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Simon Brod, the Jewish Agency representative in Istanbul, and Mr. Beretta, a local official, greet a transport of Jewish refugees from Transnistria, who have just arrived aboard the SS Bellacita.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 86510
Simon Brod, the Jewish Agency representative in Istanbul, and Mr. Beretta, a local official, greet a transport of Jewish refugees from Transnistria, who have just arrived aboard the SS Bellacita. Among those pictured are Simon Brod (front row, left), Judith Ravner Grunberg (second row, right); ? Loebel (second row, center); Nathan Grunberg (second row, fourth from right, next to Loebel), and D. Leventer (second row, far left).

Simon Brod, the Jewish Agency representative in Istanbul, and Mr. Beretta, a local official, greet a transport of Jewish refugees from Transnistria, who have just arrived aboard the SS Bellacita.

Among those pictured are Simon Brod (front row, left), Judith Ravner Grunberg (second row, right); ? Loebel (second row, center); Nathan Grunberg (second row, fourth from right, next to Loebel), and D. Leventer (second row, far left).

Date
May 1944
Locale
Istanbul, Turkey
Variant Locale
Constantinople
Photo Designation
JEWISH REFUGEES: IMMIGRATION TO PALESTINE/ISRAEL -- Refugee Ships (1934-1944) -- Bellacita
Photo Credit
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marta Brod

About This Photograph

Event History
The Bellacita sailed from Constanza to Istanbul with 120 orphans who survived the deportation to Transnistria. They were joined by ten wealthy Romanian Jewish families, who together financed the voyage. From Istanbul the Jewish refugees travelled by train to Haifa, arriving on May 3, 1944.

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005776. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007261.
Biography
Simon Brod (1893-1962), a Jewish businessman from Istanbul, who during World War II helped to rescue an untold number of Jewish refugees who reached Turkey. Brod ran a successful textile importing firm in Istanbul together with his brother Max. During World War II he was employed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Palestine to assist in the rescue of European Jewish refugees who, in one way or another, had been able to reach Turkey. His close association with Arthur Whittall, an officer in the British passport office in Istanbul and Ahmet Demir, a high-ranking Turkish police officer, made Brod a valuable asset to these organizations. Together, Brod, Whittall and Demir were able to locate and identify groups of refugees arriving by ship, train or automobile, secure the appropriate stamps and documents, and arrange for safe passage to their next destination. Following the sinking the Struma refugee vessel in February 1942, Brod make contact with David Stoliar, the sole survivor of the shipwreck, who had been imprisoned in Istanbul after he was fished from the water. Brod arranged for Stoliar's meals during his two-month incarceration. Upon his release, Brod brought Stoliar home. He provided him with clothes and a suitcase, a safe conduct pass and a train ticket to Allepo, Syria, from which he was driven to Tel Aviv.

[Source: Guggenheim, Alan. "Interview with Marta Brod [daughter of Simon Brod], 7 November 2002. Email correspondence from Alan Guggenheim to Sharon Muller, 15 July 2003.]

Keywords and Subjects

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Marta Brod
Source Record ID: Collections: 2003.320
Comite International de la Croix Rouge
Copyright: Exclusively with source
Source Record ID: 1603/18
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Copyright: Agency Agreement
Source Record ID: 359.17
 
Record last modified: 2003-10-24 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1074994