An exciting Passover ceremony was held in the refugee camp • The ship 'Exodus' ► Watch

'Exodus', a symbol of bravery and determination

There was a great deal of excitement last Friday (April 12.4.2024, XNUMX) in the morning hours at the immigration camp at Atlit: dozens of immigrants from the ship 'Exodus' and their families gathered before Passover to tell the story of the 'Exodus from Egypt' - the story of the arduous journey of the immigration ship 'Exodus'.

'Exodus' Enlighteners

The "Exodus" became a symbol of the immigration period thanks to the immigrants and the crew members who came from all over the world and stood for two months with bravery, determination and courage and did not allow their spirit to be broken. They became a symbol and example of the love of the people and homeland, for Zionism and the connection between all parts of the Jewish people.

As a documenter of the life stories of the older generation, I often meet with refugees and Holocaust survivors, including 'Exodus' refugees. I am full of appreciation and admiration for these humble and heroic people, members of the Nefilim generation. Among the 'Exodus' refugees I met there were also the refugees Tsipora Belizovsky 91 years old, born in Poland and resident of Haifa. Tzipora remembers well the journey of hardships she went through as a girl, including fighting against the British with the meager means that were on the ship and their transfer in the deportation ships.

'Exodus' Epil Tzipora Belizovsky tells of her memories ◄ Watch

Dear Pullman, Soon to be 90 years old, born in Minsk (now Belarus), a dentist by profession, tells about crossing the borders with the help of members of the escape movement. "We were imbued with faith that we were on our way to Eretz Yisrael, our homeland." About the moment she saw the beaches of Haifa she says: "It was a defining moment..." They bought me a small ring that I was happy with. I made a vow, when I saw the beaches of Haifa and the lights, that if we managed to get there, I would throw my beloved ring into the sea. Finally the ring stayed with me..."  

'Exodus' pilot Ahova Pullman tells about the fighting on board ◄ Watch

The order of the Exodus Haggadah – An exciting tradition

The 'Exodus' Haggadah seder hosted in the Atlit camp is the fourth in number, after similar gatherings were held in Kibbutz Ein Hamfaretz, Kiryat Ono, Kfar Saba and also in Atlit, with the aim of facilitating the arrival of the applicants and turning the event into a permanent tradition. among the participants in the event as well Rivka and Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa. Her parents Rivka, Zina and Dov Burstein, were among the 'Exodus' pilgrims.   

At the beginning of the meeting, the members of the 'Exodus' team, who have been working since 2017 to pass on the important heritage in a variety of activities in Israel and the world, including conferences and lectures, assistance in erecting monuments and memorial plaques, heritage trips and more, greeted those present. In 2021, the members of the team produced the 'Exodus Haggadah' to tell the story of the immigrants and the path of the Hathatim from their departure from Europe to their final arrival in the Land of Israel.

The exciting event was hosted Itzhak (איציק) Roseman, son of Mordechai Roseman, one of the leaders of the 'Habricha' movement and the leader of the 'Exodus' shipwreckers, and Jacob (Yankela) Weiman, the son of the 'Exodus' qualifier, Olga Gantz who volunteered to assist in the ship's clinic throughout the voyage.  

During the next two hours, the story of 'Exodus' was told through passages read by the ship's crew and their descendants from the 'Exodus Haggadah' and the songs of the period were sung with vigor and excitement by those present. Among the readers of the excerpts from the Haggadah 'Exodus' was Dina Tevel, whose father, Shlomo Tobol, headed the 'Exodus' group of activists from North Africa, read excerpts about the group's activities. Haley Alon, daughter of Lenny Sheklar, one of the American volunteers on the 'Exodus', read passages concerning the activities of the American volunteers on the ship.

About the American volunteers ◄ Watch

Tzipi Portnoy, daughter of the 'Exodus' activists, told about her birth in the concentration camp in Germany. Nice pass, daughter of the 'Exodus' sailors, told about her birth on the deportation ship during the struggle with the British in the port of Hamburg in Germany. Esther Rubinstein who was 10 years old on the 'Exodus', read excerpts from her diary.  

Yaffe Pess tells about her birth on the deportation ship ◄ Watch

Itzik Rozman, his sons and granddaughters read passages concerning the actions of their father-grandfather, the leader of the 'Exodus' raiders, Mordechai Roseman. Ofra Roseman Read a passage from the diary of the refugee Hana Abrotsky who passed away about three weeks ago. Jacob Weiman, son of the Exodus crew, added a section of his mother's story about the deportation ship on its way to Germany. Niva Ashkenazi The HaBriha heritage association read excerpts referring to the activities of the movement that after the war took care of more than a quarter of a million refugees in Europe and transferred them to the immigration ships.

Exciting closing of the circle

Zeev Arnon, Maafil Exodus, excitedly told about his feelings at the ceremony of removing the lot from the commemorative plaque in Germany in which some of the ship's maafil took part. "When we arrived it was a camp of the German Navy and there were German soldiers there... they invited us to lunch. This time I am sitting as a proud Israeli citizen at the table and German soldiers are serving us food! It was a very moving full circle."

Maapil Exodus Zeev Arnon tells about the commemoration ceremony in Germany ◄ Watch

Raise anchor and drink - five glasses of 'cheers'

Among the reading passages, the wine glasses that were raised as a tribute to the pilgrims for the arduous journey they had to go through were not missed. 

first cup - We will raise anchor and drink a glass of wine in honor of the founders of the 'Habricha' organization: the partisans, the ghetto fighters, the 'Asians' and Holocaust survivors who were joined over time by Jewish soldiers in the allied armies, the 'Joint' organization, soldiers of the Jewish Brigade and emissaries from Israel.

We raised anchor and had a first glass ◄ Watch

All together, with courage and resourcefulness and out of a sense of mission and responsibility, chose to stay on European soil and help their brothers in the difficult days and hours after the end of the war. Their slogan was: "With no borders, no roads, we will row and penetrate your homeland".  

A second glass - We will raise anchor and drink a glass of wine in honor of the buyers of the ship, in honor of the people of the "Mossad La Aliya B" and in honor of the hundreds of unknown Frenchmen who helped bring the immigrants to the ship.

A third cup - We will raise anchor and drink a glass of wine in honor of the ship's crew, the people of the PALM and the many volunteers and in memory of the martyrs of the battle against the British and the refugees who died during the voyage.

A fourth cup - We will lift anchor and drink a glass of wine for the life of the real heroes: 4,554 'Exodus' sailors!

A fifth cup - We dropped anchor in the Land of Israel and drank a glass of wine in honor of our family members and for the life of the State of Israel. We will all know how to continue the legacy of 'Exodus', contribute and be part of the special human mosaic that makes up Israeli society and the State of Israel.

מOrganize for the trip

In 1946, the Mossad for Aliya B in the United States purchased an old ship that was for sale for scrap. The ship was built for recreational cruising on rivers and was designed to carry 500 passengers and crew members. After renovation, she was prepared for sailing in the ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and she is designed to carry over 4500 pilgrims. During that entire period, British intelligence closely followed the renovation operations and the transfer of the ship from the United States to Europe.

The 'Exodus' begins

On July 11, 1947, the ship set out from the port of Set Asher in southern France with 4,554 immigrants on board, most of them Holocaust survivors, including about 50 young Zionists from North Africa who were in a training camp in France for absorption and fulfillment in a kibbutz in the Land of Israel. Religious and secular, ultra-Orthodox and traditional, the people of Hashomer Hatzair alongside Bnei Akiva. Babies, children, young people and adults. A wonderful group of people who on one day, the 10nd of Tammuz 1947, July XNUMX, XNUMX, boarded a small ship in a small port in the south of France and began the voyage towards the Land of Israel.

Filled with hope and elation, they boarded the ship. With this, they thought their wanderings throughout Europe ended, wanderings that began with the outbreak of World War II and continued during the Holocaust. With the end of the war, the gates of the concentration camps and extermination camps were opened, but the British locked the gates of Israel. At this point, the end of World War II, our story begins. This is a story of wandering, of ascension and above all of heroism.

The ship was led by 8 PLM men alongside 42 sailors, most of them Jewish volunteers from the United States. As soon as the voyage began, British destroyers attached themselves to the ship and a patrol plane hovered above it.

On the night of July 18, 1947, when the ship approached the shores of Israel, the British destroyers attacked it. In the battle that developed, 2 qualifiers and a volunteer team member from the United States were killed. All three are buried in the cemetery in Haifa in the section of the burial grounds. Over 100 applicants were injured in the battle. The ship was brought to the port of Haifa, the immigrants were put on three British cargo ships and sent west.

Exodus qualifier Zalman Drori ◄ Watch

the deportation

Unlike the British policy until that time, this time the illegal immigrants were not deported to Cyprus. They were sent to France, the country from where 'Exodus' set sail. For about four weeks, the British deportation ships stood off the coast of France when the illegal immigrants, who stayed in difficult conditions on the ship, refuse to get off and resolutely demand: "Only the Land of Israel!"

Towards the end of August, the British Foreign Minister decided to deport the illegal immigrants back to Germany to the British zone of control. On September 7, 1947, about two months from the day they set out, the three deportation ships arrived at the port of Hamburg in Germany and the immigrants were sent to detention camps under the guard of British soldiers.

home ◄ Watch

The 'Exodus' affair ended only a year later when the last of the refugees left the camps in Germany on their way again to the Land of Israel, this time to the newly formed State of Israel.

Exodus refugees at a meeting at the refugee camp in Atlit 12.4.24/XNUMX/XNUMX ◄ Watch