Cyprus

Between 1945 and 1949, 59000 Jewish emigrates came through to Cyprus to the new land of Israel. They were detained in Cyprus by the British authorities, mainly at the Karaolos camp in Famagusta, in an attempt to regulate the numbers flowing into Israel. The Karaolos camp has become a landmark in the history of the establishment of the new State of Israel and is visited and commemorated often by those who were detained there. This people lived under dire conditions, housed in nissan huts and tents provided by the British militia, surrounded by barbed wire and were vigilantly kept under surveillance. The painting is by an artist-detainee who wished to record the adversity of life in the camps. Uncomfortable humble white tents constitute the homes of the detainees who shared a communal life. It is early evening. The watch tower has turned on the search light to pre-empt any attempts by detainees to escape. This often happened and the British had to cope with all kinds of ingenious escape plans orchestrated by Jewish detainees with the help of locals. The tent windows are also lit by the light of the lux petrol lamps. The sky is darkened and covered with clouds indicating the advent of a winter’s night.