- Brief Narrative
- Postcard commissioned in 1958 commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Aliyah of a group of German Jews arranged by the Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary organization in Palestine, with the assistance of leaders of the Revisionist Organization in Vienna. On March 13, 1938, Germany annexed Austria and created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. The postcard depicts the route a group of Austrian Jews took to escape the country. The journey began in the town of Arnoldstein, located on the border of Austria and Italy. The town was a frequent waypoint for German and Austrian Jews attempting to flee Nazi oppression. The group left Arnoldstein by train, crossing the Reichsbrücke Bridge in Vienna and traveled down the Danube River to board the Draga, in Galati, Romania. The ship was disguised as the Libertad, a Spanish vessal, to avoid detection by British anti-immigration authorities from Palestine. The Draga departed Sulina, Romania on November 6, 1938 and traveled to Cyprus, which the ship circled several times until the passengers were able to transfer to another ship, the Elli. Once aboard the Elli, the passengers arrived in Palestine in December. In the face of strict British immigration quotas, Jewish Zionist organizations aided European Jewry in escaping Nazi persecution, and illegally brought them to Palestine to bolster their argument for the need of a Jewish state.
- Date
-
depiction:
1938
creation:
1958
- Geography
-
depiction:
Arnoldstein (Austria)
depiction:
Vienna (Austria)
depiction:
Cyprus
depiction:
Palestine
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Philip and Janet Levin Foundation
- Markings
- front, bottom left, printed black ink : -Tel- Aviv, 20 Dezember 1958 [Hebrew text] [Tel Aviv, December 20, 1958 Tel Aviv, the 9th of Tevet 1958]
front, center, bottom left, printed, black ink : Zur Erinnerung an unsere Aliah / November /Dezember 1938 / [Hebrew text] [In memory of our Aliah / November / December 1938 / to mark our Aliyah 1938-1958 Kislev/Tevet]
front, bottom left, printed vertically, black ink : Feiner ∙ [Hebrew text] Feiner
front, left, printed black ink : ARNOLDSTEIN / [Hebrew text] Arnoldstein
front, top left, printed black ink : REICHSBRÜCKE [Reich Bridge]
front, top right, printed black ink : Es fährt ein Schiff die Donau hinunter / Und auf diesem Schiff fahren Juden nach Haus… [A ship is going down the Danube / And on this ship Jews go home…]
front, center, printed, black ink : CYPERN / [Hebrew text] [Cyprus]
front, center, within image on ship, printed, black ink : DRAGA / ELLI [Draga / Elli}
front, center, within image on ship, printed, black ink : DRAGA [Draga]
front, bottom right within image, printed black ink : NATANYA [Hebrew text] [Natanya]
- Signature
- front, bottom right, within image : [Hebrew text] Abie
- Contributor
-
Artist:
Abie
