Third Aliyah

The Third Aliyah refers to the third wave -- or aliyah -- of Zionist immigration in modern times to Palestine from Europe. This wave lasted from 1919, just after the end of World War I, until 1923, at the start of an economic crisis in Palestine.

History

Approximately 40,000 Jews arrived in Palestine during the Third Aliyah. The bellwether of the Third Aliyah was the ship SS Ruslan (Russian-language article at Руслан (корабль)), which arrived at Jaffa Port on December 19, 1919 carrying well over 600 new immigrants and people returning after being stranded in Europe during the war.

The Third Aliyah was triggered by the October Revolution in Russia, anti-semitic pogroms in Eastern Europe, the British occupation of Palestine, and the Balfour Declaration. The pioneers of the Third Aliyah originated mainly from Eastern European countries: 45% from Russia, 31% from Poland, 5% from Romania, and three percent from Lithuania.

Most of the newcomers were young halutzim (pioneers), who built roads and towns and commenced the draining of marshes in the Jezreel Valley and the Hefer Plain. Afterwards they became a smaller proportion of the immigrants. The importance of those pioneers was just as great as that of the pioneers of the Second Aliyah. Their ideology contributed a great deal to the construction of the Palestine, and so they imprinted their mark on Zionism and also on the development of the Jewish settlements in the country of Israel.