For the survivors, the liberation of the camps meant an end to the systematic torture and mass murder, but not an end to suffering. Everything had been taken away from them. Only a few had a place they could return to and, even for those, the end of Nazism had not ended Antisemitism. - ThreadSky

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social • 34 days ago

For the survivors, the liberation of the camps meant an end to the systematic torture and mass murder, but not an end to suffering. Everything had been taken away from them. Only a few had a place they could return to and, even for those, the end of Nazism had not ended Antisemitism.

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maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

Many survivors became DPs (“Displaced Persons”) after the war. In Western Germany and other West European countries, this people were taken care of in “DP Camps”. In 1947 there were over 250.000 Jewish DPs in Germany and 40.000 in France.

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

Palestine, under British control at the time, was one of the principal migration objectives for those DPs. But the UK had had a very restrictive immigration policy regarding Jews to Palestine for decades, and no intention to change it.

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

For this reason, the Jewish underground organisation Haganah had been organising illegal migration to Palestine since the early 1930s.  The US-American steam ship President Warfield was purchased and modified for this purpose in 1946.

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

On July the 11th 1947 the ship left the port of Sète in France. 4.515 Jewish DPs were on board, 650 of them were children. The Royal Navy followed them with HMS Ajax and five destroyers. On July the 17th, the ship was renamed “Exodus from Europe 1947” and a flag with the Star of David was risen.

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

The Exodus sailed to Haifa then. But, during the next night, the British rammed and boarded the ship. The migrants posed a strong resistance. There were numerous wounded and five dead: four Jews and one British sailor.

maritimesmuseum.bsky.social•34 days ago

Upon arrival in Haifa, most of the migrants were moved to prison ships. Only pregnant women and the wounded were allowed to stay. 
The prison ships were to take the migrants back to France but in Port-de-Bouc only a few accepted to leave the ships.

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