Fleeing from the war, tens of thousands of Europeans set out across the Mediterranean and settled in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.
When the troops of the axis and the Soviet Union met in Eastern Europe and the Balkans during the Second world war, thousands of refugees journeyed across the Mediterranean in search of safety.
To help immigrants in 1942, the British founded organization Middle East Relief and Refugee Administration (MERRA), and created a network of camps in Egypt, Gaza, and Aleppo, where the shelter provided more than 40,000 Europeans.
At the camp El Shatt, near the southern tip of the Suez canal settled thousands yugoslava.
Photographs of European refugees fleeing the Second world war in the middle East from Suez to Aleppo 1
Croatian and Yugoslav refugees working as a shoemaker at the camp El Shatt, Egypt. (Source: archive of the UN).
Life in the desert was harsh. The camp residents were usually given daily a half army ration. Who had the money could buy more supplies. Many continued to work in the profession, e.g. teachers, nurses, carpenters, shoemakers and seamstresses. People without occupations were engaged in cleaning, washing, help in cooking. For children they built Playground, organized educational process.
The administration found a way to add variety to the routine of camp life. Sometimes staged plays, dances and other entertainment events. It was still possible to swim in the Suez canal and watch the passing warships.
After the war, in 1946, the camp was disbanded.
Photos taken in 1944. Source: the Library of Congress.
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