After having lunch at the chic neighborhood of Zikaron Yaakov, we visited the grave of Israeli benefactor Benjamin Rothschild and his wife. Our next stop was the Atlit Detainee Camp, where Jewish immigrants stayed when they arrived at the shores of Israel from 1938-1948. Jewish people from all around Europe risked their lives by getting on overcrowded boats with the chance of getting caught and sent back by the British. Many of them were survivors of the Holocaust, so it came as a shock that the British sent those that were caught in the ports of Palestine to this camp, which resembled the Nazi concentration camps. Even though they weren’t mistreated physically, they suffered from boredom since there was nothing much to do. Communication was very difficult since there were immigrants from many different countries. All in all, we learned to appreciate the story of the Jews who wanted so badly to get to the Promised Land.
After a very hot and humid day, we headed to the Acre Youth Hostel. After dinner, we celebrated Tess’s birthday with lots of chocolate and got started preparing songs in Hebrew for a “camp sing” tomorrow night.