My Jewish Grandparents Simon Kahan (original Russian name Kagan) and Elka Falfal both age 19yrs met, married and settled in Jaffa in 1912 as refugees from religious and political (they were supporters of Trotsky) persecution in Odessa and Crimea. Simon travelled relatively quickly and mainly by sea, but Elka and her family travelled overland, staying with Jewish communities in Southern Russia and countries into the old Levant. They were early followers of modern Zionism and believed that a) their origins were from this biblical land along with Arabs and Christians and b) they could establish a communitarian Jewish society, free from persecution and inequality, known as Bundists. They used the Yiddish language in daily communication, promoted by Bundists as an international secular language of Jews.
They were married by Rabbi Kook, who subsequently became a Chief Rabbi and something of a legendary cleric. Elka was married in traditional purple, with coins sewn into her gown - traditional to southern Russian and NW Asia. They lived with her parents and half siblings and Palestinian Arab neighbours, who supplied them a home. Simon was employed as a tin worker in a hardware store owned by Rabinovitz Freres in Jaffa, a Jewish business established in 1888.

In December 1915 a representative of the British government met with the leader of the Jewish migrant community and persuaded him that it was imminently unsafe for Russian Jews to remain in Palestine because of the Great War developments and Arab allegiances to Germany. They were given evacuation choices to Argentina and Alexandria, Egypt (possibly others). My grandfather chose Alexandria and Elka lost contact with her birth family, who are believed to have either fled north or migrated to Argentina.

In Alexandria Simon joined the British allied forces (Jewish Mule Corps), with the hope they would have a right to eventually settle in UK.

Elka was heavily pregnant with their 1st child, who was born in Alexandria 16 January 1916 and named after this city. Elka's family went elsewhere and all contact was lost, leaving her permanently bereft. Simon went to Gallipoli, survived being torpedoed and brought to Winchester. It is unknown whether he stayed entirely in U.K. Barracks or returned to fight elsewhere.

Until 1920 Elka remained in the 'Commune de Israelites' in Alexandria with their little daughter and eventually obtained a visa for them to join her husband in London, travelling overland from Marseille for 3 months. The visa application required a marriage certificate and Elka's birth certificate. This was complicated because their was only evidence of a religious marriage and had to be validated by an Alexandrian official.

After settling permanently in London, Simon refused to apply for U.K. Citizenship because he thought it should be an automatic entitlement after fighting in the U.K. Army. This limited the family's access to any financial support during the Depression, adding to their poverty. My father describes this refugee isolation as being 'like orphans. We had no one except ourselves, while our school friends had aunties, uncles, grandparents'.