A slice of history
In the late 1940s thousands of Jews leaving Europe were housed in Cyprus before being allowed into the new state of Israel. An exhibition looking at how they lived opens this week
Although there are hundreds of books, articles and films on WWII and its terrific aftermath, there will always be a part of history that remains untold, certain events that are not given as much attention as they should be, memories that fade as they are overshadowed by the print in textbooks and official documents.
To this day, many have no idea that at the end of WWII, Cyprus became the temporary home for thousands of Holocaust survivors who were refused entry into Palestine because of British mandate rules. With ‘illegal’ immigrants caught in Palestinian waters, the British cabinet decided on their immediate deportation to Cyprus in August 1946. Over the course of two years, immigrant ships attempting to run the British blockade were seized and deported to the island, as 12 camps were quickly set up to accommodate them.
A total of 52,000 people inhabited the camps from August 1946 until February 1949, when they all finally entered the new state of Israel. The deportees were housed in two groups of camps – five summer camps near Famagusta where most people lived in tents, and seven winter camps in Dekhelia and Xylotymbou, where most were housed in standard barracks of the British army.
An exhibition to go on show at the Marfin Laiki Bank Cultural Centre in Nicosia this week documents the lives of these refugees with a series of black and white photographs that bring the past to life. Each image gives a different glimpse into what these people went through – from the barbed wire fences that cut them off from the rest of the world to the dusty tents that housed them. Tents and barracks were extremely cramped, with no privacy as bed upon bed were lined up against each other.
Water shortages were rife, food was minimal and almost always canned, while disease spread easily. But the refugees had to make a life for themselves within these confines, and each camp soon became a vibrant community with its own sad stories coupled with happier moments when a birth or marriage took place.
Cypriots treated the immigrants warmly, identifying with their suffering. Famagusta residents used to cheer the vehicles filled with immigrants as they made their way to the camps. Some locals walked to the camps to give them some extra food and water, while many labourers and taxi drivers used their cars to patrol around the camps and smuggle in ammunition and tools to the crowds. Many helped smuggle people out, risking their own lives to offer assistance. Anecdotes tell of Cypriots working in the camps who would smuggle in potatoes to feed undernourished individuals, with some even helping to dig underground tunnels to aid their plans of escape.
Prodromos Papavasiliou, a member of the central committee of AKEL at the time, provided active support for the immigrants and showed favouritism to the Zinonist movement. He helped immigrants flee from Cyprus on various ships and supplied them with forged documents.
Other important figures also did their bit. The father of former Nicosia mayor, Lellos Demetriades, was a camp physician. Vartan Malian, head of the Armenian research centre in Nicosia today, served as a translator and witnessed the first refugees arriving on the island. Although now 80 years of age, his memories from the days working on the camps are vivid. “I was in charge of welfare and dealt with arrivals, clothing supplies and food,” says Malian. “Having just come from concentration camps, the people arriving were in a very bad physical and psychological state. They lived in a state of daily unrest.”
With all sorts of interesting stories up his sleeve, there are tales of laughter and tales of sadness, one more fascinating then the other. When it came to plans of escape, desperate times led to desperate measures. With a monthly quota of how many people could go back to the newly established Israel, things became competitive. “Anxious to head to their dream land, they would do just about anything to get there,” says Malian. “When word went round that those with babies would be sent back quicker, there was a sudden surge of pregnant women around the camps. I remember one specific day when nine babies were born, and with no maternity wards, the British soon had to make provisions as they set up special hospitals.”
One of the most shocking stories Malian has to tell involves the building of barracks on the camps. “As the Jews were piled into trucks and taken towards the designated camps, they were certainly not prepared for what was awaiting them, as German prisoners of war brought over from Egypt had been instructed to build the new barracks. Imagine their shock!” says Malian. “This really aggravated the refugees and they couldn’t believe what was happening – it led to instant conflict as they threw stones and shouted at the German enemy.”
Hearing all of Malian’s tales, I’m impressed by how much these Holocaust survivors influenced his life. Years on, he has still kept in contact with some of them and tells of the pictures he keeps to this day. “The Cypriots generally felt sorry for them, they were compassionate and lent a helping hand where they could.” These are the kind of tales that are sometimes only brought to life through word of mouth, with original pictures documenting historic events that often remain untold.
1946-1949 Historic Milestones
Photographic exhibition documenting the life of Jewish immigrants in Cyprus after the Second World War. Organised by the Embassy of Israel, within the framework of cultural events to mark the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. Opens April 7, until April 11. Marfin Laiki Cultural Centre, Crn of Makarios Avenue and Boumboulina St, 3rd floor, Nicosia. Tel: 22-369549
