As a member of Betar in Cape Town I was party to the change in character of the movement around 1947 into a wing of the Irgun in South Africa, and all our efforts were devoted to attempting to join the underground organization in Palestine. One or two found a way of doing so but for the rest of us we had to be content with clandestine training and bide our time until the departure of a large contingent from Cape Town and Johannesburg under the leadership of Raphael Kotlowitz and Otto Seidman in July 1948, by which time all the under-ground movements had been integrated into the Israeli Defence Force, and on our arrival in Israel we were inducted into the IDF.
Our contingent traveled in two aircraft hired from Pan African Charter with overnight stops at Ndola, Kasama, Juba, Khartoum and Wadi Halfa taking 5 days to Rome where we were transported to a Displaced Person (DP) Camp at Ladispoli on the coast outside Rome. While there, I had to undergo an emergency appendicitis operation at the Ospidale Israelitico in Rome in a ward with about 30 holocaust survivors under conditions which were far from ideal hygienically. I knew sufficient Yiddish to be able to discuss and hear of the personal stories of the other patients in the 10 days of my hospitalization.
Meanwhile, the contingent sailed on the SS Dolores for Israel leaving Mailech Kotlowitz and Hymie Berkman as my caretakers. After my discharge from hospital the three of us traveled 3rd class by train to Milan and then to the DP camp at the sadly dilapidated Villa Forraggiana on the banks of Lake Maggiora to await the next group of Betarim from South Africa. The refugees already there were mainly from Romania.
Still recuperating from the surgery, I could not participate fully in the training by instructors from the Irgun, and I spent much time on duty at the gate to give early warning of the arrival of UNRRA and American Joint representatives so that they would not become aware of our presence and activities.
About three weeks later we sailed from Genoa on the SS Tetti, an old oil-burner meant to carry about 100 passengers but there were at least 300 of us on board. The holds had been converted into bunks which must have reminded the survivors of the conditions they had experienced in the camps. We took one look below noting the crowded conditions and overpowering smell from diesel and other sources, and opted to spend the 10-day voyage on the deck sleeping on “stretchers” and with little protection from the conditions, ranging from heat to rainstorms. The less said about the food and general hygiene the better and we were greatly relieved to reach Haifa on the 16th October.
Eventually I was posted to the English speaking volunteer “B” Company at St.
Lukes moving up with them to holding positions opposite the Syrians at Mishmar Hayarden. December 1948 and January 1949 were very wet winter months, with the thickest, slushiest mud I had ever experienced.
Back at St. Lukes, and after many left to return to their studies in South Africa,
the remaining platoon was absorbed into the Etzel “A” Company, which was the nearest I got to my original intention to join the Irgun.
In March, we were attached to one of the Givati Battalions and sent to Kfar Saba for a planned offensive to advance to the Jordan River. For political reasons the offensive was called off, and some of us remained on stand-by. I was eventually discharged on 9th June, 1949.
After some time on a new Moshav in the Negev with a few other South Africans and mainly Jewish immigrants from China, I eventually returned to South Africa towards the end of 1949 via Europe with Morrie Egdes and Jack Marcuson on the traditional one dollar a day – a story in itself.