| The President Warfield began life in 1928 as a luxurious steamer carrying passengers in style between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia.
During World War II she was reborn as a troop transport in Europe.
After the war, she was purchased by Haganah, the Jewish underground military force, and returned to Europe to carry refugees to Palestine. As the Exodus 1947 she carried 4,500 refugees towards a new home in the promised land. But, within view of her destination, she was rammed by British ships and boarded. Unable to fight off the invaders, the crew of Exodus 1947 surrendered the ship. At the port of Haifa, the refugees where loaded onto British ships and sent to Germany. The irony, and vindictiveness, of sending Holocaust survivors to Germany caused world opinion to turn against the British and their policies towards Jewish immigration into Palestine. Links: |
