19. Protest Inside the Camps

Demonstrations were held in both camps on the morning after the arrival of the refugees. Hitler and the English foreign minister Ernest Bevin (1945-1951) were equated in song. Banners carried the slogan, "Down with the German camp administration". The solidarity of the camp inhabitants was demonstrated to the British.
4,500 leaflets were distributed, in which the Jewish people and the Haganah declared their solidarity with the Exodus passengers. The Jewish contact person between the Exodus passengers and the central committee in Belsen-Hohne had smuggled the leaflets into the camps. The British camp commander knew nothing of this contact. Benjamin Gruszka, named Bolek, was the Brichah contact man in Lübeck, who had previously frequently helped "smuggle Jews through Pöppendorf". Today he lives in Lübeck.

The German camp command entrusted him with interpreter work in connection with the initial Jewish resistant against the British military. Henceforth, he translated British orders into Yiddish. Unknown to the British or Germans, he added words making it clear to the refugees which orders were not to be followed. When the Exodus Passengers arrived and were required to give their name, date of birth and nationality, Benjamin Gruszka translated:
Yeder Yid zoll zich farschreiben mit linke Nehmen. (Every Jew should give a false name).
The people understood and followed his instructions, resulting in the following:
My name is Marlene Dietrich and I come from Erez Israel.
or
I am Lord Montgomery and come from Tel Aviv.
Initially, the German personnel carefully wrote down the names and then hesitated and asked, "Really?"
When Lord Pickenham, minister for the British Zone in Germany, visited the Pöppendorf camp and required the Jews to register, Bolek translated. To Lord Pickenham's speech he added the Yiddish proverb: "A loi mit n Alef", which amounts to:
A nothing with an A in front, or He can make long speeches.
To which the majority answered "Amen". Lord Pickenham asked Bolek what this meant, to which he replied: "The Jews thank you for your warm speech".

The Haganah commander knew that there could be no trouble-free aid without dialogue with the camp administration, and so the protest against the German camp personnel was terminated. The Haganah commanders also decided to withdraw from their function as leaders, and to build a Jewish camp committee.
The election of an independent Jewish camp committee had been promoted by the German camp administration before the Jews had arrived in Lübeck, "so as to eliminate all possibility of friction within the camp between the German personnel and the Jews".
The election took place on 15th September 1947. Under the chairmanship of Mordechai Rosmann, the Jewish committee assumed the role of representing the camp inhabitants, and became the Jewish contact with the British camp administration and German camp personnel. It continued to organize further daily protests against British government policy.

The Jewish camp committee, with Mordechai Rosmann fourth from the left.
(Benjamin Gruszka, Lübeck).

Demonstration in the Pöppendorf camp.
"Neither Germany nor France. We want to go home to Palestine".
(Benjamin Gruszka, Lübeck).

German Text: Henrik Jan Fahlbusch, Sarah Haake, Felix Hurlin, Paul Kononow and Lars Krobitsch.

Section 20