Decorations of the Haganah, active till 1948

Medal for services in the illegal immigration to Israel

The medal is made of silver colored pewter (an alloy of mainly tin), diameter 3.5 cm. The front of the medal shows a ship in a stormy sea, surrounded by the biblical text: "The children will return to their land"  and the Hebrew dates of 5705-5706.

The reverse of the medal shows the Tower of David in Jerusalem opposite the Titus Gate in Rome, beneath the text "Iudaea Restituta" which translates as Judaea Restituted, and the dates MCMXLV - MCMXLVI (1945 - 1946).

The following picture shows this medal in the "HAGANA" Museum in Tel-Aviv, accompanied by the text:

"This medal was presented for the first time by Yehuda Arazi in Magenta in the year 1946 to activists in the illegal immigration in Italy, as a token of appreciation for their part in the struggle for immigration in particular the La Spezia affair, and after the sailing of the two vessels "Eliyahu Golomb" and "Dov Hoz", from the port of La Spezia on 13.5.46 with onboard 1014 immigrants."

Source: Igor Ostapenko