Cyprus in the pre-independence era was an island under British rule, that served for military purposes.
The Holocaust refugees, who gathered at the ports of the Land of Israel after World War II in the hope of finding a home, found themselves persecuted once more. Now their persecutors were not the Germans but the British, who waged a relentless war on the illegal immigration. The British decided to expel them to camps, especially established in Cyprus. Over the years 1946-1949, the camps were populated by approximately 52,000 exiles. During their stay in the camps, delegations of the Jewish Agency, of the Youth Aliyah, and of the Joint provided them with health, nursing, and community services in order to ease as much as possible their life. From the extensive and fascinating documentation of the community life in the camps, we are presenting here a selection, enabling a fleeting glimpse into the life of whoever dreamt of finding a sanctuary from the horrors of those days.