Voyage of Ulua: Return of European Jews to Israel After WWII

Plot

This book should be viewed as a primary history source - a report by a person who was a part of a historical event. The event was the "transport" of Jewish refugees to Israel/Palestine after WWII and before the establishment of the state of Israel. The author was the captain of a ship that did such a transport, and this is a translation of his report. I read the book in Hebrew and English and, IMO, this is a pretty good translation.

Even though I had a wide knowledge of the subject the book had two main benefits:
1) First hand. The little stories that give history its flavor. E.g. a small leak was found, and the captain and a couple his man went down to check it. They pretty quickly agreed what to do. All the discussion was in Hebrew, because none of the refugees understood the language. When they were done a woman told them, in Hebrew, that there was another small leak that they missed.

2) An explanation of the long battle between the Jews and the Brits, and the tricks that were used by both sides. E.g. the ship had to stop, before loading, in Denmark because of ice in the Baltic sea. The UK told Denmark that the ship would be used to transport "white slaves" and therefore they had to stop it. The commander of the harbor inspected it, personally, and guessed the real purpose, even though the crew played dumb. He let the ship go. Other details I missed were the use of airplanes to locate the ships in international water (the crew of Ulua listen in their radio to the British pilot report), and the use of non lethal gas to overcome the resistance of the refugees.