Atlit detainee camp

Entrance to the Aliyah Bet museum at the camp, 2007

The Atlit detainee camp was a concentration camp established by the authorities of Mandatory Palestine in the late 1930s on what is now the Israeli coastal plain, 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Haifa. Under British rule, it was primarily used to hold Jews and Arabs who were in administrative detention; it largely held Jewish immigrants who did not possess official entry permits.[1][2] Tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were interned at the camp, which was surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers.

The camp at Atlit now has a museum that covers the history of aliyah by non-permitted Jews. It was declared a National Heritage Site by Israel in 1987.[3]

  1. ^ "293 Refugees in Lifeboats Captured off Palestine Coast". NYC: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 11 August 1939. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. ^ Sarafend Concentration Camp. Vol. 314: debated on Wednesday 1 July 1936. London: UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ^ "SPIHS – Israel Heritage Sites – Atlit "Illegal" Immigrant Detention Camp". Shimur.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2010.