previous   next

Encyclopaedia Judaica

Jewry: Migration 03: 1915-May 1948

Emigration waves of East European Jews - emigration under the NS regime - the Big Flight from Barbarossa - return - D.P. camps for oversea emigration

presented by Michael Palomino (2007)

from:
-- Migration; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 16
-- Israel, State of; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 9

-- History; in: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8

Jewish migration movements 1915-May 1948

(from: Migration; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 16)


<1915-May 1948.

In some ways, this is an intermediate period between the intensive migration movements preceding and following it that turned to the U.S. and to the new State of Israel, respectively. It was also the period in which the *Holocaust occurred, profoundly changing the entire demographic makeup of the Jewish people. This period can be broken down into several subdivisions; common to most of them was the existence of restrictions to the free movement of Jewish migrants. The main statistical data on the period are concentrated in Tables 4 and 5 [[see below]].

[1915-1919: Flight of Jews within Europe from the territories of conflicts]

During and immediately after World War I, intercontinental migrations of Jews dwindled, but there were large movements of Jewish refugees in Europe to escape from the areas of the hostilities and of some of the subsequent political upheavals.

[[And there was also a flight of Jews to other continents. By this the racist Herzl Zionist center changed from Europe to the "USA"]]:

[1919-1926: Emigration to overseas, to "USA", Palestine and to South America]

Then [[after 1919]] the volume of overseas migrations swelled again, comprising more than 400,000 Jews during 1921-25; 280,000 went to the U.S. of whom nearly 120,000 arrived during the year ending in mid-1921.

In the same year [[1921]], Jews accounted for 15% of all immigrants to the U.S., and in the following year the figure rose to 17%. On the other hand, during 1921-24 the number of Jewish emigrants from the U.S. amounted to less than 1% of the number of Jewish immigrants. In Palestine, newly under British Mandatory rule, increased Jewish immigration came in response to the promise of a Jewish National Home. During 1919-26 (Third Aliyah and major part of the Fourth Aliyah), nearly 100,000 Jews immigrated to Erez Israel. Other streams of Jewish migrants found their way to South America. In Europe, the tendency continued for Jews to move from countries in the east to Central and Western Europe.> (Migration, col. 1522)

<The Balfour Declaration, and later on the *Mandate for Palestine conferred on the British, opened the long and tortuous path to the State of Israel. At the time many saw the opportunity and did not estimate the difficulties. United States Jewry emerged as the great political force and financial mainstay for all Jewish activity.>
(from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8, col. 757)

[[Arabs are not asked...]]

[since 1919: Russian Herzl Zionists change to the "USA" - racist Herzl Zionism has it's center now in the "USA"]

<Thus, at the end of World War I, clearly conceived Jewish policies were brought into effect through the importance of the new Jewish concentration in the United States, the ability and readiness for sacrifice among the intelligentsia circles of Russian origin, and the devotion and courage of the pioneers in Erez Israel. The latter also had not only kept the Jewish settlements intact under the hostile Turkish regime, but had undergone the ordeal of severe persecution after the discovery of the Nili spy group.>
(from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 8, col. 756)

[[When one considers that Herzl says that the Arabs can be driven away like the natives in the "USA", and when one considers that the racist Herzl Zionists are now just in the "USA" where the natives had been driven away and largely exterminated the Herzl Zionists found just the right country to found their new center to plan the extermination of the Arabs. But the Arabs had got weapons from the British and could not to be exterminated that easily like Herzl is describing in his booklet]].

Encyclopaedia Judaica / Lestschinsky: Map of the Jewish emigration from Europe to other continents 1915-39 (from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8, col. 753-754)

Table. Jewish Emigration from Europe 1915-1939
to North "America":	1915-1930	1931-1939
to Canadaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	40,150xxxxx	5,700xxxxx
to "USA"	411,730xxxxx	97,800xxxxx
to South "America":
to Brazil	31,435xxxxx	23,675xxxxx
to Uruguay	10,950xxxxx	10,957xxxxx
to Argentina	76,937xxxxx	27,490xxxxx
to Africa and Asia:
to South Africa	15,580xxxxx	9,810xxxxx
to Erez Israel (Palestine)	85,944xxxxx	223,000xxxxx
to Australia		7,000xxxxx
Table by Michael Palomino from the map above; from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8, col. 753-754

[[There is no indication if illegal emigration is considered or not. One can admit that illegal emigration or emigration under other national quotas is not considered. Also the important emigration to Great Britain resp. England is missing, also Cuba that was stop-over for emigration to the criminal racist "USA", and also Chile]].

[[Supplement: The racist Versailles conference
The racist conference of Versailles did not allow Arab national states in the Middle East and neither any solution for the Jews (Human Rights are fact in Europe since 1948 only, and minority rights could be handled individually). So the Herzl Zionist groups and the Arab groups were fighting on. So the Zionists - which came from the Pale of Settlement - went from one fight (in Russia, against the czar) to another one (in Palestine, against all Arabs) and got always media presence, and many Jews did not see this eternal war in Palestine and also went to Palestine, because Zionists never spoke about Arabs. And also disorientated European non-Jews migrated to that organized powder keg...]]

[1919-1921: War in Eastern Europe - Jews are hit - Soviet Union closes the borders]

<At the same time [[when Jewish Zionists developed the mainstay in "USA" 1919-1921]] the massacres perpetrated by the Ukrainian and White Russian bands and armies on Jews in pogroms in the Russian civil war, the cruelty and hostility displayed toward them by many of the new national states in Europe, and the social and spiritual crisis in Germany presaged future dangers and complexities.>
(from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8, col. 757)

[since 1921: Restrictions for emigration in "USA", Canada, South "America", Australia, Palestine and in Western Europe]

<The post-World War I migration impetus, which continued, as it were, the prewar trend, was soon halted by a combination of factors, among which the following were outstanding:

RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRATION.

In the U.S., the previously almost unfettered influx of overseas migrants was curbed by two laws, enacted in 1921 and 1924. The limitations imposed by the second law - annual quotas for each country of origin, amounting to no more than 2% of the respective immigrant population already in the country at the comparatively early date of 1890 - affected with particular intensity prospective migrants from Eastern Europe, i.e., from the main area of Jewish emigration. the number of Jewish immigrants to the U.S. was thus forced down drastically: it declined to little more than 10,000 per annum during 1925-1930.

The other main immigration countries for Jews also increasingly curbed immigration, through legislation and administrative practice, by reducing the overall number of immigrants permitted and / or by insisting on financial and other requirements for their admission. Restrictions were created both in overseas countries - e.g., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Palestine (quotas based on economic "absorptive capacity" [[implemented by the British government]]) - and in Western Europe.

["Soviet Union" stops Jewish emigration]

OBSTACLES TO EMIGRATION.

After the first few years of the Communist regime, the Soviet Union began to frown on emigration and soon brought it virtually to a standstill.

<Communist domination in Russia cut off one of the most devoted sectors of Zionist activity, Jewish cultural creativity, and pioneer spirit from the main body of Jews in the world and from participation in the settlement of Erez Israel.>

(from: History; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 8, col. 757)

[[When "Jewish cultural creativity" is going in the lines of the Human Rights this would be really better than in a Zionist Herzl war against all Arabs...]]

[Migration because of economic conditions]

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

After the political and economic dislocations in Europe in the wake of World War I. which had also adversely affected many Jews, a stabilization occurred there. In Palestine, on the other hand, there were absorption difficulties and unemployment, leading to relatively considerable emigration in the later part of the 1920s.

[[Supplement: Perpetual economic crisis in Eastern Europe since 1921 and the reasons
Eastern Europe was always in economical crisis, because
-- it lost the big Russian market by the border lines of Communist "Soviet Union"
-- it was split in little national states now and the border lines were in connection with customs barriers.
(in: Yehuda Bauer: American Joint Distribution Committee: Unsuccessful Eastern Europe since 1919 and the reasons)

By this poverty in Eastern Europe continued, and also emigration, often clandestine]].

[1926-1930: More emigration to Latin "America"]

In the second (col. 1522)

half of the 1920s a majority of the then comparatively infrequent Jewish overseas migrants went to countries other than either the U.S. or Palestine - especially to Latin America.

[[Supplement: Anti-Jewish propaganda after the crash in New York in 1929
The economic crisis after the crash of 1929 was blamed to the Jewish bankers and speculators at New York. But also many "national" industrialists had influence at the stock exchange, and many Jews were also struck by the crisis. So all general blame was fault]].

[since 1930: Emigration from Europe because of crisis and Hitler's anti-Semitism and his friendly states - and closed havens]

In the 1930s, the objective motivation for Jewish emigration from Central and Eastern Europe increased tragically, but the would-be migrants encountered ever growing difficulties in gaining admission to other countries. The special motivation for departure arose from the accession of Hitler to power in Germany, the spread of authoritarian and more-or-less overtly anti-Semitic regimes in other states of Europe, and the great economic depression, which affected the livelihood of many Jews and provided further incentive to anti-Semitic agitation.

However, with cruel irony, the very factors which made Jews wish to leave rendered prospective immigration countries unwilling to admit considerable numbers of Jews, so as to avoid aggravating their own international and internal problems. The more desperate the need to escape became for large numbers of Jews, the more tightly most prospective immigration countries shut the gates of entrance.

Whereas prior to World War I Jewish long-distance migration was strongly determined by economic considerations, from the 1930s until quite recently it has been predominantly a movement of refugees trying to escape oppression and unable to return to their former land for political, racial, or religious reasons. As opportunity allowed, Jews escaped from Nazi horrors, from anti-Semitism and Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and, especially after 1948, from the outbursts of intolerance and fanaticism in Arab lands.

[[The Arab measures were an answer at the Jewish Zionist Free Mason foundation of a racist, Jewish Zionist Free Mason state of "Israel" without definition of borders. Many Jews never wanted to have this Zionist state and were torn into the wars of Free Masonry in connection with criminal CIA from the "USA". Arab capitalists also were not so kind. They sold desert to the Jews, and the Jews made the desert fertile, and then the Arabs said this would be their "land"]].

[1933-1939: Finding of havens]

International efforts in the Nazi period to mitigate the plight of the Jewish refugees and find them new homes - e.g., through appointment of a special high commissioner for refugees by the League of Nations as early as in the autumn of 1933 and through the *Evian Conference of 1938 - led to a few tangible results.

In the history of Jewish migration, the 1930s are characterized by the following traits:

-- the prominence of emigrants from Central Europe - Germany and, toward the end of the decade, Austria and Czechoslovakia (about 350,000 Jews are estimated to have left Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of World War II) [[add to this a part of the non-Aryans which ware counted as Jews]]

-- the continuation of departures from Eastern Europe (except for the U.S.S.R., where exit was barred)

-- and the growth in importance of Palestine as a major destination for Jewish refugees (in addition to the continuing idealistic motives for aliyah).

In the years 1934-36, Palestine attracted even a strong majority of (Migration, col. 1524)

the intercontinental Jewish migrants.

[[Zionist groups prepared the young Jews with vocational training for Palestine and other countries, and the Haavara agreement permitted many German and Austrian Jews of the upper class to emigrate to Palestine;
see: Yehuda Bauer: American Joint Distributed Committee]].

[1936: British government limits immigration to Palestine - illegal immigration]

Then the protracted Arab riots (1936-39) led to a deterioration of the British authorities' immigration policy toward the Jews. Under the shadow of the impending world war, the British promulgated the White Paper of May 1939, which severely curtailed Jewish immigration for the following five years and virtually provided for its cessation at the close of that period. A consequence of this policy were organized and partly successful attempts at *"illegal" immigration to Palestine.

[1932-1942: Jewish emigration to "USA" and Canada]

During 1932-39 the U.S. and Canada together received only a fifth of the total intercontinental Jewish migrants. It was only when the above-mentioned restrictions on Jewish entry into Palestine were applied and World War II broke out (the U.S. did not join the hostilities until the end of 1941) that Jewish immigration to the U.S. rose to more than 120,000 during 1938-42. In some of those years, Jewish immigration to the U.S. constituted a majority of both total Jewish intercontinental migration and of general immigration to the U.S.

[1930s: Migration from East European to Western European countries]

The 1930s also witnessed a considerable amount of international migration of Jews within Europe, from the central and eastern parts of the area (outside U.S.S.R.) to countries of Western Europe.> (Migration, col. 1525)

[Children and youth emigration to Palestine by Hadassah and Henrietta Szold 1933-1936 - German and Austrian emigration - foundation of the Philharmonic Orchestra]

<In 1933 a new type of immigration, called *Youth Aliyah, was started to enable boys and girls to be looked after in educational institutions and villages in Palestine. The government issued special immigration certificates for them on the basis of guarantees given by the Jewish authorities. The work was largely financed by *Hadassah and organized by its leader, Henrietta *Szold. Up to the outbreak of the war, 5,000 young people were saved in this way (70% of them from Germany, 20% from Austria, and the rest from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Rumania see table on col. 543); another 15,000 were brought over to Britain and the Scandinavian countries.

The German and Austrian Jews made an important contribution to the progress of the yishuv [[Jews in Palestine before 1948]]. They constituted the first large-scale influx from western and Central Europe, and their skills and experience raised business standards and improved urban amenities. A relatively high proportion of them practiced medicine or one of the other professions, and they provided a majority of the musicians who formed the new Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a considerable part of its audiences. (Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 531)

[Immigration to Palestine limited 1936-1938]

The flood tide of immigration was again halted, however, in 1936, when the Arab revolt began. One of its major demands was the stoppage of Jewish immigration, and the Peel Commission (see *Palestine Inquiry Commission) while proposing the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state, also recommended that the government should fix a "political high level" of 12,000 Jewish immigrants a year for the next five years, irrespective of the country's economic absorptive capacity. In August 1937, a new Immigration Ordinance was issued empowering the high commissioner "temporarily" to fix a maximum aggregate number of immigrants for any specified period, as well as the maximum number to be admitted in any category. For the eight-month period up to March 1938, not more than 8,000 Jews were to be allowed in. From March 31, 1939, the ordinance was given general validity, despite the increasing intensity and range of the persecution of the Jews in Europe. The [[racist]] Zionist movement bitterly protested against the imposition of the "political high level" and denounced it as a violation of one of the most fundamental provisions of the Mandate.> (Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 531)

[Situation 1937: dispersion of 16 million Jews]

<By 1937 the dispersion of the 16 million Jews in the world and their proportion among the general population was as follows:

Table: Distribution of Jews by 1937
Country	Number	Percentage of Jews in General Population
Erez Israel (Ereẓ Israel) [[Land of Israel]]	384,000 (estimate)	over 20
Poland	3,000,000 (estimate)	10.4 (estimate
Czechoslovakia	375,000	2.6
England	300,000	0.7
France	250,000	0.7
Lithuania	160,000	7.6
Rumania [[Romania]]	1,130,000	6.2
Hungary	485,000	5.9
Latvia	94,388	5.0
Turkey (Europe)	58,000	4.7
Austria	285,000	4.6
Greece	120,000	2.2
The Netherlands	120,000	1.7
The Maghreb (present Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Tunis)	310,000	from 5.6 to 1.3
U.S.	4,350,000	3.6
Canada	170,000	1.4
Soviet Russia (in Europe)	2,700,000	1.9
Iraq	100,000	3.1
Argentine	250,000	1.4>
Table from: Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): History, vol. 8, col. 733

[[The number of Jews in Germany is missing in the table. There was a massive Jewish emigration by the racist Zionist organizations and by non-Zionist organizations since 1933. At the same time the persons counted as Jews was higher by counting also half-Jews, quarter-Jews and 3/4-Jews, see Joint. So the number of Jews in Germany in 1937 can be estimated at about 450,000]].

Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): History, vol. 8, col. 733-734

[English restriction of immigration to Palestine 1938-1939]

<The sufferings inflicted on the German Jews by the Nazi regime attracted worldwide attention, and in 1938 President Roosevelt called an international conference at *Evian to seek homes for the refugees. The dismal failure of the conference, which was not allowed to consider Palestine, showed that no one was ready to welcome them but the (Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 531)

yishuv [[Jews in Palestine before 1948]]. The Jewish Agency submitted to the conference a plan for the rapid and constructive absorption of 100,000 refugees in Palestine, but the Jewish National Home was not permitted to perform its most vitally important function at the very time when it was most desperately needed. Immigration had dropped from some 27,000 in 1936 to 9,400 in the following year, and, although it rose slightly to 11,200 in 1938 in 1938 and 13,700 in 1939, it was far too little to save the Jews of Europe. The British *White Paper of 1939 went a long way to meeting Arab demands for the artificial limitation of Jewish immigration, which was regarded as the major instrument for establishing the Jewish National Home, and envisioned the stoppage of its future development by marking further immigration at the end of the five years dependent on Arab consent. The yishuv, supported by Jews in the Diaspora and many non-Jewish sympathizers, denounced the White Paper as a betrayal of Britain's obligations under the Mandate. The organization of "illegal" immigration was intensified, and more and more refugee ships made their way to Palestine.> (Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 532)

[1941: The Big Flight from Barbarossa to Siberia and Central Asia]

As the German armies [[with their collaborators]] swept over most of continental Europe [[operation "Barbarossa"]], there were tragically few opportunities for the Jews to leave Nazi-dominated areas. The most notable exception was in the east, where many Soviet Jews, together with Jews from Poland and other neighbouring countries, managed to retreat before the invaders. Many joined the armed struggle against the common enemy; a large proportion of the Jewish civilians who were thus saved spent the remaining war years in Soviet Siberia and Central Asia [[Caucasus a.o.]].

[[Supplement: Before Barbarossa in 1940 and in spring 1941 there were Stalin deportations of class enemies with many Jews who died or survived in Siberia or in the Caucasus region]].

Sweden gave refuge to the Jews of occupied Denmark. On the whole, however, millions of European Jews remained confined under Nazi sway, left to their fate by an indifferent world engrossed in war.

[[The Berlin NS regime made propaganda against Jews in other countries and bribed many foreign governments with confiscated Jewish possession as "present", and the foreign governments took the "presents". And the Berlin NS regime was collaborating with Zionists to expel the German and Austrian Jews to Palestine]].

[Palestine practically closed for immigration - ship accidents]

No more than 45,000 Jews were allowed to reach Palestine during the five years 1940-44. Among the "illegal" immigrants who were turned back from the shores of Palestine by the British, hundreds of lives were lost in tragic events such as the explosion on board the Patria in 1940 and the sinking of the Struma in the Black Sea in 1942.

[1940-1944: Deportation of the majority of the Jews in NS Europe]

On the other hand, among the seven to eight million Jews caught in Nazi-dominated areas of Europe, the intensity of movement from one place to another reached fantastic heights. Most of the Jews were driven from their homes to be deported and crammed into ghettos, concentration camps, labor camps, and extermination camps or transferred from one to another of those places of horror. Only a small minority could join the partisans, go into hiding, escape into Soviet or neutral territory, etc. Except for those executed forthwith in their locality of residence, nearly all Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe "migrated" before the eventual doom overcame most of them.

[[Many Jews who had fled to Siberia were drawn into the Red Army in 1941 and were killed by NS guns at the front 1941-1944, and many of the survivors in Eastern Europe of 1944 were also drawn into the Red Army and were killed by NS guns at the front 1944-1945]].

[1944-1946: The returning survivors from Soviet Union to Eastern Europe]

After the war there was a reverse movement - back to previous places of residence, on a much smaller numerical scale, due to the paucity of survivors. This return migration took place within the areas previously occupied by the Nazis and as a repatriation movement of Polish and other Eastern European Jews from the Soviet Union.

Jews also participated in some of the new population transfers in Eastern Europe from territories newly incorporated into the Soviet Union (eastern Poland, Bessarabia, Carpatho-Ruthenia) to other territories, some of which had been vacated by former German inhabitants (Silesia).

[[A certain part stay in Siberia and in Central Asia because they found good jobs there]].

[1946: Jews are mostly not welcome in Eastern Europe - new pogroms]

The Jewish repatriates to places in Eastern Europe, however, found themselves haunted not only by the memory of their families and fellow Jews who had been maltreated and killed there, but also by fresh outbursts of anti-Semitism and active hostility toward the repatriates (e.g. the pogrom in *Kielce, Poland, in 1946).

[[The "Christian" population had taken over Jewish flats and Jewish jobs in 1941, and they did not want to return them now. Add to this and big parts of the towns were destroyed and the returning Jews aggravated the housing shortage. By this the negative energy came again out against the Jews]].

[1945-1952: DP camps for Jews - emigration mostly to Palestine and "USA"]

Many [[Jews]] therefore moved to *Displaced Persons camps in Germany, Austria and Italy,

[[First there were no DP camps in 1945. The flight to Germany, Austria and Italy was organized by secret Jewish Zionist organizations, and then there were installed DP camps in the American zones]].

which accommodated about a quarter of a million Jews at the end of 1946. Most of them fervently wished to go to Erez Israel and start as new life there

[[by influence of Zionist propaganda without asking the Arabs]].

But the British authorities admitted little more than 70,000 Jews from 1945 to May 1948, turning back many "illegal" immigrants (e.g., the passengers of the Exodus in 1947) or interning them in Cyprus; the D.P. camps were emptied only after the establishment of the State of Israel. A smaller stream of D.P.s went to the U.S., where emergency legislation granted admission above the usual quotas.

[[This emigration to the "USA" after 1945 is not shown in the emigration statistics of the "USA". The reason for this suppression of data can only be assumed. And Jews were also emigrating under other national quotas...]].

[DP help organizations]

The following international organizations and Jewish bodies played a prominent part in the care, transportation, and resettlement of the D.P.s: UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration), (col. 1525)

IRO (International Refugee Organization), the *American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the *Jewish Agency for Palestine, HIAS (Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society), the *World Jewish Congress, etc. (col. 1526)

[Situation 1945]

<After the Holocaust about 50% of the Jews were living on the American continent, while only one-third remained in Europe and the Soviet Union.>
(Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): History, vol. 8, col. 733)

<From 1945 Erez Israel became the main haven of refuge. France also absorbed many Jews from North Africa.>
(Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): History, vol. 8, col. 733)

[1919-1948: Pioneers in Palestine]

There was a high proportion of young adults among the migrants to Palestine throughout the Mandatory period (1919-May 1948) in keeping with the pioneering character of many of the newcomers (halutzim), part of whom had received agricultural training prior to leaving their countries of origin. The proportion of young adults was particularly high among the "illegal" immigrants.

Although the adjustment of Jewish overseas migrants to their new surroundings was universally necessary, a special situation existed in Palestine because of the emphasis of Zionist ideology on manual, and especially agricultural, work and the dynamic process of creating a new nation consisting of all economic and social strata.

On the other hand, the age composition and occupational structure of the Jewish immigrants to the U.S. in the Nazi period reflected the "aging", as well  as the considerable proportion of liberal professions and commerce, characteristic of Central European Jews at that time.

[[1947-1948 there were many Jews in Israel who were going back to Europe because they did not like the chaos of the Zionist organizations which were dominating the country, and they did not like the policy and the school of hatred against the Arabs. A big part of the returning Jews went to France]].

[Inter Soviet migration of Jews - abolition of the Pale of settlement - Jews in Birobidzhan and in Siberia]

Throughout the period 1915-48 there was also a large volume of Jewish migration within countries. The case of the vast Soviet Union is of particular importance in discussing interregional migrations. After the abolition of the *Pale of Settlement following the Revolution (1917), hundreds of thousands of Jews moved into the central and southern parts of the country. Subsequent transfers of Jews to Siberia - not only to *Birobidzhan with its ill-starred experiment of Jewish territorial autonomy focusing on agriculture, but especially to new industrial centers that were set up in Siberia - became increasingly important. In addition, in most countries of the world, the urbanization of the Jews was accentuated by residential changes from smaller to larger localities, and especially to the biggest population centers of each country.

In most cases Jewish overseas migrants turned directly to the main urban centers of their new country. Compared with this predominant trend, the movement to Jewish agricultural settlement - in Palestine, Argentina, Crimea - was of minor numerical importance.> (col. 1526)

Table 4: Jewish Intercontinental Migrations*, 1915-Mai 1948 (rough estimates) [[in Thousands]] * Includes migrants from Asian countries to Erez Israel; excludes internal migration between the European and Asian parts of the U.S.S.R. and remigration to region of origin.
Country of destination	1915-May 1948 Total	in %	1915-1931	in %	1932-1939	in %	1940-May 1948	in %
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Total	1,600xxxxx		760xxx		540xxx		300xxx
Yearly average of migrants	48xxxxx		45xxx		68xxx		37xxx
United States	650xxxxx	41%	415xxx	55%	110xxx	20%	125xxx	42%
Canada	60xxxxx	4%	45xxx	6%	5xxx	1%	10xxx	3%
Argentina	115xxxxx	7%	80xxx	10%	25xxx	5%	10xxx	3%
Other Latin American countries	140xxxxx	9%	65xxx	9%	60xxx	11%	15xxx	5%
South Africa	25xxxxx	1%	15xxx	2%	10xxx	2%	0xxx	0%
Erez Israel	485xxxxx	30%	115xxx	15%	250xxx	46%	120xxx	40%
Other	125xxxxx	8%	25xxx	3%	80xxx	15%	20xxx	7%
per 1,000 of Jewish population in the whole world		3.3‰		3.1‰		4.2‰		2.6‰
per 1,000 of Jewish population in main emigration regions**		7.8‰		6.3‰		10.2‰		8.7‰
** Up to 1931: Eastern Europe (incl. U.S.S.R.); 1932-Mai 1948: total Europe (excl. U.S.S.R.)
from: Migration; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 16, col. 1523-1524

Table 5: Jewish immigrants to the United States and Erez Israel, 1915-May 1948* *Official immigration statistics from Erez Israel are available as from 1919; in the United States the category "Hebrew" was included in official migration statistics only between 1899-1943 [[after - and even before - 1943 Jews were immigrating to the "USA" also under other nationality quotas, so the the complete figure can only be assumed]].
Year** United States Erez Israel*** 1915 26,497xxxxxx ... 1916 15,108xxxxxx ... 1917 17,342xxxxxx ... 1918 3,672xxxxxx .,.. 1919 3,055xxxxxx 1,806xxxxxx 1920 14,292xxxxxx 8,223xxxxxx 1921 119,036xxxxxx 8,294xxxxxx 1922 53,524xxxxxx 8,685xxxxxx 1923 49,719xxxxxx 8,175xxxxxx 1924 49,989xxxxxx 13,892xxxxxx 1925 10,292xxxxxx 34,386xxxxxx 1926 10,267xxxxxx 13,855xxxxxx 1927 11,483xxxxxx 3,034xxxxxx 1928 11,639xxxxxx 2,178xxxxxx 1929 12,479xxxxxx 5,249xxxxxx 1930 11,526xxxxxx 4,944xxxxxx 1931 5,692xxxxxx 4,075xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	Year United States Erez Israel 1932 2,755xxxxxx 12,553xxxxx 1933 2,372xxxxxx 37,337xxxxx 1934 4,134xxxxxx 34,267xxxxx 1935 4,837xxxxxx 66,472xxxxx 1936 6,252xxxxxx 29,595xxxxx 1937 11,352xxxxxx 10,629xxxxx 1938 19,736xxxxxx 14,675xxxxx 1939 43,450xxxxxx 31,195xxxxx 1940 36,945xxxxxx 10,643xxxxx 1941 23,737xxxxxx 4,592xxxxx 1942 10,608xxxxxx 4,206xxxxx 1943 4,705xxxxxx 10,063xxxxx 1944 ... 15,552xxxxx 1945 ... 15,259xxxxx 1946 ... 18,760xxxxx 1947 ... 22,098xxxxx 1948 (Jan-May) ... 17,165xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
** In the United States, fiscal year, i.e., the 12 months ending in June of year indicated *** Includes tourists settling.
from: Migration; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 16, col. 1523

Sources from the article "migration"
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Migrations, col. 1521-1522	Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Migrations, col. 1523-1524
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Migrations, col. 1525-1526

Sources from the article "History"
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: History, vol. 8, col. 753-754	Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: History, vol. 8, col. 755-756
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: History, vol. 8, col. 757-758

Jewish immigration to Palestine 1919-1948

(from: Israel, State of; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 9)

[1933-1970: Children and youth immigration to Palestine - "Youth Aliyah"]

<In 1933 a new type of immigration, called *Youth Aliyah, was started to enable boys and girls to be looked after in educational institutions and villages in Palestine. The government issued special immigration certificates for them on the basis of guarantees given by the Jewish authorities. The work was largely financed by *Hadassah and organized by its leader, Henrietta *Szold. Up to the outbreak of the war, 5,000 young people were saved in this way (70% of them from Germany, 20% from Austria, and the rest from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania - see table on col. 543); another 15,000 were brought over to Britain and the Scandinavian countries.> (col. 531)

Table 5. Youth Accepted for Training from the Outset of Youth Aliyah to Jan. 1, 1970 (by countries of origin)
Country of Origin	19 Feb. 34 - 1 Oct. 39	1 Oct. 39 - 1 Oct. 45	1 Oct. 45 - 1 Oct. 48	1 Oct. 48 - 1 Jan. 70	Total (19 Feb. 34 - 1 Jan. 70
Romania	29xxx	1,736xxxx	5,141xxx	9,250xxx	16,156xxxxxx
Poland	139xxx	1,401xxxx	3,813xxx	3,636xxx	8,989xxxxxx
Germany	3,437xxx	1,454xxxx	255xxx	789xxx	5,935xxxxxx
Israel	-	1,123xxxx	922xxx	14,886xxx	16,931xxxxxx
Morocco	-	1xxxx	34xxx	18,097xxx	18,132xxxxxx
Iraq	-	73xxxx	190xxx	6,864xxx	7,127xxxxxx
Turkey	-	1,045xxxx	64xxx	3,924xxx	5,033xxxxxx
Bulgaria	-	457xxxx	686xxx	2,551xxx	3,694xxxxxx
Hungary	-	395xxxx	1,333xxx	1,915xxx	3,643xxxxxx
Yemen	-	380xxxx	154xxx	4,059xxx	4,593xxxxxx
Czechoslovakia	354xxx	530xxxx	647xxx	1,003xxx	2,534xxxxxx
Austria	997xxx	643xxxx	69xxx	144xxx	1,844xxxxxx
Iran	-	3xxxx	9xxx	3,889xxx	3,901xxxxxx
Algeria and Tunisia	-	1xxxx	30xxx	3,446xxx	3,477xxxxxx
Egypt	-	6xxxx	69xxx	2,181xxx	2,256xxxxxx
Syria and Lebanon	-	214xxxx	234xxx	851xxx	1,299xxxxxx
Benelux	-	131xxxx	190xxx	507xxx	828xxxxxx
Libya and Tripoli	-	24xxxx	23xxx	1,009xxx	1,056xxxxxx
France	-	103xxxx	85xxx	905xxx	1,093xxxxxx
Yugoslavia	-	108xxxx	34xxx	508xxx	650xxxxxx
India	-	-	1xxx	2,029xxx	2,030xxxxxx
Greece	-	220xxxx	121xxx	121xxx	462xxxxxx
Russia	-	-	107xxx	3,361xxx	3,468xxxxxx
Italy	-	151xxxx	32xxx	222xxx	405xxxxxx
Various countries of Europe	-	75xxxx	134xxx	436xxx	645xxxxxx
Asia and Africa	-	3xxxx	-	911xxx	914xxxxxx
The Americas	-	1xxxx	4xxx	2,226xxx	2,231xxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Total	4,956xxx	10,269xxx	14,381xxx	89,720xxx	119,326xxxxxx
Unspecified	56xxx	886xxx	639xxx	474xxx	2,055xxxxxx
Grand Total	5,012xxx	11,155xxx	15,020xxx	94,194xxx	121,381xxxxxx
from: Israel, State of; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 9, col. 543-544

Sources from the article "Israel, State of" Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 543-544

[German and Austrian Jews of high professions - foundation of the Israel Philharmonic]

<The German and Austrian Jews made an important contribution to the progress of the yishuv. They constituted the first large-scale influx from Western and Central Europe, and their skills and experience raised business standards and improved urban amenities. A relatively high proportion of them practiced medicine or one of the other professions, and they provided a majority of the musicians who formed the new Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a considerable part of its audiences.

[[Arab music was not asked and got no further development - it was the pure Zionist colonialism in the Middle East]].

[1936: Arab revolt - restricted Jewish immigration by the Peel Commission]

The flood tide of immigration was again halted, however, in 1936, when the Arab revolt began.

[[The strategy to sell desert to the Jews with the assumption that the Jews would die in the desert was not at all successful, so the Arab side started a rebellion - but as the natives in the "USA" were not successful with rebellions, also the Arabs had no success by it]].

One of its major demands was the stoppage of Jewish immigration, and the Peel Commission (see *Palestine Inquiry Commission) while proposing the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state, also recommended that the government should fix a "political high level" of 12,000 Jewish immigrants a year for the next five years, irrespective of the country's economic absorptive capacity.

In August 1937, a new Immigration Ordinance was issued empowering the high commissioner "temporarily " to fix a maximum aggregate number of immigrants for any specified period, as well as the maximum number to be admitted in any category. For the eight-month period up to March 1938, not more than 8,000 Jews were to be allowed in. From March 31, 1939, the ordinance was given general validity, despite the increasing intensity and range of the persecution of the Jews in Europe. The Zionist movement bitterly protested against the imposition of the "political high level" and denounced it as a violation of one of the most fundamental provisions of the Mandate.

[[Zionists were not changing their position of Herzl that the land would belong to them, and they were not willing to find other solutions for the Jews than a "Jewish State" although most of the Jews just wanted peace and were not eager to have a "Jewish State". The Jews came from one trap to another...]]

[1938: Evian conference cannot resolve the problem]

The suffering inflicted on the German Jews by the Nazi regime attracted worldwide attention, and in 1938 President Roosevelt called an international conference at *Evian to seek homes for the refugees. The dismal failure of the conference, which was not allowed to consider Palestine, showed that no one was ready to welcome them but the (col. 531)

yishuv. The Jewish Agency submitted to the conference a plan for the rapid and constructive absorption of 100,000 refugees in Palestine, but the Jewish National Home was not permitted to perform its most vitally important function at the very time when it was most desperately needed.

[1936-1939: Reduced immigration figures]

Immigration had dropped from some 27,000 in 1936 to 9,400 in the following year, and, although it rose slightly to 11,200 in 1938 and 13,700 in 1939, it was far too little to save the Jews of Europe. The British *White Paper of 1939 went a long way to meeting Arab demands for the artificial limitation of Jewish immigration, which was regarded as the major instrument for establishing the Jewish National Home, and envisioned the stoppage of its future development by making further immigration at the end of the five years dependent on Arab consent.

The yishuv, supported by Jews in the Diaspora and many non-Jewish sympathizers, denounced the White Paper as a betrayal of Britain's obligations under the Mandate. The organization of "illegal" immigration was intensified, and more and more refugee ships made their way to Palestine.> (col. 532)

[Balance of immigration to Palestine 1919-1948]

<During the entire period of the Mandate, some 483,000 Jews had settled in Palestine - almost six times the size of the Jewish population at the beginning of the period. Almost 88% had come from Europe, where the Zionist movement was strong and the pressure of persecution was great, including
-- 39.6% from Poland
-- 14.2% from Germany and Austria
-- 12.2% from the Soviet Union, Lithuania, and Latvia
-- and 4.1% from the Balkan countries.

Less than 2% came from the Americas, and some 10.4% from Asia and Africa, which for some time had been outside the mainstream of the development of Zionism.>

[M.L.]> (col. 533)

Sources from the article "Israel, State of"
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 531-532	Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Israel, State of, vol. 9, col. 533-534

previous   next