Israeli Cover Welcoming Refugees from Detention Camps on Cyprus

Envelope includes map of Cyprus, image of ships stamped in black ink over green postage stamp in top left corner, dated “28.1.1949” in bottom left corner. Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:Immigrant ships cachet with Tel Aviv cancellation and map of Cyprus. Five mil Doar Ivri stamp issued on May 16, 1948, when the name of the country (Israel) had not yet been chosen. Hence called Doar Ivri or Hebrew Post. The floor of desperate Jewish refugees from post-war Europe, especially those living in displaced persons camps, were attempting to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine, then under British control. The British saw such action as a violation of the restrictions on quotas set forth in the 1939 White Paper, and therefore illegal. Known as the Bricha, an enormous underground effort utilizing derelict ships to smuggle the refugees into Palestine ensued. Refugees caught trying to run the British blockade were sent to detention centers in Cyprus, Atlit, or Mauritius. The Exodus 1947 was critical in changing the tide of public opinion when the ship was boarded by the British. The resistance of the passengers notwithstanding, they were ultimately transported back to Germany.https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/2580/thumbnail.jp