Official immigration to Palestine was limited by the small number of immigration certificates allocated to Czechoslovakia.
Therefore, mainly the revisionist Zionist organization Betar, but also individuals connected to the world of professional people smugglers organized illegal transports to Palestine. These were illegal only from the point of view of the British authorities, not those of the Nazi or Protectorate authorities.
Most of these transports took advantage of the fact that the Danube River was legally considered international waters, and from the Danube Delta, the route to the Mediterranean was open to ships with enough cash for bribes. The ships were often completely unseaworthy, with over a thousand people crammed onto ageing river steamers.
One of the organizers of illegal immigration to Palestine was Robert Mandler, who had set up his "Jewish Emigration Aid Office" in Opletalova, then Lützow Street, already before the occupation of the remainder of Czechoslovakia.
Overcrowded tubs smuggling refugees into Palestine were often intercepted by British military ships and their passengers deported and interned in camps on another British territory, the island of Mauritius.
TRANSLATION OF THE CZECH TEXT OF THE DOCUMENT
The Jewish emigration office in Lutzow street 21 was established on March 4, 1939, the purpose of which is to emigrate people to Palestine. The head of the office is Robert M a n d l e r , born in Vienna, residing in Prague Maiselova street 8. The second person is a Lola Bernstein, British subject, last resident in Prague in hotel Julis, now in Palestine.
The Prague office has auxiliary offices in Tel-Aviv, in Athens and in Bucuresti. These were established in order to assist in the emigration efforts and securing the transportation. The office in Rumania takes care of the transit, the office in Athens takes care of the emigrants on their way to Palestine, and the office in Tel-Aviv will take care of the arrival and transport from the shore into the interior.
The office announced its establishment in a letter to the Emigration Office of the Social Security Department at the Ministry of Social Works, personal negotiations were carried out with Dr. Zavřel of the Ministerial Council.
Numerous agreements were concluded concerning the transport of emigrants to Palestine regarding the ships which will take the emigrants on ships via the Danube to Tulcea, from where they will be transported onto the ships of the steamship company. These agreements were presented to Dr. Zavřel and were agreed with.
The transport costs for this service will be charged at 4,400 CZK, but so far no deposits or fees have been collected from the interested parties. In the meantime, the office will carry out administrative work, namely the registration of the interested parties, paperwork assistance, medical certificates, all for free. Only after the medical evaluation the applicant would be definitively accepted for emigration to Palestine. So far there are about 150 persons in the records and about 600 persons are needed for each transport.
Read the record of the police investigation into Mandler's office above. What surprised you most?