A Dose of Nuance: ‘Surplus Jews’ By Dan
Gordis
February 17, 2012 Friday 24
Shevat 5772 10:48 IST
The phrase is used with no hint of embarrassment, no expression of responsibility.
We Jews permit ourselves degrees of intolerance towards each other that we would never exhibit toward others. The settings are numerous – theology, Halacha, denominations, politics and more.
But nowhere are the vehemence and the inability to actually listen to those with whom we disagree more pronounced than with regard to the State of Israel.
The great, irony of our age is that arguments about how to safeguard the Jewish State are a big, part of what now threatens to destroy any semblance of unity among Jews. It's helpful to have periodic, reminders of just how much is at stake in it's flourishing.
This week affords just that opportunity, for we are just days shy of the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Struma. Few people today remember the Struma or its story; Young people cannot imagine the Jewish, existential, condition that it reflected. It was a condition that the state has, thankfully, completely, eradicated.
The story begins in 1941, when it was clear to many E. European, Jews that they were destined for a horrific, end. In Romania. Several Zionist organizations, Betar among them, commissioned a Bulgarian, ship to transport almost 800 Jews to Palestine – the Struma.
Like Europe, however, the Struma was a disaster- waiting- to-happen. It was barely more than a floating tub, 61 meters long and six wide. It was built in 1830 for shipping cargo & transport cattle. The motor was salvaged from the bottom of the Danube River. It's rumored they shared one, bathroom.
The phrase is used with no hint of embarrassment, no expression of responsibility.
We Jews permit ourselves degrees of intolerance towards each other that we would never exhibit toward others. The settings are numerous – theology, Halacha, denominations, politics and more.
But nowhere are the vehemence and the inability to actually listen to those with whom we disagree more pronounced than with regard to the State of Israel.
The great, irony of our age is that arguments about how to safeguard the Jewish State are a big, part of what now threatens to destroy any semblance of unity among Jews. It's helpful to have periodic, reminders of just how much is at stake in it's flourishing.
This week affords just that opportunity, for we are just days shy of the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Struma. Few people today remember the Struma or its story; Young people cannot imagine the Jewish, existential, condition that it reflected. It was a condition that the state has, thankfully, completely, eradicated.
The story begins in 1941, when it was clear to many E. European, Jews that they were destined for a horrific, end. In Romania. Several Zionist organizations, Betar among them, commissioned a Bulgarian, ship to transport almost 800 Jews to Palestine – the Struma.
Like Europe, however, the Struma was a disaster- waiting- to-happen. It was barely more than a floating tub, 61 meters long and six wide. It was built in 1830 for shipping cargo & transport cattle. The motor was salvaged from the bottom of the Danube River. It's rumored they shared one, bathroom.
Their only, comfort
was the knowledge they were finally, succeeding in fleeing a burning,
Europe & the trip to Istanbul, the first, "leg" of their journey,
would take merely 14 hours.
The Struma set- sail on December 12, 1941, but the engine gave out almost, immediately. The tugboat that towed them out of the harbor eventually sent its navigator & engineer aboard. They wanted big money. The passengers gave all their money to the Romanian, customs officials. So they gave their Gold, Wedding- bands.
Four interminable, days, later, the boat limped into the Istanbul Harbor, where it would remain for months.
The Struma set- sail on December 12, 1941, but the engine gave out almost, immediately. The tugboat that towed them out of the harbor eventually sent its navigator & engineer aboard. They wanted big money. The passengers gave all their money to the Romanian, customs officials. So they gave their Gold, Wedding- bands.
Four interminable, days, later, the boat limped into the Istanbul Harbor, where it would remain for months.
Turkey refused to allow the passengers to disembark – what country wanted a
boatload of homeless, Jews? Nor did Britain want them to reach Palestine. England was anxious to assure an increasingly, restless &
sometimes violent, Arab, resistance that limits on Jewish, immigration would be
enforced.
On February 12, almost two months after the boat left Romania, the British finally acquiesced and granted Palestinian visas to the children. But His-Majesty’s government refused to send a ship to collect them, and Turkey refused to grant them overland, passage. So the children remained on board. With negotiations between Turkey & Britain at a standstill, Turkish officials towed the disabled boat up the Bosporus Strait toward the Black Sea.
Passengers hung signs over the side that said “Save Us” in English and Hebrew. The signs were plainly visible to people on the shores of the Bosporus, but no one helped.
When the hapless, Struma reached the Black Sea, the Turks abandoned the ship, leaving it to drift. The next, morning, on February 24, a Soviet, sub torpedoed the Struma. It exploded. Of the 769 people on board, only one survived, by holding on to wreckage for more than 24 hours. His name was David Stoliar, and he was imprisoned in Turkey for several, weeks & admitted to Palestine. Stoliar served in the British Army during the war, and then in the IDF (Isreali Defense Force) during the War of Independence. He later moved to Oregon.
On February 12, almost two months after the boat left Romania, the British finally acquiesced and granted Palestinian visas to the children. But His-Majesty’s government refused to send a ship to collect them, and Turkey refused to grant them overland, passage. So the children remained on board. With negotiations between Turkey & Britain at a standstill, Turkish officials towed the disabled boat up the Bosporus Strait toward the Black Sea.
Passengers hung signs over the side that said “Save Us” in English and Hebrew. The signs were plainly visible to people on the shores of the Bosporus, but no one helped.
When the hapless, Struma reached the Black Sea, the Turks abandoned the ship, leaving it to drift. The next, morning, on February 24, a Soviet, sub torpedoed the Struma. It exploded. Of the 769 people on board, only one survived, by holding on to wreckage for more than 24 hours. His name was David Stoliar, and he was imprisoned in Turkey for several, weeks & admitted to Palestine. Stoliar served in the British Army during the war, and then in the IDF (Isreali Defense Force) during the War of Independence. He later moved to Oregon.
There is much we do not know about the Struma catastrophe. Why did the Soviets
sink it? Did they mistake it for something else? Did the British actually
encourage their Soviet allies to sink it in order to “solve” the problem
without putting pressure on Palestinian immigration? Some people believe so,
but we will probably never know..
The incident, now mostly forgotten, had all the iconic, elements of the Shoah. Humans transported with equipment once used for cattle. Subhuman and unlivable conditions. Helpless Jews, whom no one wanted, with nowhere in the world to go. And finally, of course, mass death, with no graves to mark the fact that these innocent, people existed, & had died just because they were Jews.,
Perhaps the most important, element of the story to remember is to be found in a British governmental, communication from 1941. It referred to the Jews who were desperate to escape Europe and who, the British rightly, understood, would try to reach Palestine, despite British, objections. “We should have some alternative, scheme in hand for disposing of these surplus, Jews, who having escaped persecution in Europe, are going to be kept in detention, camps in British, colonies,” the communication stated matter- of factually.
“Surplus, Jews”: The phrase is used with no hint of embarrassment, or expression of responsibility. “Surplus, Jews,” as in humans, who are, for now, a commodity–until they become literally, worthless.. “Surplus,” as in not needed, as in a problem, that must be disposed of..
No one uses this phrase, anymore. Not the British, Turks, Ahmadinejad, nor Mahmoud Abbas. People everywhere still have a "beef" with us. Some are justified, most are not. But whatever one might say about the State of Israel, one thing is clear – the Struma incident simply could not happen, today.
It is impossible for today’s Jews to find themselves in a world where no one wants or will have them. That, perhaps most fundamentally, is the dimension of Jewish, life that Israel has changed, hopefully forever. Jews may be many things, but we are no longer “surplus.”
It is worth remembering now just how much has changed in the past 70 years. And as we battle over how Judaism should be manifested in this state. What its' borders should be & how we can best protect it. The memory of the Struma ought to be a chilling, reminder of what we will lose if the Stridency of our debate rips our people – & then our state – asunder.
The writer is president of the Shalem Foundation and Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. His latest, book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War that May Never End (Wiley), won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award. His next book, The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness is Actually Its Greatest Strength, will be published this August.
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Opinion/Article.aspx?id=258124
The incident, now mostly forgotten, had all the iconic, elements of the Shoah. Humans transported with equipment once used for cattle. Subhuman and unlivable conditions. Helpless Jews, whom no one wanted, with nowhere in the world to go. And finally, of course, mass death, with no graves to mark the fact that these innocent, people existed, & had died just because they were Jews.,
Perhaps the most important, element of the story to remember is to be found in a British governmental, communication from 1941. It referred to the Jews who were desperate to escape Europe and who, the British rightly, understood, would try to reach Palestine, despite British, objections. “We should have some alternative, scheme in hand for disposing of these surplus, Jews, who having escaped persecution in Europe, are going to be kept in detention, camps in British, colonies,” the communication stated matter- of factually.
“Surplus, Jews”: The phrase is used with no hint of embarrassment, or expression of responsibility. “Surplus, Jews,” as in humans, who are, for now, a commodity–until they become literally, worthless.. “Surplus,” as in not needed, as in a problem, that must be disposed of..
No one uses this phrase, anymore. Not the British, Turks, Ahmadinejad, nor Mahmoud Abbas. People everywhere still have a "beef" with us. Some are justified, most are not. But whatever one might say about the State of Israel, one thing is clear – the Struma incident simply could not happen, today.
It is impossible for today’s Jews to find themselves in a world where no one wants or will have them. That, perhaps most fundamentally, is the dimension of Jewish, life that Israel has changed, hopefully forever. Jews may be many things, but we are no longer “surplus.”
It is worth remembering now just how much has changed in the past 70 years. And as we battle over how Judaism should be manifested in this state. What its' borders should be & how we can best protect it. The memory of the Struma ought to be a chilling, reminder of what we will lose if the Stridency of our debate rips our people – & then our state – asunder.
The writer is president of the Shalem Foundation and Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. His latest, book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War that May Never End (Wiley), won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award. His next book, The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness is Actually Its Greatest Strength, will be published this August.
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Opinion/Article.aspx?id=258124
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