“In the sea was Your way,
and Your path in the mighty waters,
and Your steps were not known.”
– Psalm 77, Verse 20
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In 1953, the Crown Publishing Company of New York published Nathan Ausubel’s Pictorial History of the Jewish People, a near-350-page-long survey of the history of the Jews, from – as stated in the book’s sub-title – “Bible Times to Our Own Day Throughout the World.” Probably intended for the serious lay reader, the book covers Jewish history in a chronological and geographic fashion, presenting history in a pithy, fast-paced, surprisingly compelling manner. Along with an extensive index, the work includes a list of English language bibliographic references – primarily monographs – which are arranged by category.
Pictorial History of the Jewish People is profusely illustrated with maps, photographic and artistic portraits, paintings, woodcuts, images of archeological discoveries and sculptures, illustrations of coins and medallions, and both historical and contemporary views of temples and geographic centers of Jewish life.
Unsurprisingly, given the time-frame of the book’s publication – its next-to-last chapter is entitled “Israel”. And, among the illustrations therein (oddly placed within a section devoted to the Technion!) is an image of a Jewish sailor standing on the deck of a ship from which the flag of Israel flutters in the wind:
“The S.S. Har Zion (Mount Zion) and its Jewish skipper. One of the first ships to fly the Jewish national flag, it was sunk by a Nazi submarine in the Battle of the Atlantic.”
However, a caption being merely a caption, Pictorial History of the Jewish People reveals nothing more about the story. Until…
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…recently, while reviewing the German WW II “exile-newspaper” Aufbau, I discovered the photograph once more, the picture having been published on the front page of the issue of June 26 (Friday), 1942, with the caption:
“Unter der weiss-blauen Fahne auf der Wacht an der palästinenischen Küste. Neun Schiffe der jungen jüdischen Handelsflotte sin im Dienst der britischen Marine.”
Translation?
“Under the white and blue flag on the watch on the Palestinian coast. Nine ships of the young Jewish merchant fleet are in the service of the British Navy.”
What was the Har Zion’s story? The Comonwealth War Graves Commission, and a variety of other references, revealed the answer, which follows below…
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The History of a Ship
According to information provided by Allen Tony to WreckSite, the ship that would in time become the “Har Zion” was originally the “St. Jan”, and was built in 1907 by the firm of Burmeister & Wain’s Maskin & Skibsbyggeri (B&W), at Copenhagen. That firm also provided the vessel’s 1,450 horsepower triple-expansion engine, which gave the 99 x 12 x 6 meter ship a maximum speed of 11 knots.
The vessel’s first owner was the firm Det Østasiatiske Kompagni A/S of Copenhagen, in whose service the ship was operated from 1907 to 1913. The vessel was renamed the “SS Nickerie” (from 1913 to 1932), and owned – there seems to have been some overlap, here – by both the United States Government (1918-1919) and Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij of the Netherlands (1913-1932). The ship’s third name was “SS Risveglio” (from 1932 to 1935), while owned by Messina Ignazio & Cie. of Italy. The ship acquired its final name – “SS Har Zion” – commencing 1935, while operated by Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd., headquartered at Haifa, in the Yishuv.
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These images show the ship’s general appearance (it didn’t seem to vary that much, except for the colors of the smokestack!) over time.
In this image, from the photo album of David Laszlo Bella, the Har Zion is now the Har Zion, and is seen docked outside of Tel Aviv some time between 1937 and 1939. Note that the smokestack is emblazoned with a magen david, while faintly visible on the bow is the ship’s name in English and Hebrew.
Another view of the Har Zion; from Israel’s National Maritime Museum. Note that the symbol on the smokestack has been changed from the six-pointed magen david to a five-pointed-star, suggesting that the photo was taken after the ship had begun service with the British Merchant Navy. Thus, perhaps this picture was probably taken between the commencement of the Second World War on September 1, 1939, and August, 1940.
A much smaller version of the Har Zion: A model of the ship at the Israel National Maritime Museum, Haifa. Note the magen david – in dark blue – on its smokestack.
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The Har Zion in the Service of the Yishuv
From a post (by Edgar Hauster in November 2012) at the Ephes Blog, this undated article in German from an unidentified newspaper describes the acquisition of the Har Carmel and Har Zion by Palestine Maritime Lloyd, Ltd., in Haifa, the ships’ route between Constanta (Rumania) and Haifa, and accommodations aboard the two vessels. This information places the article’s date of publication as some time before February of 1940.
A transcript and translation follow…
Erste palastinensische Schiffahrtslinie
Constanta – Haifa in 24 Stunden
Man möchte es kann glauben, dass der Schiffsverkehr in der letzten Zeit einen so grossen Aufschwung genommen hat, dass man schon in vier Tagen, eine 24 stundige Bestichigung Istanbuls miteingerchnet, auf die andere Hemisphare, – Palästina – den Judenstaat, gelangt. Daruber gibt uns der zufällig in Cernäuti weilende Bordkommissär der ersten Palästinensischen Schiffahrtslinie “Palästine Maritime Lloyd Ltd. Haifa”, Walter Neuberger, einige sehr interessante Aufklärungen. Bordkommissar Neuberger, der den Passagierdienst überwacht und an den Häfen die Polizie und Zollabfertigung beaussichtigt, ist der erste jüdische Offizier der von den Italienern übernommenen Postschnelldampfer, die in Kürze umbenannt und die jüdisch-historischen Namen “Mount Zion” u. “Mount Karmel” erhalten werden. Seinen Mitteilungen ist zu entnehmen, dass die Dampfer jeden Freitag nachmittags von Constanta abgehen und Mittwochfrüh in Haifa eintreffen. Die Reisedauer Constanta – Haifa dauert somit mit einer Reiseunterbrechung von 24 Studen in Istanbul, vier Tage. Jeder Reisende hat somit Gelegenheit, bie den billigen Tarifen auch die interessante türkische Stadt zu besichtigen. Die Kabinen find luxuriös ausgestattet, die Bedienung erfolgt durch ein erstklasstiges Personal, wobei koscheres Essen verabreicht wird.
Ueber die Persönlichkeit des Schiffsunternehmers Lazar Bercovici erfahren wir folgende sehr interessante Einzelheiten: Lazar Bercovici, der Pionier des jüdischen Schiffahrtswesens in Palästina, hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, der Verkehr auf ganz moderne Basis zu bringen. Jede Neuerung macht er such sofort zueigen und stellt sie in den Dienst seines Unternehmens. Während in seinem Unternehmen jüdische Kapitäne bereits beschäftigt werden und auch das übrige Personal jüdisch ist, werden gegenwärtig auch jüdische Matrosen ausgebildet. Der Grossteil der Schiffsoffiziere ist jüdisch. Die Dampfer, die eine Starke von je 5700 Tonnen aufweisen, sind zur Hälfte für Passagiere, zur Hälfte fur den Frachtenverkehr eingerichtet. Der grösste Teil des handelsverkehrs mit Palästina wickelt sich durch diese Schiffahrtslinie ab. Es soll nicht erst hervorgehoben werden, dass die Abfahrt und Ankunft eine regelmässige ist.
The First Palestinian Shipping Line
Constanta – Haifa in 24 Hours
One would like to believe, that shipping traffic has recently boomed so much that in four days, including a 24-hour confirmation of Istanbul, one can reach the other hemisphere – Palestine – the Jewish state. In addition, the on-board commissioner of the first Palestinian shipping line, “Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd. Haifa,” Walter Neuberger, who happens to be in Cernäuti, gives us some very interesting explanations. On-board inspector Neuberger, who oversees the passenger service and inspects police and customs clearance at the ports taken over by the Italians, is the first Jewish officer of the post-steamer which will soon be renamed with the Jewish-historical names which can be obtained, “Mount Zion” and “Mount Carmel”. According to his reports, the steamers leave Constanta every Friday afternoon and arrive in Haifa on Wednesday morning. The Constanta – Haifa travel time thus takes four days with a break of 24 hours in Istanbul. Every traveler has the opportunity to visit the interesting Turkish city at low prices. The cabins are luxuriously equipped, operated by first-class staff, and kosher food is administered.
We learn the following very interesting details about the personality of the shipping company Lazar Bercovici: Lazar Bercovici, the pioneer of the Jewish shipping industry in Palestine, has set himself the task of modernizing the traffic. He immediately embraces every innovation and puts it at the service of his company. While Jewish captains are already employed in his company and the rest of the staff are Jewish, Jewish sailors are also currently being trained. The majority of the ships’ officers are Jewish. The steamers, each with a capacity of 5,700 tons, are set up half for passengers and half for freight traffic. Most of the trade with Palestine is handled by this shipping line. It should not be emphasized that the departure and arrival are regular.
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From the same blog post, here’s a travel schedule for the Har Carmel and Har Zion, for saiings from October, 1936 through January, 1937. The lion emblem of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd. is displayed at the top. The schedule can also be found at TimeTableImages.
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Another interesting document. (Or, “kind-of-a-document”, as it were.): Romanian postal stamps bearing cancellations from the Har Zion, while the ship was en route from Romania to the Yishuv, on December 13, 1938. These images are from Max Peter’s blog post of September, 2013, at Romanian Stamps News, which includes this brief explanation in Romanian.
Cred că am mai amintit odată despre această ştampilă (s-ar putea să mă înşel), dar iată că o întâlnim din nou aplicată pe un plic expediat de undeva din România, după francatura pe care o poartă, spre Palestina, mai exact la Haifa.
După aspect, cel mai probabil este o ştampilă de cauciuc, folosită pe bordul navei Har Zion (la acea dată sub pavilion palestinian).
Sursa: Muzeul din Haifa.
Plicul cu pricina are o francatură de 10 lei, exact tariful pentru o scrisoare simplă externă. Din păcate, vânzătorul piesei (un negustor sau colecţionar înregistrat în Turcia pe acel portal online) nu a postat şi imaginea celeilalte feţe a plicului. Piesa a fost vândută pentru 150 dolari.
Translated into English?
I think I mentioned this stamp once before (I might be wrong), but here we find it again applied on an envelope sent from somewhere in Romania, after the postage it carries, to Palestine, more precisely to Haifa.
By appearance, it is most likely a rubber stamp, used on board the ship Har Zion (at that time under the Palestinian flag).
Source: Haifa Museums.
The envelope in question has a postage of 10 lei, exactly the price for a simple external letter. Unfortunately, the seller of the piece (a merchant or collector registered in Turkey on that online portal) did not post the image on the other side of the envelope. The piece sold for $ 150.
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Here are two news articles about the Har Zion’s conversion to the transport of freight – instead of passenger transport between the Yishuv, Turkey, and Romania – which commenced in mid-February of 1940.
S.S. HAR ZION BECOMES CITRUS FREIGHTER
The Palestine Post
February 15, 1940
TEL AVIV, Wednesday. – The S.S. Har Zion, passenger liner of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd, is being temporarily converted into a freighter for shipping citrus, and will begin loading in Tel-Aviv. It has a capacity for 35,000 cases.
Five steamers loaded with 40,000 cases of citrus at the Jaffa Port today while two other ships landed one hundred tons of cargo.
In Tel Aviv, 600 tons of timber, paper and other cargo were discharged, and about 20,000 cases of citrus fruit were loaded by two ships.
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Palestine Progress From Day to Day
NEW SHIP ROUTE
The American Jewish World
February 23, 1940
TEL AVIV – I. Berkowitz, managing director of Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd., stated that the company’s two vessels, the Har Zion and the Miriam, which formerly plied on the Constanza-Istanbul-Haifa route, are now to travel between Palestine and the United Kingdom. In view of the loss of trade with the Rumanian port, through which immigrants and visitors from Poland used to flow, and the reduction in citrus exports to Rumania, the company had to seek other channels of commerce. The ships will now carry general cargo between Palestine and England, with a side trip to Belgium.
Due to the fact that the ships are under the Red Ensign, the captains and wireless operators are to be British, and will be chosen by the British admiralty. The remainder of the crews will be Jewish.
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And, a brief article about three sailors who recently joined the Har Zion’s crew in late February of 1940. “Lubnicki” probably refers to Deck Boy Jacob Lubnitzki, who was lost in the ship’s sinking seven months later.
ZEBULUN MEMBERS JOIN HAR ZION CREW
The Palestine Post
February 28, 1940
TEL AVIV, Tuesday. – Three members of the Zebulun Seafaring Society have joined the crew of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd liner, S.S. Har Zion.
The sailors are Nachson, who had some experience on a Norwegian shop two years ago; Hillelson, and Lubnicki.
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The Loss of the Har Zion
In September and October of 1940, these news items about the ship’s loss appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, Palestine Post, and The Sentinel…
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THE SINKING OF THE HAR ZION
The Jewish Chronicle
September 27, 1940
The Palestine Maritime Lloyd in Tel-Aviv announces that 17 Jewish sailors from Palestine were among the 26 officers and men who were drowned when their ship was sunk in the Atlantic recently.
The ship was the Har Zion, which was a sister ship of the Har Hacarmel, destroyed by fire at Constanza in January, 1938. She flew the flag of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd, and plied the Haifa-Constanza route. Before the war she had a crew of about fifty men, mainly Jewish.
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LOST JEWISH SEAMAN MOURNED IN HAIFA
The Palestine Post
October 1, 1940
HAIFA, Monday. – A memorial meeting for the seamen who went down with the S.S. Har Zion was held at the Hebrew Technical College yesterday afternoon to mark the 30th day after the sinking of the vessel.
Representatives of all Jewish public institutions, relatives and friends, a former master of the ill-fated ship, Captain Hirschfeld, pupils of the Haifa Nautical School and Captain Zeev Hayam attended the ceremony.
Speakers included Dr. M. Soloveitchik and Messrs. Aba Hushi, Emanuel Tuvim and S. Kaplansky. It was announced at the meeting that a tablet in memory of the seamen would be erected at the Haifa, Jewish Cemetery at Azizia.
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The Sentinel
October 3, 1940
Tel Aviv (JTA) – Sinking of the Palestinian steamship Har Zion in the Atlantic was publicly announced at a rally of 400 Jewish sea scouts from all over the country, held in support of the fund to purchase fighter aircraft. Capt. Guy Lydekker, officer in charge of Palestine ports, in making the revelation paid tribute to the Har Zion’s crew and praised the nautical training given to Jewish sea scouts. The Har Zion was the sister ship of the Har HaCarmel, which was destroyed by fire at the Rumanian port of Constanza in January, 1938. It flew the flag of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd before the war and plied the Haifa-Constanza route. Before the war it had a crew of about fifty, most of them Jews.
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SINKING OF THE HAR ZION – Memorial Meeting for Jewish Sailors
[From our Correspondent – JERUSALEM]
The Jewish Chronicle
October 25, 1940
A memorial meeting was held at the Great Synagogue in Tel-Aviv last month for the seventeen Jewish officers and men of the crew of the Palestine Maritime Lloyd’s steamer Har Zion. The vessel, well-known on the Haifa-Constanza run, was sunk by enemy action – as previously reported in these columns.
Relatives of the dead men, representatives of Jewish national and public institutions, delegates from all over the country and members of the various Jewish seafaring promotion societies, were present. Memorial addresses were given and Psalms recited by Chief Rabbi Avigdor Amiel. Mr. Dov Hos, for the Jewish community, stressed that the Jewish people were among Britain’s Allies, and Cantor Ravitz recited the memorial prayer for “the officers and sailors drowned in mid-sea in a Jewish ship whilst at their posts in the defence of their homeland for the victory of justice and right.”
The service concluded with the singing of “Hatikvah”, and the British National Anthem (in the Hebrew version beginning “El Natzor Melech”) by the choir of the Synagogue.
The Palestine Maritime Lloyd is continuing to pay the families of the lost men. The men were insured under the British Government scheme, and compensation is to be paid by the Government to their families.
The S.S. Har Zion was acquired in 1934 by the Palestine Maritime Lloyd, and until the outbreak of war carried 12,000 Jewish passengers to and from Palestine on its Mediterranean-Dardanelles-Black Sea run. It was the only remaining Jewish steamer in operation since the S.S. Tel-Aviv was sold to a Japanese firm (and subsequently burnt out) and its sister-ship, the S.S. Har Hacarmel was destroyed by fire in a Constanza harbour.
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What Happened?
On her final voyage, the Har Zion was one of the 32 merchant ships (and 1 escort) comprising Convoy OB-205, which departed Liverpool, England, on August 29, 1940. Of the convoy’s total of 33 vessels, six were attacked by U-boats, which resulted in the loss of three ships besides the Har Zion.
The ships damaged or sunk were:
The San Gabriel (Greek registry), torpedoed by U-59 at 21:34 on the morning of August 30. The crew abandoned ship and were picked up by the HSM Warick. The Sab Gabriel was taken in tow by the HSM Thames and beached near Caldross, Scotland, on September, being declared a total loss.
The tanker Anadara (British registry), torpedoed by U-59 at 21: 53 hours. There were no casualties; the ship being taken in tow by the HMS Schelde, eventually being repaired at Falmouth, in Cornwall, England. The vessel was lost with her entire crew on February 24, 1942.
The Volendam (Dutch registry), the ship of the convoy commodore, was struck by a torpedo fired by U-60 at 00:00 hours on August 31. The ship was abandoned, and all crew – with the exception of one man who fell overboard – and passengers (which included 320 children) were successfully rescued by the Bassethound, Valldemosa, and Olaf Fostenes. The ship was taken in tow by the HMS Salvonia and eventually repaired by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, Merseyside.
The Volendam survived the war as a troop transport.
The Bibury (British registry) was struck at 02:06 on August 31 by two torpedoes fired by U-59, sinking in five minutes. The ship’s entire compliment of 37 – her master, 37 crew, and one DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship) Gunner – were lost.
At 00:55 hours on September 1, the Efploia (Greek registry), an unescorted straggler from the convoy, was struck by a single torpedo fired by U-101 at a point approximately 130 miles northwest of Ireland. The crew abandoned ship via two life boats, and all were rescued by the HMS Anthony, which sunk the wreck by gunfire.
As for the Har Zion?
She was headed to Savannah, Georgia, carrying a cargo of 1,000 cases of spirits and 120 tons of fertilizer.
A straggler like the Efpolia, at 06:15 hours on the morning of August 31 (Shabbat Ki Teitzei), she was hit amidships by one of two torpedoes fired by U-38, commanded by Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Liebe (also see reference here).
She sank by the stern at 56-02 North, 10 West.
The sole survivor was Seaman Osman Adem. He was rescued by the Polish navy destroyer ORP (Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) Blyskawica (H34) the next day.
These two Oogle (know all!, sees all!, manipulates all?) maps show the approximate location of the Har Zion’s sinking in the North Atlantic: 56-20 N, 10-00 W: 160 miles west of Scotland, and 120 miles northwest of Ireland.
This smaller-scale map shows the above location in relation to the British Isles and continental Europe.
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The Men of the Har Zion
There were thirty-seven men aboard the Har Zion on her final voyage, of whom – as mentioned above – there was one survivor: Osman Adem. In terms of historical records, there is great variation in the “depth” of information available concerning these men. Eighty years later, for some – examples being Abbott, Ellinson, Grace, Svart, and Zuckerbrodt – little remains except their names. For a few others, a fuller genealogical record is available.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a substantial amount of information about ship’s Master John N. Beighton (a New Zealander), likely attributable to his long service in the Merchant Navy.
On reviewing the list, it’s notable, and tragic, that the ship’s Chief Cook and Boatswain, John and Thomas Nicholson – born only a year apart – were brothers who had wives in Birkhenhead and Liverpool, respectively.
Among the ship’s crew was one American: Third Engineering Officer Carl Wolf, from Forest Hills, (Long Island), New York, the only Jewish crew member who was not from Europe or the Yishuv.
In addition, among the thirty seven, one man was not actually a regular member of the crew, per se. He was Able Seaman William F.J. Critcher of the Royal Navy, serving as the ship’s DEMS Gunner.
Aside from Master Beighton, I’ve been able to find an image of only one crew member: Fireman Herbert Tzvi Berghausen. His parents were murdered during the Shoah, but his brother Ernst Eliyahu survived the war, passing away in Israel in 1979.
What about the image at the “beginning” of this post – from Aufbau and the Pictorial History of the Jewish People – which the latter describes as showing the Har Zion’s “Jewish skipper”? Perhaps that photograph – the original source of which is unknown to me – is actually a publicity photograph of some other vessel. I just don’t know.
And so, the men of the Har Zion – may they rest in peace:
Abbott, Alan – Ordinary Seaman
1921
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Abramovitch, Kalman – Ordinary Seaman
1919
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42 (As “Abramovitz”)
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Beighton, John H. – Master
1877
Mr. John Bingham (father), Roxburgh, Otago, New Zealand
Miss Adelaide Martha Beighton (sister) [died 7/23/1915]
Mrs. F.T.D. Jeffrey (sister), Roxburgh, Otago, New Zealand
Mrs. John Henderson (sister), Hataitai, Wellington New Zealand
The Advertiser (Adelaide) 9/19/41
The Evening Post 8/26/41
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Captain Beighton’s photography and obituary, as reported in The Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia) and Evening Post (from New Zealand?), are from Otago Taphophile’s In Loving Memory blog, which also displays images of the cenotaph erected in Captain Beighton’s honor.
Sea Captain Lost
The Advertiser (Adelaide)
September 19, 1941
Capt. John N. Beighton, RNR, formerly very well known in South Australian shipping circles, has been officially reported lost at sea, the vessel on which he was serving having been destroyed in the Atlantic by enemy action on August 31, 1940, according to a report received by Captain W.F. Baddams.
Captain Beighton served his apprenticeship aboard the barque Onyx, and later held command of various steamers in the Union Steamer Company’s fleet. He captained the Largs Bay for some time. During the last war he was in command of supply and troop-ships.
Captain Bingham was the only son of the late John Bingham, of Roxburgh, Otago, New Zealand.
Obituary
John N. Beighton
The Evening Post
August 26, 1941
Confirmation has now been received of the death of Captain John Beighton, R.N.R., who, with his crew, was lost when his vessel was destroyed as a result of enemy action in the Atlantic. The only son of the late Mr. John Beighton, a pioneer of Central Otago, Captain Beighton was born and educated in that province and served his apprenticeship on the barque Onyx. A well-known and popular master mariner, he held command of various steamers in the Union Steam Ship
Company, including vessels engaged in the island trade, and was in command of supply and Australian troopships during the Great War. At the conclusion of the war Captain Beighton retained command of the troopship Bohkara, later taking over the Largs Bay, a unit of the Australian Commonwealth Shipping Line, then newly established, holding this command for some years until the Largs Bay was sold to British shipping interests. Captain Beighton was a man of genial personality, and possessed in a marked degree those social qualities that inspire confidence and make enduring friendships. His death under such tragic circumstances will be regretted by a wide circle of friends in many parts of the world. The surviving members of Captain Beighton’s family are his sisters, Mrs. F.T.D. Jeffery, Roxburgh, Otago, and Mrs. John Henderson, Hataitai, Wellington.
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Bein, Konrad – Able Seaman
1922
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Anna Bein (parents), Bat Galim, Haifa, Israel
Mrs. Gertrud Block (aunt), Maayan Zvi, Israel
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Palestine Post 2/24/41
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42 (As “Konrad”)
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Berghausen, Herbert Tzvi – Fireman
Born 9/7/20
Mr. and Mrs. Max Dov [5/8/1871 (Germany) – 5/15/44 (Oswiecim)] and Mina [3/7/76 (Germany) – 10/7/42 (Therezenstadt)] Berghausen (parents)
Ernst Eliyahu Berghausen (brother) [5/12/11 (Strasburg, Germany) – 12/15/79 (Israel)]
Genealogical information from Itai “Jack” Meshulam (nephew)
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42
Herbert Tzvi Berghausen, from Geni.com.
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Bienenstok, Yitzchak Aaron – Greaser
1914
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42 (As “Beinstock”)
Brooker, Charles Alfred Frederick – Sailor
1919
Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. and Evelyn C. Brooker (parents), Cricklewood, Middlesex, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Critcher, William Francis Joseph, Able Seaman, P/JX 200131
DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship) Gunner
Royal Navy, assigned to Har Zion via H.M.S. President III
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. and Mary E. Critcher (parents), King’s Norton, Birmingham, England
Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire, England – Panel 38, Column 2
Name from:
UBoat.net
Patriot.Files
Day, Arthur Francis – Second Officer
1891
Mrs. A.V. Day (wife), Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Duncan, Lyall Alec – Radio Officer
1916
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Duncan and Mabel (Cailes) Duncan (parents), Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Mr. C.J. Cailes (uncle), Oxhey, Watford, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Ellinson, Paul – Sailor
1918
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42 (As “Ellison”)
Ermann, Ernest – Fireman
1903
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 42 (As “Aman” and “Erman”)
Gallagher, Thomas – Assistant Steward
1908
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Henry and Alice Gallagher (parents), Liverpool, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Gorton, Charles Edward – Chief Steward
1876
Mrs. Hilda May Gorton (wife), Bebington, Cheshire, England
Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Elizabeth Gorton (parents), Liverpool, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Grace, Norman – Boy
1923
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
Heilbron, Meny Hert – Fourth Engineering Officer
1915
Mr. and Mrs. Yaqov Yehuda and Fani Heilbron (parents), Haifa, Israel
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43 (As “Heilbron, Mordechai”)
Klinger, Rudolf – Able Seaman
1921
Mr. and Mrs. David Klinger (parents), Haifa, Israel
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43 (As “Klinger, Rudolph”)
Lubnitzki, Jacob – Deck Boy
1925
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 55
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43
Lubthenscy, Benjamin – Greaser
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43 (As “Lubtzensky”)
Luss, Robert – Cook
1904
Mr. and Mrs. Jakob and Johanna Luss (parents)
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43 (As “Loss”)
Miller, Samuel – Chief Engineering Officer
1890
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43
Nicholson, John – Chief Cook
1904
Mrs. Lilian Nicholson (wife), Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, England
Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Ethel Nicholson (parents)
Boatswain Thomas Nicholson (brother)
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Nicholson, Thomas – Boatswain
1905
Mrs. Ann Nicholson (wife), Liverpool, England
Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Ethel Nicholson (parents)
Chief Cook John Nicholson (brother)
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
O’Hare, Joseph Vincent – Radio Officer (Second)
1918
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Pinette, Mark Solomon – Ordinary Seaman
1923
Dr. and Mrs. Paul and Charlotte (Arnemann) Pinette (parents), Tel Aviv, Israel
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 45 (As “Solomon, Pinati Marc”)
Potts, John Henry – Carpenter
1912
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew and Emily Potts (parents), Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Rawlins, Louis Roger – Chief Officer
1912
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Robert and Gertrude Louisa Rawlins (parents), Chelmsford, Essex, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Roberts, George Archibald – Sailor
1919
Captain and Mrs. J.R. and Agnes Roberts (parents), Salisbury, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Sangursky, Moshe Jacob – Purser
1908
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 45 (As “Sangrosky, Moseh Yaakov”)
Svart, Srul – Greaser
1922
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 45 (As “Schwartz, Sarol”)
Taylor, John Yuill Henderson – Second Engineering Officer (Canadian Merchant Navy)
Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, Canada – Panel 17
Whittlin, Salo – Fireman
1914
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 45
Williams, Geoffrey – Ordinary Seaman
1921
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Percy and Dorothy Mary Williams (parents), Aston, Shropshire, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
Wolf, Carl – Third Engineering Officer
1907
Mrs. Caye Wolf (wife), Forest Hills, Long Island, N.Y., U.S.A.
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – USA Panel 56 (As “Wolf, Karl”)
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 45 (As “Wolf, Karl”)
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed
Wyatt, Francis Henry – Assistant Steward
1902
Mr. and Mrs. Francis Henry and Edith Wyatt (parents), Thornton Heath, Surrey, England
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – USA Panel 56
Zuckerbrodt, Simon – Third Officer
1912
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England – Panel 56
We Will Remember Them – An Addendum – 43 (As “Shimon”)
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The Crew Commemorated
These two images, photographed by Brian Watson of Benjidog Historical Research Resources, show Panels 55 and 56 at the Tower Hill Memorial (in Trinity Square, London), upon which are recorded the names of thirty-four of the thirty-six men lost in the Har Zion’s sinking, Second Engineering Officer John Y. Henderson’s name (he was a member of the Canadian Merchant Navy) is recorded at the Halifax Memorial in Nova Scotia, while DEMS Gunner Able Seaman William F.J. Critcher’s name appears at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Hampshire. Note that ship’s Master Beighton’s name appears at the top of the list; perhaps this is a standard format at Tower Hill Memorial?
The images, accompanied by records about the Har Zion’s crew from the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission), can be found at Vessels Lost in WW2 Recorded on the Memorial at Tower Hill.
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The Sole Survivor
Mentioned previously, the Har Zion’s sole survivor was Seaman Osman Adem, who was rescued by the Polish Navy Destroyer ORP (Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) Blyskawica (H34) on September 1. Other than the possibility that this man was born in Cyprus (Ancestry.com suggests that he was born there in 1914), further information about him is unavailable. In any event, I wouldn’t doubt that subsequent to his rescue, he was interviewed by or compiled a report for the Merchant Navy or Royal Navy about what actually transpired on the Har Zion, which document – perhaps – may still exist some-unknown-where.
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Tragedy Within Tragedy
The world is made of stories, and like Russian Matryoshka dolls, there are stories within stories (within stories). One such story is mentioned in Sidney Lightman’s review of Martin Sugarman’s book Jews in the Merchant Navy in the Second World War: Last Voices, which appeared in April, 2018 at SpiroArk, a “London-based charitable organisation which organises Jewish cultural events and courses in Jewish History, culture and languages.”
To quote from Mr. Lightman’s review:
“For me, the most poignant tribute was one from Reuven (Robert) Hochstädter, an Austrian Jew whose family emigrated to Palestine from Vienna in 1935, when he was 12 years old. He recounts that, when he arrived in Palestine, he “spoke no Hebrew and therefore had difficulty in finding friends to play with”, and that the only friend he did find was an older boy called Moshe (Konrad) Bein, whose family was from Hamburg, in Germany.
Reuven goes on to say that Moshe was “mad about the sea and everything connected with ships… His dream was to join a ship as a deck boy, to work himself up to become an officer, and [to] sail to see the world”.
Unsurprisingly, Moshe’s parents were bitterly opposed to this, but he persisted and eventually overcame their resistance, becoming a deck boy on the SS Har Zion, a 2,500-ton merchant ship with a crew of 37 officers and men, of whom 17 were Palestinian Jews.
On the last day of August 1940, by which time 18-year-old Moshe was on the first rung of the promotion ladder and was an Able Seaman, the Har Zion was torpedoed by a U-boat and sank. Moshe and 35 of his fellow seafarers went down with the ship. The 37th, miraculously, survived. Exactly a week later, the Bein family was no more. Moshe’s parents, shattered by the news that their only child had been killed, had committed suicide by taking poison.”
Alas…
As reported in The Palestine Post on February 24, 1941:
HAIFA COUPLE FOUND POISONED
HAIFA, Sunday, – Arthur Bein (64) was found and and his wife Hannah (45) unconscious at their house in Bat Galim this morning.
In a letter found by the Police, Mrs. Bein is alleged to have stated that she have her partially-paralyzed husband poison and then drank the rest herself. She was taken to the Hadassah Hospital, where this evening she was reported to be in a dangerous condition.
The couple were stated to have lost their only son Conrad, who was 20, when the S.S. “Har Zion” was sunk last August with her crew, which included 17 Jewish sailors.
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Yet Still They Served
Though not directly pertaning to the Har Zion, these two articles focus on the service of sailors from the Yishuv in the Merchant Navy.
Maritime League Reviews Jewish Progress at Sea
IMPORTANCE OF SWIMMING FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN
The Palestine Post
March 12, 1941
TEL AVIV, Monday. — The readiness of .the Jewish youth in Palestine to play their part in the war by forming further Jewish combatant units was reaffirmed at the close of the conference of the Palestine Maritime League here this afternoon.
The conference, which was attended by 50 delegates, expressed their faith in the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force, and hoped for a rapid British and Allied victory over Hitlerism and Fascism. Confidence was expressed that the Peace Conference would not fail to assure the full rights of the Jewish people.
Regarding internal questions, the conference urged the Education Department of the General Council (Vaad Leumi) of Palestine Jews to make swimming a part of the general curriculum of the elementary schools.
Reports on the organization of the League were given by the Secretary, Mr. M Rivlin. who spoke of the activities during the past year and by the Treasurer. Mr. Zelist. who made the financial report. The closing address was delivered by Mr. Remez and a committee was elected, headed by Messrs Tolkowsky, Mossinsohn, Soloveitehik and Remez.
The delegates were then guests at a fish supper served by WIZO ladies, at which speeches were made by Dr. Soloveitchik, Mrs. Wilensky and Miss T. Hauser.
In opening the first session last night, the chairman, Mr. S Tolkowsky, paid tribute to the 17 Palestinians who went down with the S.S. Har Zion in the North Sea and to the three who lost their lives on the S.V. Rahaf. He also expressed the conference’s good wishes for the Jewish recruits, and particularly those who formed the two Stevedore companies.
On British Vessels
Reporting on the work of the Jewish Agency’s Maritime Department, Mr. B C. Meerowitz said that since the department was formed in 1936, the number of Jewish labourers in Palestine ports increased from 300 to 2,250, including 700 boatmen and stevedores. Some 100 Palestinian Jews were now serving on British vessels. The fishing industry had been greatly developed, and last year 170 men had caught 180 tons of fish. In the last four years, LP 15,000 worth of fish were marketed.
Mr. S. Kaplansky described progress at the Maritime School in Haifa, and announced that the school’s rowing instructor, Mr. Miller, who had enlisted as a Naval Lieutenant at the outbreak of the war, had been promoted to the rank of Commander for his fine work at Dunkirk.
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Jewish Merchant Fleet in Mediterranean Battle
The Sentinel
March 5, 1942
New York, March 4 (WNS) – The Palestine Jewish merchant fleet, which has been built up in recent years with the aid of the United Palestine Appeal, has now been almost wholly enlisted in the battle of the Mediterranean, it was revealed here by the United Jewish Appeal.
Nine of the eleven ships of the Palestine Jewish merchant marine have been requisitioned by the British Royal Navy to transport war supplies made in Palestine, the report disclosed. The Palestine merchant marine, it was pointed out, carries on its roll of honor the names of Jewish seamen lost in the sinking of two of its ships by enemy action. One of them, the S.S. Har Zion, was the flagship of the fleet. The Har Zion was lost with all hands in the Battle of the Atlantic.
In peacetime, this merchant navy was regarded as the nucleus of a Jewish seafaring enterprise which was expected, in time, to re-establish the ancient fame of Jewish ships and sailors in the Mediterranean. The Har Zion and her sister ships carried thousands of Jewish immigrants to the homeland and cargoes of citrus fruit and other Palestine products to markets abroad.
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One and a half years after the Har Zion’s loss, The Jewish Chronicle featured the following article – “The Sea Dogs of Palestine” – about the Palestinian Merchant Navy, by Major L. Rabinowitz, Senior Chaplain to the Forces, Middle East Forces. Major Rabinowitz described an encounter during Shabbat services at Derna (a port in Eastern Libya), with a crewman from the S.S. Aliza: Able Seaman Zachariah Nachson, originally from Yemen.
On the Oogle Map below, the location of Derna is designated by the blue oval.
Through a combination of Nachson’s help and enthusiasm, Major Rabinowitz was able to meet the captain (H. Koppel) and crew of the Aliza, a journey and encounter which he recounted in vivid, revealing, and humorous fashion. Much attention is devoted to the backgrounds of Captain Koppel and Seaman Nachson, particularly focused on aspects of life aboard ship, and, their motivations for nautical service.
It would appear that Zachariah Nachson was the same man mentioned in the Palestine Post article (above) of February 28, 1940, as having been a crewman of the Har Zion, after having originally served in the Norwegian Merchant Navy.
And so, here’s this fascinating article from the, found at the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Libary.
THE SEA DOGS OF PALESTINE
By Major L. RABINOWITZ, S.C.F., M.E.F.
The Jewish Chronicle
January 1, 1943
Soldiers and airmen were slowly assembling for my first Military Service at Derna, a few days after its evacuation by the enemy and its occupation by our Forces. The congregation, small though it was – about three Minyanim – showed the bewildering variety of Jewish types to which I had become so accustomed in my area services.
The majority were British but there was also a stalwart group of South African airmen, including one officer, a group from the Polish Independent Brigade, two Palestinians, one a medical officer, the other a staff sergeant almost in complete charge of civilian labour. A few months ago, such a variety of Jews would have given me a thrill – the catholicity of Israel and the contribution which Jews were making to this war under every flag but their own was now a commonplace to me.
I had, as a matter of routine, also informed the Navy Office of my service, in case one or two of the Jewish sailors staying in the Middle East had arrived at the army post.
We were just about to commence hen in walked a swarthy, slim man. Arab in appearance, wearing a tin hat on which was boldly and rudely inscribed in red, a huge Magen David. He had a five-days’ growth on his chin, and was dressed in navy blue bell-bottom trousers and a navy pullover open at the neck. He rolled in in true nautical style. A pair of black eyes flashed in his oval face, and there was an indescribable swagger not far removed from arrogance about him, with an open, frank, fearless expression. He looked around him, saw the notice on the wall, Deutsches Soldaten Kino, and turned to me.
“Kan, Bet Ha-Kneset?” he asked in Hebrew.
“Well,” I answered, “this is where the service is taking place.” Despite his question, and the expression on his face which was so far removed from the miserable, downcast, hangdog, oppressed look of the poor Derna Jews, I thought him one of them, and asked him if it were so. “No,” he answered, “I am a sailor from the Aliza.”
“Aliza,” I echoed, “isn’t that one of the Palestinian Jewish ships?”
“Yes.”
“How many Jews have you among the crew?”
“Sixteen out of the crew of twenty, including the Captain. But don’t say I said so; he is a German Jew.”
“Why haven’t the others come?”
“The Captain got the signal from the Navy Office, and he knew that I was religious. I do not eat Chazir or smoke on Sabbath – he told me alone to go.”
I felt a real thrill. Here in the port of Derna was one of those ships, the embryo of what I had always hoped would develop into a Palestinian Jewish Navy. The opportunity was too glorious to miss,
We held the service. I read the weekly portion from the Sefer Torah (it was Thursday), calling up a Polish soldier Cohen, a Scottish Levi, a South African last, gave Hagbah to my Palestinian sergeant, and, to his unconcealed delight, Gelilah to this specimen of Jewish nautical activity.
He joined devoutly in the prayers, and after, the service. I asked him whether it would be possible for me to go on board. “Bevakasha, Adoni,” he answered eagerly.
II. GOING ABOARD
We proceeded to the docks and he pointed out his ship riding at anchor. “How do we get on board?” I asked.
“In an argaz.”
I looked at him doubtfully. Argaz means a box or chest, and I naturally thought that it must be a Hebrew technical nautical term for raft. “Do you mean a raft?” I asked.
“No, no, not a raft. A raft is not an argaz.”
We approached nearer, and, to my dismay, I saw actually an argaz, a large packing case, suspended in mid-air on a hawser, which was pulled by hand, bringing the packing case from shore to ship. It was filled with Libyan laborers who were coming off, having finished their day’s work. As soon as it arrived at the quayside, with Arabic gesticulations, curses, objurgations, and threatening gestures, Zachariah Nachson, my Yemenite (as he was) sailor quickly emptied this strange vehicle of transportation, and courteously invited me to get in. In am ungainly manner I clambered clumsily in, he deftly following, and shouting the order to those on board to heave away. They did so, and I thought that I was going to be cast like a stone from a catapult into the murky, swirling, flotsam-strewn waters beneath. Not only did the case sway drunkenly with sickening lurches up and down and sideways, heaving and tossing at the same time, but every pull at the hawser from slack to taut brought its greasy strands against my body. I turned round to see how Nachson managed, and saw him crouching or squatting in the chest, well below the level of those treacherous ropes. I promptly did likewise.
The whole distance was some 30 yards, and we soon arrived at the side of the ship, up which I clambered. I looked around me with distaste. There was none of the spick-and-span bright polish, gleaming brass, the scrubbed decks with my schoolboy reading had taught me unconsciously and inevitably to associate with the Navy. I saw a filthy, dilapidated, decrepit-looking vessel, its sides piled high with cases of goods. I looked further, and to my amusement saw the lower deck half awash, the unusually turbulent waves of the Mediterranean snarling and swishing over it, throwing up flocculent wisps of spume. “Is this boat seaworthy?” I asked in astonishment.
He looked at me and laughed gleefully. “This is not our ship,” he said. “It’s a half-submerged Italian wreck. That’s our ship alongside, and this is how we go on board.”
I looked up and saw a much more stately ship gently riding alongside, and, viewing the intervening space, realised with a sinking heart that my journoy in the argaz was the simplest part of my approach to this unit of the Palestinian Merchant Navy. However, it was too late to turn back, and I followed Nachson the length of the wreck, at his command dashing across the submerged part when the waves temporarily receded, climbing up a companion-way half demolished by the bomb which had sunk the ship, cautiously skirting the huge bomb crater, up to the quarter-deck, until at last we stood facing the deck of the Aliza, only about a foot lower than the level of its lower deck and some seven feet away.
But the only visible link between the two was a stout double rope. I thought that I was expected to seize hold of it and clamber hand over hand along it, and I looked fearfully at my guide.
“They’ve taken the plane away,” he explained, and shouted across to two sailors dressed in British Naval uniform – they were the ship’s gunners – to place it in position.
“We can’t,” they yelled, “it’s fallen into the water.”
We looked down, and there it was, a long narrow plank floating among some debris in the water between the two hulls.
Fishing for the Plank
Without more ado Nachson slipped down the side of the wreck with surprising agility and with his feet fished it into a loop of rope hung down by the two sailors. They slowly pulled it up, but just as it came within reach of their outstretched fingers, it slipped out again, this time floating far out of reach of Zachariah’s feet.
Admiringly I watched his next action. “A sailor if there ever was one,” I thought. He raced back to the rope, agile as a monkey he swung himself hand over hand on to the Aliza, almost sprinted down the ladder at its side, seized hold of the plank and guided it safely into the rope. During this whole performance, I was intrigued by the dominating manner in which he shouted instructions – not free from interspersed oaths when they bungled – to the two British sailors. He was obviously master of the situation.
Later I was too see this slight Yemenite Jew giving the same kind of commands to his Jewish fellow-sailors, which were unquestioningly and with alacrity obeyed.
At last the plank was fixed, my sea legs must have found themselves quickly, for the manner in which I negotiated that loose four-inch plank with a slack rope handrail, filled me with as pride as my clumsy “going aboard the agaz” had shamed me. The British sailor with a cheery, “Steady, sir,” pulled me aboard, and I stood on the deck of the S.S. Aliza, belonging to the He-Atid Navigation Co., Palestine, registered with Lloyds, place of registration, Palestine, tonnage 1,500. Captain H. Koppel.
The Jewish Merchant Navy was under my feet.
III. CAPTAIN KOPPEL
Able Seaman Zachariah Nachson handed me over to a junior officer, who took me to the Captains’ quarter on the top deck. I introduced myself to Captain Koppel, who received me with great cordiality.
Dressed in a double-breasted reefer jacket with brass buttons, shabby flannel slacks, and pumps; a short stocky man, bald except for a fringe of grizzled hair round his scalp, blue-eyed, slightly aquiline nose, weather-beaten complexion, he made an excellent impression.
As an opening gambit, I thanked him for sending Nachson to the service.
“Take a seat,” he said in excellent English, “and have a drink.”
“Yes,” he went on, “Nachson is a religious fellow, but I’m afraid he’s the only one. Otherwise we are not a religious lot, I’m sorry to say.” He went into the back room to get the glasses. I remembered Nachson’s injunction, “but don’t say I said so,” and casually called out, “When you say ‘we,’ do you include yourself among the non-religious Jews?”
There was a perceptible pause, and then he came out, looking fixedly at the glasses which he was industriously polishing, and said slowly, “Yes. I consider myself a Jew and my future is bound up with Palestine. My father died when I was eight years of age and I was brought up as a Protestant. But when Hitler came to power and I was regarded as a Jew, I decided to proclaim myself as one and identify myself with the Jewish people in Palestine. Fortunately, my wife is, like myself, of a Jewish father and Christian mother, so there was no difficulty there.”
He sat down and poured out the drinks. I plied him with questions, which he answered readily, fully, and clearly, and I give his story as a connected narrative, only interposing such questions as tended to turn him to another subject.
“I ran away to sea in 1906, when I was 16 years of age, and joined the Nord-Amerika Lloyd. I went through all the various stages until I eventually became Captain. I served in the German merchant navy through the last war, but after the war there was no German merchant navy and I became a chartered accountant. In 1923, I was offered a ship again. I was doing very well in my new job, but I thought to myself that there were more accountants than ship’s captains, and went back to my old love. When the Hitler persecution started I immediately decided to go to Palestine and devote the rest of my life to applying my knowledge and experience to the development of a Palestinian Jewish merchant navy. It has been a hard struggle. Not only did the owners of the ships make many mistakes in the type and size of the craft they purchased, and would not be advised, but we were faced with a fierce and unrelenting and sometimes unfair competition. We insisted on European rates of pay and standards of living for our crews, while others engaged in the same coastal trade employed natives, paying them a mere pittance and feeding them on next to nothing. Not only so, but in an attempt to drive us out of the trade they lowered their freight charges and embarked on a deliberate price-cutting campaign. We barely managed to keep afloat in more senses than one. However, with the outbreak of war our financial position has improved and we are now doing quite well. In peace time we were engaged in coastal trade from Tripoli (in Syria) to Alexandria; now we carry supplies, food, and munitions for the North African campaign.
“We have had some narrow shaves, the nearest one only four days ago, when four bombs scored near misses, one only 15 ft. away from us, and last night they tried to get us in the harbour, but reports to hand indicate that the raiding plane was brought down.”
“How many Jews have you in the crew?”
“My whole crew consists of 20, of whom 18 are Jews. The first mate is not Jewish, the second mate is an Estonian Jew, the third mate a Czechoslovakian Jew, the chief engineer a Rumanian, the cook is Czechoslovakian, while the rest hail from Danzig, Poland, Holland, Germany, and a number are native-born Palestinians. One of the stokers is non-Jewish.”
“What kind of sailors do they make?”
Fearless Young Seaman
“They are utterly fearless and reliable, know their jobs, and work with enthusiasm, but, except for the Germans, are not too amendable to discipline. The greatest difficulty, however, is that these young boys have one ambition, to go on long sea voyages. It is quite understandable; they are young, adventurous, and desperately keen to become complete, full experienced sailors. I find it hard to blame them, but it runs counter to my whole ideal to help build up a Jewish merchant navy. When benefit accrues to the Jewish people if a boy is on a Norwegian or a Dutch ship? In three years, only one of my boys has received his certificate. But I still hope that when they have gained their experience they will come back to us.”
We talked on desultorily for some minutes, and then I said to him, “I wish I had known this morning that your ship was in harbour. I would have come aboard are persuaded you to come along to the service.”
He smiled slightly. “I think it would have been a waste of time, as far as I am concerned,” he said. “Religiously, I know nothing of Judaism, and I do not possess what is called the religious feeling, but I feel myself more and more a member of the Jewish people. I suppose you would like to see some of my boys,” he said, abruptly changing the subject, “you can talk to them in Hebrew.”
“Yes, that was actually the main purpose of my visit.”
Captain Koppel led me out of his cabin into the pitch black moonless night, down a companion way to a little door which he opened, introduced me to the members of the crew who were assembled there, and left me to it with a hearty good-night. I was now the guest of the crew.
IV. SEA IN THEIR BLOOD
The fo’csle was a tiny elongated room some 12 ft long by 5 ft. wide. Half of this width and most of the length were filled by a deal table and a bench. In the corner was a portable gramophone, which one of the sailors was playing. When I entered there were only five there; they later increased to nine. Prominent among them was my Zachariah, eating a meal, belated as a result of attending my service. They were a merry, handsome, clear-eyed group of youngsters; a credit to any people, and it did my heart good to see them. Two, in addition to Zachariah, were Palestinian born, one from Haifa, a son of well-to-do parents, and one from Tiberias. It was interesting that nearly all had been brought up in the sight of the sea; the same understandable _____ _____ to most of the others. The two Germans hailed from Hamburg and Bremen, the Pole from Danzig, the Estonian from Reval. The only exceptions were the cook and another from land-locked Czechoslovakia.
An animated conversation took place, in which they plied me with as many questions as I did them; it was obvious that they found me as great a phenomenon as I felt them to be, and it is with the latter only that I concern myself here. Zachariah asked me whether I had eaten; I confessed that I had not; he snapped out orders to the others which were instantly obeyed. In the twinkling of an eye, bread, butter, cheese, tinned fruit, and condensed milk in lieu of cream were set out before me, and I was soon munching with hearty appetite.
“Why did you go to sea?” I asked the Danziger.
“Not for the romance of the sea,” he answered, smiling sardonically.
“No!” I admitted, “the romance of the sea is appreciated only by landlubbers.” He grinned a delighted assent.
Nachson then took up the thread. “I have a wife and child,” he said, “and in peace time I would never have continued at sea. But there’s a war on, and in war you may be killed on land as well as at sea, if you feel patriotic and want to do your bit, as I do, so I decided to continue at sea.”
In him, as in the others, it was obvious that the love of the sea had entered into the very marrow of their beings, and my brief contact with them convinced me to the full of what I had previously entertained grave doubts, that despite their estrangement from the sea, even longer than their absence from the land, there was among the youth of Jewry material as brilliantly able to achieve the conquest of the sea and bring its rich harvest towards the building up of themselves and of their ancestral land as had been found among those who had achieved the conquest of the soil in Degania, in the Emek, in the Sharon, and elsewhere. They were stalwart, proud, reliant, fearless mariners, carrying on a job as dangerous and as important as any in this war, and my heart warmed to them.
But Zachariah had a grouse. “When I was a sailor in the Tel-Aviv and she came to London, I wanted to meet the Jews there. I introduced myself to many Jews, but as soon as I said I was a Jewish sailor, they looked at me as if I wanted money, and sheered off. It hurt me, and ever since then I’ve decided in a foreign port to be a Jew for myself alone.” In that proud, hurt declaration there was hidden the new soul of a new Jew.
I returned “to my muttons”. “Why did you not all attend my service?” I asked. They all answered together in a babel of sound, a veritable disharmony, but with a unified harmony underlying it all. “We were not given an opportunity. The Captain called Nachson and told him alone to go.”
I decided to put this really fervent exclamation to the test. “I wish I could be here on Saturday: I’d come aboard and hold a service with you. Unfortunately, I have to be in Tobruk.” “How we wish we could,” was the purport of their reply. “We may be in Tobruk in a few days. Could you stay there til we come?”
Unless they were consummate actors, or more versed in the politeness of conventional society than I gave them credit for, there could be no mistaking the eagerness of their tones. To my regret, a glance at my prearranged timetable told me that it was impossible.
Leave-Taking “Guard of Honor”
It was now late and time to go. The night was black as ink, and my heart quailed at the thought of the treacherous journey back to shore, which I had to negotiate. “We will take you, sir,” they cried out in unison. I went to say good-night to the Captain, and, descending the companion-way again, found them all assembled in the dark, altercating as to who should have the honour of escorting me.
“We are all going,” said one, and a murmur of assent arose from all. With care and solicitude, half went in front and half behind, lighting my way with a torch. Progress was thus easy until I came to the submerged part of the wreck, which was now wholly under water. A thin ridge of metal showed just below the surface. The vanguard negotiated it and then, with anxiety in their voices, asked me if I could do likewise. I said yes, dashed across, and the momentum of my passage and an element of luck gave me the needful balance. “You are not afraid, Adoni,” one said, in admiring tones, and the other almost cheered. I think I really captured their hearts at that moment. They saw me to the argaz, I climbed in, and they pulled the hawser lustily, asking me to call out when I was across. I did so, climbed out, and with a shout of “Shalom!” across the inky waters, I waved the torch and left them.
But my troubles were not yet over. There was a strict curfew in the docks from 6 p.m., and it was now 8. To add to my difficulty, I was wearing my desert boots, with thick crepe soles, so that my progress was absolutely noiseless. I had palpitating visions of stumbling into a sentry who in his surprise, would fire first and ask questions afterwards. I remedied this by calling out, “Hello!” every few yards.
At last my call was answered. “Halt! Who goes there?” asked a voice out of the darkness. “Friend,” I answered. “Advance and be recognized.” I advanced, and instead of producing documents, I announced in a voice of pride “British officer. Jewish chaplain returning from visiting the crew of S.S. Aliza, a Palestinian Jewish ship.”
“Pass, friend,” he said, and I went on my way.
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Emblems of the Past
These two posters, by Esther Berlin-Joel, promoting Palestine Maritime Lloyd Co., Ltd., show stylized representations of the Har Carmel and Har Zion.
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Here’s a colorful advertisement created by the artist “Thomas” for Palestine Maritime Lloyd from the late 1930s-early 1940s, showing the merchant ship Har Karmel. In the foreground is pictured an emblematic (and also quite real!) symbol of products from the Yishuv / Israel, at least for many decades in the twentieth century: Oranges! The be-lioned emblem at lower right is the symbol of Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd.
This image – as shown in this blog post – is actually a decorative art / poster print manufactured by the Lantern Press Company of Seattle. The original advertisement was presumably enamel or lacquer on metal. (Note the mounting holes in the corners of the poster.)
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In April of 2012, a series of three stamps, each valued at three New Shekels and entitled “The Renaissance of Jewish Seamanship” was issued by the Israel Postal Company. Each stamp – with art by Tuvia Kurtz and Ronen Goldberg – portrayed a historically significant associated with the Yishuv (the “Hehalutz”, the “Sara A”, and the “Har Zion”) and depicted the captain associated with that particular ship.
The stamp depicting the Har Zion shows veteran Captain Erich Hirschfeld. As described in a brochure published by the Israel Philaetlic Service, Captain Hirschfeld was a professional seaman who escaped from Germany during the 1930s, and, “was among those who laid the professional foundation for a merchant marine in Israel.”
The accompanying tab honors Hevel Yami Le’Yisrael, “an organization that promoted maritime education among the youths of Eretz Israel,” which, “was founded aboard the Har Zion in June of 1937”. One of the organization’s founders was Emanuel Tuvim (illustrated), who was also one of the founders of Zevuln. Alongside Emanuel Tuvim’s portrait is a depiction of the “Tel-Aviv”, which was owned by Arnold Bernstein. This ship served as a passenger and freight ship, crewed by Jews who used their assignment to the craft as a way to escape from Germany.
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Yet Names Remain
These 2011 images – at the Merchant Fleet Memorial Site, by photographer “Hanay” – show the Merchant Fleet Memorial in the city of Haifa. The Memorial, located within a garden at the intersection of Sderot Kish and Wingate Avenue, faces Haifa Bay, and consists of a monument – a metal sculpture – and memorial plaque.
Designed by Fini Veinberg, the monument is comprised of three arched beams joined together at a single vertex, forming a bow-shaped figure or a heaven-facing arrow.
A dedication is set upon the center beam: “In memory of Merchant Navy seaman who perished in the sea whose place of burial is unknown.”
A memorial plaque is located within the rear of the garden, opposite the monument, inside a stone wall. The plaque bears the names of 74 deceased seamen from the Yishuv / Israel, and, the names of the eleven merchant ships on which they served.
The names of seventeen of the eighteen Jewish crewmen aboard the Har Zion are located as a group of tiles in the left center of the plaque. These tiles can be recognized by the date “31.08.1940”.
The plaque bears a verse from Psalm 77 (specifically, Verse 20) in the upper right corner, which can be variously translated as:
1) “Thy way was in the sea, And Thy path in the great waters, And Thy footsteps were not known.” (Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1917 edition)
2) “Your way was through the sea, Your path, through the mighty waters, Your tracks could not be seen.” (Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1985 edition)
3) “In the sea was Your way, and Your path in the mighty waters, and Your steps were not known.” (Chabad)
– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –
Another Oogle image! Here’s a 2015 Street View of the memorial garden, viewed from the intersection of Sderot Kish (to left) and Wingate Avenue (to right), facing northwest. The monument is visible in the garden’s right center.
Here’s a map of the garden’s location in Haifa, designated by a blue oval…
…followed by a smaller-scale view of Haifa, with a blue oval again showing the garden’s location.
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References
Ausubel, Nathan, Pictorial History of the Jewish People – From Bible Times to Our Own Dy Throughout the World, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1953 (ISBN 52-10777)
Morris, Henry, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown – 1939-1945, An Addendum, AJEX, London, England, 1994
British Merchant Seamen of WW II, at Wikipedia
The Ehpes Blog (blog for the Czernowitz-L Discussion Group) – “Palestine Maritime Lloyd Ltd. Haifa”, at ehpes.com
Herbert Tzvi Berghuasen, at Geni.com
Captain John N. Beighton, RNR 1877-1940, at In Loving Memory
Captain John N. Beighton, at Trove.nla.gov.au
Israel National Maritime Museum, at nmm.org.il
Jews in the Merchant Navy in the Second World War, at SpiroArk – The Miracle of Jewish Survival
Merchant Mariners Whose Place of Burial is Unknown, at Merchant Fleet Memorial Site (in Hebrew)
The Renaissance of Jewish Seamanship (postal stamp of the Har Zion), at Israel Philately
SS Har Zion, at U-Boat net
SS Har Zion, Vessels Lost in WW2 Recorded on the Memorial at Tower Hill, at benjidog (Brian Watson’s website)
SS Har Zion, Photograph of Ship Model of S.S. Har Zion, at he.wikipedia
SS Har Zion, in Photo Album of David Laszlo Bella, at Israel Album
SS Nickerie, at Ships Nostalgia