Artifacts from Cyprus detainment camps

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Handcrafted mementos given to Yehoshua Leibner, Assistant director of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Cyprus. The artifacts were crafted during Holocaust survivors’ incarceration in the detainment camps in Cyprus to which they were deported after attempting to immigrate to Palestine..  
By the time the Allies in Europe declared victory over Nazi Germany, 200,000 homeless and stateless Jews were gathered in displaced persons camps in Germany and Austria. These survivors were adamant about not returning to their places of origin and insisted on building new lives in Palestine or in western countries. The Zionist organizations found ways to bring the survivors to Palestine in spite of the ongoing refusal of Britain to issue them  with  immigration permits.

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In 1946 Britain decided that all “illegal immigrants” would be deported to Cyprus and placed in detainment camps in order to discourage the stream of illegal immigrants. During the years of the camps’ existence, 52,000 people from 39 ships passed through the camps on their way to Palestine.
The deportees, who had dreamed of life in freedom in Palestine, found themselves once again behind barbed wire. They lived in tents and tin huts and were forced to contend with the hardships of camp life.  In order to alleviate  the lack of employment, the JDC set up craft workshops where the detainees crafted mementos and small artifacts.
Yehoshua Leibner of Kibbutz Ein Hashofet (pictured here below with his son Ehud) was sent along with his family  to work with the detainees in Cyprus and to act as a liason between them and the British camp commanders.
In recognition of the family’s efforts they received many gifts handcrafted by the detainees. These items were crafted from a local white stone which lent itself to carving and sculpting.

The Leibner family has loaned these artifacts to Yad Vashem as a memorial to this chapter in the history of the Holocaust survivors and as a tribute to the contribution of Yehoshua Leibner who passed away after a diplomatic career serving in various countries.
Approximately six months after the establishment of the State of Israel, the detainment camps in Cyprus were finally closed and the last deportees arrived in Israel.