{"id":80184,"date":"2020-07-09T13:35:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T10:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=80184"},"modified":"2023-02-19T16:25:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-19T14:25:32","slug":"hoi_exodus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/hoi_exodus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stories Behind the Voyage of the Exodus"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a certain generation, the story of the Exodus, the ship that carried 4,500 Jewish refugees from post-war Europe to Mandatory Palestine, encapsulates the essence of Israel\u2019s creation \u2013 a journey, an exodus – from the hellish depths of the Holocaust to the exhilarating heights of independence and nationhood.<\/p>\n

Indeed, there are many who first became aware of the story of the modern State of Israel thanks to \u201cExodus\u201d \u2013 the 1960 Hollywood hit film, though the movie is only very loosely based on the history of the actual ship.<\/p>\n

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The Exodus upon its arrival in the port of Haifa. The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Toldot Yisrael<\/a> project, which is hosted on the National Library of Israel\u2019s various platforms, was able to gather several video interviews which tell the true story of the voyage of the Exodus, as well as provide a rare glimpse into events which transpired behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

When Monica Levin finally saw the film starring Paul Newman, her father – Louis \u201cShorty\u201d Levin – shocked his daughter by telling her, \u201cI want you to know that that ship belonged to me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Levin had owned the ship back when it was known as the \u201cPresident Warfield\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The Exodus upon its arrival in the port of Haifa. The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The organization that eventually purchased the ship from \u201cShorty\u201d Levin was known as HaMossad LeAliyah Bet<\/em> (“The Institution for Immigration B”).<\/i> This was a branch of the Jewish underground Haganah organization, devoted to facilitating clandestine, illegal, Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine.<\/p>\n

To mask its activities, the underground group made use of front organizations which it could hide behind. When it came to buying the President Warfield, things were run through a straw company answering to the very non-Jewish sounding name: \u201cThe Chinese American Industrial Corporation\u201d. The only Jew on the company board was a Haganah operative who had a habit for popping up just about everywhere<\/a>, the future mayor of Jerusalem \u2013 Teddy Kollek…<\/p>\n

Monica Levin relates the full story below:<\/p>\n