Life and Creation

Translation / Interpretation / Caption Text / Source
Hebrew translation: (text in the sky and on the ship are the same word) Haapalah (illegal immigration) (text in sea) Life and creation Translator's note: Haapalah and Aliyah Bet were two names for the same thing: the illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine from 1934 to 1948 Haapalah literally means ascension but is not used as such in contemporary Hebrew ____________________________________________ From the Bernard Museum of Judaica - Justify Your Existence exhibit catalog: Ha’apala and Aliyah Bet are both Hebrew terms for the clandestine entry of Jews into Palestine in defiance of the British policy of severely restricting all legal avenues for Jewish immigration. The number of immigrants officially allowed to enter Palestine had always failed to accommodate the numbers of Jews who sought entry, but with the onset of World War II, the disparity increased exponentially. Jewish organizations from across the fractured political spectrum worked together to facilitate immigration beyond the legal quotas in an effort to circumvent the British policies that refused entry to the many tens of thousands of Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who were languishing in refugee camps in occupied Germany. The ships that carried the immigrants were frequently intercepted and turned back by the British, who callously returned them to Germany or imprisoned them on Cyprus. Immediately following the Declaration of the State of Israel on May 5, 1948, the first official act of the provisional government was to lift all restrictions on Jewish immigration. Otte Wallish (1903–1977) was born in Sudentenland (in the present-day Czech Republic) and settled in Palestine in 1934. He is best known for his design of Israel’s Declaration of Independence as well as his designs for some of the country’s earliest postage stamps, coins, and paper currency. Translation from Hebrew: Ascension, Life, and Creation. General Trade Union of Hebrew workers in the Land of Israel, May 1, 1947.