''Ruslan'' (in archaic Russian spelling: Русланъ; in today's accepted spelling: Руслан) which bore the name of the Russian hero Ruslan from Pushkin's poem '' Ruslan and Ludmila'' was the first officially organized ship that sailed from the former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1919, after the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. On board were 671 passengers, many of whom would become pioneers in Israeli culture, which is why the Ruslan is nicknamed the "

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

" of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. ''Ruslan'' is considered the first ship to open the Third Aliya period, referring to the third migration of European Jews to Palestine. Despite this, it was one of the last ships to arrive at the shores of

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

that year.

Background

In 1918, several hundred residents of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

and

arrived who wandered through

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and Turkey until they arrived in the port of

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, while the

Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

was there, hoping that as Austrian subjects they would be allowed to reach Austria. Their attempt failed and they had to stay in

, suffering from cold and rain. To their aid, young Jews - members of the organizations "Revival", "Zion Youth" and others - greatly supported them. They transferred them from the port to the barracks of the Austrian army, which had been abandoned in the meantime. Despite this assistance, several of the refugees died. The Odessan youngsters, leaders of these Zionist movements, helped the refugees establish the " Refugee Committee of the Land of Israel" which asked to head to

at the end of the war. At that time, numerous European Jews who wanted to immigrate to

gathered in

. The leaders of the organizations decided to take advantage of the existence of a group of several dozen refugees who wanted to passage and exaggerated the number of refugees to allow immigrants to join the group of refugees.

Menachem Ussishkin Menachem Ussishkin ( ''Avraham Menachem Mendel Ussishkin'', ; August 14, 1863 – October 2, 1941) was a Russian-born Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund. Biography Menachem Ussishkin was born in Dubrowna in the Belarusian ...

and

Meir Dizengoff Meir Dizengoff (; born Meer Yankelevich Dizengof, ); 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionism, Zionist leader and politician and the founder and first Mayor of Tel Aviv, mayor of Tel Aviv (1911–1922 as head of town planning, 1922� ...

contacted the British Foreign Minister,

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

, and convinced him that they were not

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. Organizing the immigrants was a complicated operation. At the time,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

was in the midst of a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and control of key provinces and government institutions changed rapidly between the

and the opposing forces. Amongst the organizers was also

Joseph Klausner Joseph Gedaliah Klausner (; 20 August 1874 – 27 October 1958), was a Lithuanian-born Israeli historian and professor of Hebrew literature. He was the chief redactor of the '' Encyclopedia Hebraica''. He was a candidate for president in the ...

, who assisted the Odessan Jewish intelligentsia.

Legacy

Several of the ship's passengers became important in Israeli culture when the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

was founded in 1948, including historian

, Zeev Rechter, Yehuda Magidovitch, the Ecole de Paris artist Isaac Frenkel Frenel, Moshe Frenkel, and the cartoonist Arieh Navon. Due to the cultural importance and pioneering spirit of the passengers, the ''Ruslan'' has been dubbed "the ''

'' of Israel." Its passengers pioneered and transformed Israel in the arts and architecture. In 2019, the Israel Museum hosted an exhibition commemorating the Ruslan and its passengers.

References

{{reflist Jewish immigrant ships 1919 ships

Background

Legacy

Further reading

References