Memorable journey: the children of Tehran

By Dr. Israel Jamitovsky

The Hebrew version of the book has just seen the light of day. The children of luck, prepared by Mikhal Dekel, Doctor in Comparative Literature and professor at New York University. Edited by the Iediot Aharonot Publishing House, his father Janán Dekel (Taitel) was one of the labeled Children of Tehran and the opportunity is provided to address this relatively well-known chapter of the Second World War and the Zionist Movement that involved an extensive and difficult journey of 20.000 kilometers that finally culminated in the Land of Israel. At the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem it does not appear in its permanent exhibition while it is totally ignored by the Holocaust Museum in Washington

At the outbreak of World War II, 300.000 Jews fled east, targeting the then Soviet Union. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union occurred on June 22, 1941, part of them headed to Siberia and another part to the Soviet republics in Asia. During the extensive journey and afterwards, and particularly in Siberia, hunger, deprivation, oppressive weather and work conditions, as well as the diseases that the migrants suffered, did their part. The situation did not allow long-term survival, people were brought to work until they died and in that case they were replaced by another human group that arrived at the place. In this difficult situation, thousands of children lost their parents.

In 1942, an agreement was signed between the Polish Government in exile and the government of the Soviet Union, by which the erection of a Polish army in the Soviet Union was resolved under the direction of General Valdislav Andrés in which context the departure of 24.000 Polish soldiers and refugees, including 1000 children and 800 elderly Jews, so that between April and August 1942, they were transferred to Tehran, which at the time was under British rule.

The vast majority of children were orphans and only a small minority arrived accompanied by one parent or both. There were parents who gave their children to priests and nuns in Poland as the only alternative to save them and they in turn remained in the Soviet Union. These children were also sent to Tehran.

THE RESCUE

Once the authorities of the Jewish community of the Land of Israel became aware of the arrival of the aforementioned conglomerate in Tehran, they sent Reuvén Shefer and Abraham Silberguer who opened a representation of the Jewish Agency in Tehran and in October 1942, it arrived there. city ​​Tzipora Shertok - wife of Moshe Shertok (Sharet), one of the main leaders of the organization - who, together with pioneers who were among the Jewish refugees, founded the orphanage in Tehran labeled Jewish Children's Home. After that, the British authorities prohibited the entry of new representatives of the Jewish Agency.

The orphanage was run under extremely difficult conditions, suffering from great shortages, especially in food, but at the same time it made enormous efforts to incorporate Jewish children who were in the care of priests and nuns in Poland.

In January 1943, after obtaining the pertinent authorization from the British authorities in the Land of Israel as well as that of their counterparts in Tehran, the children and their companions left for Karachi (at the time India, today Pakistan), from there to Suez. On February 18, 1943 they arrived in the Land of Israel by rail to Atlit, being enthusiastically received by thousands of people and by militants of the Youth Migration (Aliat Hanoar) among whom were Henrietta Szold and Dr. Hans Beyith. From there they were transferred to absorption centers for new migrants. The children highlighted that the British soldiers took care of all their needs during the journey and even a birth that was registered on the railway. Their total number was 1.230 people, of which 369 were adults and 860 were children. Among the latter, 719 were orphans and the rest - 141 - had one parent or both. The vast majority were brought by sea by shipping companies whose services were financed by Jewish charitable organizations in the United States, a minority did so later in August of the same year by land, crossing Iraq and Jordan.

What education will be imparted to the children?

The presence of the children from Tehran sparked sharp controversies in the Jewish community of Israel between religious and lay people regarding what education to provide to this group. The laity maintained that they should be educated in their framework - mainly in the kibbutzim - arguing that they had better conditions to do so. From religious stores, the same was true and therefore orphans should receive religious instruction.

Given this, Henrietta Szold decided that children over 14 years of age would choose the pertinent educational framework for themselves, while children under 14 years of age were verified if they came from religious or secular families. For this purpose, H. Szold interviewed 400 children and her assistant did the same with the rest.

Finally, and according to the report presented by Henrietta Szold, the distribution was as follows:

• 298 children were sent to secular kibbutzim
• 288 children were sent to religious kibbutzim and other spaces of Religious Zionism
• 38 to marks of Agudat Israel (Ultra-Orthodox).
• 27 to relatives of the children

The ultra-Orthodox protested such distribution, arguing that most of the children came from ultra-Orthodox homes.

HEROISM and CLEAR HIGHLIGHT 

Numerous children fought when they were of age in the Israeli War of Independence, nine of them perished, among which it is worth highlighting Emanuel Landau who fell near Haifa and was one of the 12 soldiers who earned the Order of Heroism of Israel that was granted to the combatants of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

Among the Children of Tehran who stood out clearly and with their own relevance in Israeli society, it is worth mentioning 

• Haim Erez, Commander (Retired) of the Army
• Avigdor Ben Gal (Retired Commander) of the Army
• Alex Guiladi, journalist and member of the International Olympic Committee
• Rabbi Ben Tzión Rabinovich, leader of Biala Hasidism (Poland)
• Abraham Raif, Honorary President of the Insurance Agents Organization.
• Rabbi Pinchas Shreiber, former Rabbi of the ultra-Orthodox community of Ashdod.
• Hadassa Lempel, artist and Palmach fighter (Zionist Left)
• Ben Tzión Tomer, poet, writer and playwright. His work Children of the Shadow It is based on the story of one of the children of Tehran.
• Arieh Mintkowitz, former president of the Securities and Exchange Commission and of the board of directors of Bank Discount.
• Rabbi Yosef Gliksberg, former Chief Rabbi of the city of Givataim.
• Rajel Gara, artist