1935 Maccabiah Games
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| Host city | Tel Aviv, Palestine | ||
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| Nations participating | 28 | ||
| Debuting countries | 10 | ||
| Athletes participating | 1,350 | ||
| Events | 18 | ||
| Opening ceremony | April 2 | ||
| Closing ceremony | April 10 | ||
| Main venue | Maccabiah Stadium | ||
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The 2nd Maccabiah (Hebrew: המכביה השנייה), aka the Aliyah Olympics, which was held in April 1935, was the second edition of the Maccabiah Games. The games were held despite official opposition by the British Mandatory government. A total of 28 countries were represented by 1,350 athletes.
After the success of the 1st Maccabiah in 1933, the Maccabi World Union decided to host a second Maccabiah. In order to not make it look like they were imitating the Olympic Games, the 2nd Maccabiah took place 3 years after the first, in the spring of 1935. Eretz Yisrael enjoyed that year a relative economic boom. Tel Aviv has grown and main streets were paved. The stadium also has grown and added many new viewing locations. The second Maccabiah resulted in the settlement's first swimming pool (50 meters) in Bat Galim, Haifa. The pool was used throughout the games in the swimming competitions (during the 1st Maccabiah, the swimming competitions took place in the sea).
"If two years ago we had doubts about the success of the daring attempt to establish Olympics in Israel, now success is assured."
The second Maccabiah was organized and held in the early years of Nazi rule in Germany and after Hitler came to power in 1933. Maccabi used the games as a way to illegally bring Jews to Eretz Yisrael and to effectively bypass the British White Paper. It was for that reason that the games were nicknamed the Aliyah Olympics. The games faced strong opposition by the British Mandatory government due to concern of mass illegal-immigration. One of the most notable examples was the Bulgarian delegation, where all 350 of its members stayed in Palestine; even the entire Maccabi Bulgaria orchestra that came with them and performed at the opening and closing ceremonies stayed. Only their sports equipments and musical instruments were shipped back. Additionally, the majority of the German and Polish team took the opportunity to stay in Palestine.
Unlike the first Maccabiah which was planned in just under three months, the second Maccabiah took just over a year, which significantly increased costs. As a result, the Maccabiah organizing committee faced severe budgetary problems. The Maccabi Eretz Yisrael Fund was so poor, quoting "The budget was barely enough for the postage-stamps". As such, it was decided that the Maccabiah be supported financially by the World Maccabi Union - with Maccabi Eretz Yisrael still responsible for the planning of the games.
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