Today in 1947, the ship ‘Exodus’ arrived on the shores of Israel.
The days were the days of waiting for decisions about the fate of the Land of Israel, with hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors in displaced persons camps in Europe without a mandatory immigration certificate. The illegal ‘immigration’ phenomenon increased with the help of the underground and Zionist organizations around the world, to the dismay of the British. In 1947, the agents of the Aliyah Institute purchased a large ship intended for scrap, and changed its name to Exodus; the ship loaded more than 4 thousand immigrants in southern France and set out to the Land of Israel. But the British discovered the ship and, as it approached the shores of the country, rammed it, took it after a short battle and dragged it to the port of Haifa. From there, the immigrants were deported to detention camps in Germany (partially occupied by Britain during this period), and most of them arrived in Israel after the declaration of independence. The importance of the ship was the fact that The story received great resonance in the world media and caused a decrease in support of the British and the Mandate. In addition, members of the UNSCOP Committee (who decided on the partition plan) were in Israel at the time of the incident, saw the ship and the immigrants with their own eyes, and were persuaded to support the establishment of a Jewish state immediately.
Photo Source: Wikipedia