girlactionfigure: SS ExodusThe SS Exodus was a ship that carried over 4,500 Jewish refugees from Fra
girlactionfigure: SS ExodusThe SS Exodus was a ship that carried over 4,500 Jewish refugees from France to Mandatory Palestine. The ship set sail in July 1947 and was immediately tracked by the British who were imposing a strict anti-Jewish immigration policy.On July 18, the British forcibly boarded the ship off the coast of Mandatory Palestine and met struggling refugees who refused to leave the ship. A struggle ensued and two passengers and one crew member were killed, and another 30 injured.The British seized the ship and decided to deport the refugees back to France; however, the Jews refused to disembark and declared a hunger strike. Eventually the British decided to deport the Jews to Germany, where they were forcibly taken off the ship and placed in DP camps. The camps were reported to have sub-human conditions, which invoked international outcry.Due to the vast coverage that this episode received, the Exodus became a symbol of the Aliyah Bet – the “illegal” Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel.Leon Uris’ famed novel, Exodus, told the tale of the SS Exodus.My Nation Lives עמי-חי -- source link