewish Refugees
“The excited and screaming faces are something I will never forget as they looked down into the Promised Land.” (from the SS Artza)
BOB WITNESSES THE ARRIVAL OF JEWISH REFUGEES
August 25, 1957 Sunday 1:00 PM
Dear Mom Dad & Alan
I just came back to the Hotel Carmelia after a morning tour of the Port of Haifa. One of the most interesting things I have seen since being in Israel is a refugee being unloaded & the people cared for. The S.S. Artza landed & with some more of the escapees from behind the iron curtain pulled in right in front of me.
The excited and screaming faces are something I will never forget as they looked down into the Promised Land. The greatest was when a refugee recognized a long lost relation in the crowd below the screams that you heard. The pitiful sight of the cartons crammed with all their earthly belongings, of little children not knowing what is going on. But the best was as they came down the gangplank & embraced loved ones that many hadn’t seen in tens of years. I even felt like crying for joy with them.
We then went on a motor launch & saw the whole of the port including many Israeli warships.
Have to close now since they are calling me for lunch.
Love,
Bob
David’s Comments:
August 25, 1957 Sunday 1:00 P.M. Israel Absorbing refugees on SS Artza
“I just came back ……..after a morning tour of the Port of Haifa. One of the most interesting things I have seen since being in Israel is a refugee being unloaded & the people cared for. The S.S. Artza landed & with some more of the escapees from behind the iron curtain pulled in right in front of me.”
“The excites and screaming faces are something I will never forget as they looked down into the Promised Land. The greatest was when a refugee recognized a long lost relation in the crowd below the screams that you heard. The pitiful sight of the cartons crammed with all their earthly belongings, of little children not knowing what is going on. But the best was as they came down the gangplank & embraced loved ones that many hadn’t seen in tens of years. I even felt like crying for joy with them.”
The description my father gave of the refugees on the SS Artza is self-explanatory. I hope that we have many more Jews coming to Israel in the future from all four corners of the Earth.
“We then went on a motor launch & saw the whole of the port including many Israeli warships.”
I don’t know where Israel obtained their warships but I don’t think they were from the United States. To my knowledge the US didn’t supply Israel any weapons until 1963.