Werner Meissner Part IV: A Final Destination?

The land in the distance was Limasol, Cyprus. The group was exhausted but relieved to have finally reached a port. The British now supervised the transport and kept the ship in Limasol for eleven days. Local police guarded the ship and all aboard were treated fairly. The transport then pooled together funds, jewelry, and other valuables to pay for a fresh supply of food and coal. On November 23rd, the ship drove with high speed towards Haifa, escorted by a British destroyer.

The morning of November 24th, the transport awoke to the beautiful site of Mt. Carmel.

Werner remembers that moment; "In joyful excitement, happy, with beating hearts and tears in our eyes, we finally saw our goal, full of hope and expectation."

The ship remained in the bay and soon Palestinian policemen and officers came aboard to inspect the incoming refugees. The group learned from these officers that they would be quarantined for some time on another ship named the Patria. This was new protocol as 4,000 illegal refugees had arrived some days beforehand.

In the morning, a small group from the transport was taken to the Patria. Werner watched those being moved by small boat and suddenly witnessed an enormous explosion in the distance. The Patria capsized within moments and suddenly people were swimming in the water and sliding off the ship.

The vessel sank within minutes.

Those who were in small boats on the way to the Patria turned back. It was learned later that a total of 200 lives were lost in the explosion. Survivors from the ship were taken inland to a camp in Atlit while Werner and other bachelors were taken to a separate camp and then eventually to Atlit to join the others. Instead of putting all of the refugees together, those from the Patria were kept on one side of a barbed wire fence while Werner's group was contained on the opposite side. Rumors began to spread and the group soon learned that they would leave Israel the next morning.

"For where?" they asked.

"A nice place." the officers responded.

The group of bachelors decided to resist by sleeping naked. The order was then disseminated throughout the camp. One older gentlemen from Danzig, a religious man who wore tzizit and kippah, approached those leading the resistance. He asked permission to sleep in his underwear and tzizit. Needless to say, all agreed this was a reasonable request.

In the morning, the first and second wave of British officers ordered the group to get up and exit their huts; the men remained on the floor and refused. The third wave of police barked the same orders but this time entered the huts and knocked over the beds. All stood up and ran outside, leaving everything (including clothes) behind. The group was then taken to the port of Haifa where they were loaded onto their new ship, the Johann de Witt. Werner's group was sent to the deepest storeroom which was hot and without ventilation.

"The shock of the expulsion and the feeling of powerlessness....affected us all the more." Within days, the ship was passing through the Suez Canal.

Seventeen days later, the Johann de Witt arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa.

On December 28th, 1940, all passengers were unloaded and taken inland by bus where each was assigned with new living spaces--a cell with a small window.