The Voyage of the Olim (Immigrants) of the "Biria"

Background

On June 22, 1946 a ship with 1,086 Jewish survivors left Sete, a small French port 200 km west of Marseille.  The name of the ship changed en route but at the time of its arrival in Haifa on July 2, 1946 it was called "Biria".  The story of this ship, one of many ships which illegally brought survivors to Palestine, is described in Meir Eldar's The Voyage of the Olim of the "Biria" June 22, 1946-July 2, 1946, published by the author (who was on the ship) in Jerusalem in March 2008.  The story is a fascinating one, and well worth reading.

In addition to the survivors and the crew, largely American, there was one passenger who actually had a visa to enter Palestine.  He was the author I. F. Stone, and he recorded his experience in Underground to Palestine, published in 1946.

Eldar's book includes a list of the passengers, with name, age as of 1946, and nationality, as well as, in many cases, the places where they later settled in Israel.  (Eldar, currently an economist, was born in Biala-Bielsko, Poland.  In May 1943, he was sent to Plaszow camp and later transferred to Auschwitz, Bobrek, Buckenwald and Spaichingen, from where he was finally liberated.  He immigrated to Palestine on 2nd July 1946, on the Hagana ship "Biria".  As a soldier, he fought in the battles around Jerusalem in November 1947.  He later worked in the settlement department of the Jewish Agency.)

This ship's list is not included in the International Tracing Service (ITS) collection, but there is often information on individuals as they passed through the camp system after World War II.  Such information may be accessed at ITS itself, or at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum or Yad Vashem.

Database

This database includes the names of 1,086 passengers.

The fields for this database are as follows:

• Surname
• Given Name
• Age
• Birthplace
• Place Where Settled in Israel

Acknowledgments

This ship's list is not included in the International Tracing Service (ITS) collection, but there is often information on individuals as they passed through the camp system after World War II.  Such information may be accessed at ITS, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum or Yad Vashem.  Thanks to Edward Mitelsbach, a JewishGen volunteer, who compiled the list.

In addition, thanks to JewishGen Inc. for providing the website and database expertise to make this database accessible.  Special thanks to Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias for their continued contributions to Jewish genealogy.  Particular thanks to Nolan Altman, coordinator of Holocaust files.

Nolan Altman
April, 2009

Searching the Database

This database is searchable via JewishGen's Holocaust Database.

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Last Update: 19 Apr 2009 by MFK