Most of the surviving remnant of the Holocaust - the 250,000 post-war Jews confined to DP Camps in Europe - wanted to make their way to Palestine. However, any immigration was constrained by the quotas set forth by the British in the White Paper of 1939. The ship Exodus 1947 became a symbol of the Aliyah Bet, or "illegal" immigration, when British authorities prevented it from landing in Palestine. With 4515 immigrants on board, including 655 children, the Exodus was rammed and boarded near the coast of Palestine. The immigrants put up a fight against the British soldiers: 2 passengers and 1 crewman were killed and 30 were wounded. The British decision to return the passengers to Germany to two DP camps created a worldwide scandal. The fate of the Holocaust survivors in the Exodus affair became an important international symbol of the Jewish struggle for a homeland and the establishment of a Jewish state. Britain had conceded that it could no longer manage either the political instability in Palestine or the refugee crisis and submitted the matter before the United Nations. The Exodus, exemplar of the Aliyah Bet, became known as "the ship that launched a nation."
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Certificate from SS Exodus 1947 for Refugee “Illegal Immigrant”
2020.1.10
Exterior of card: decorative border with English text printed on front and Hebrew on back. Interior: text printed in English and Hebrew. Picture of man stapled to right side of page which is also stamped with purple ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Certificate states that bearer with photograph attached is a “Maapil” (illegal immigrant) brought by force to Germany from Haifa and is in exile on his way back to “Eretz Israel.” The certificate was issued in Camp Am Stow (Am Stau) near Lubeck. Camp Poppendorf was the other camp in Germany to which the refugees of the Exodus were taken after attempting unsuccessfully to break the British blockade. The Exodus 1947 is known as “the ship that launched a nation.”
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Jewish Refugees from SS Exodus 1947
2014.1.93
Front: An image of a group of refugees carrying luggage past huts at the Poppendorf Camp near Luebeck, Germany, as well as typed information about the image below it. Back: Handwritten information about the photo, as well as a stamped date.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
AP wire photo of Jewish refugees arriving in Germany at Poppendorf Camp after being removed from the British SS Ocean Vigour. These refugees had been turned away from British Mandate Palestine on the SS Exodus 1947 as "illegal immigrants" and transported back to Germany on the Ocean Vigour. (AP Wirephoto via radio from London).
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Hans Pinn Studio Press Photograph of the Exodus 1947 Docked in Haifa Harbor, Palestine
2021.1.12
Crowds stand on the balcony of a ship at port with the ship’s signage reading “Haganah Ship Exodus 1947”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Hans Pinn was an eminent photojournalist in post-World War II Israel. Photograph has Pinn’s studio stamp verso.
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Press Photograph of Americans Protesting British Navy Commandeering of the Exodus 1947
2021.1.11
Crowds stand behind police barriers in a city while holding picket signs most visibly stating “Bevin inherited Hitler’s Barbed Wire” “Who is ‘oiling’ American Palestine Policy?” and “’Exodus 1947’ A Symbol of Jewish Determination.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The British refusal to allow the more than 4500 passengers - including 655 children and the Reverend John Grauel - on the Exodus 1947 (the old President Warfield resurrected) to disembark in Haifa; the ensuing hostilities after the ship was rammed and boarded by British soldiers; and the decision to send the passengers - men, women and children - back to displaced persons camps in the very country that murdered six million of their co-religionists, created a furor around the globe. The British were seen as no better than the Nazis, preventing the haggard and homeless Jewish refugees - the surviving remnant of the European Holocaust - from reaching sanctuary in their own homeland. Increasing public awareness and international support for the passengers of the Exodus elevated this event to the symbol of the Jewish struggle for a homeland in a world where few countries welcomed any of them. Ultimately the Exodus would become “the ship that launched a nation.”
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British Red Cross Nurse with Refugees
2014.1.48
Photograph of nurse and two children with typewritten information about photograph located along side, "(NY10-SEPT10) Nurse Comforts Little Exodus Refuggees -- A British Red Cross nurse smiles as she attempts to comfort serious-faced little Jewish boy and girl at the Klocknitz, Germany, railroad station, Sept. 8, after their arrival from Hamburg with other refugees from the Exodus of 1947. They were transferred from Klocknitz to Poppendorf camp to Luebeck on British army trucks. (APWirephoto) gww41510stf-hb) 1947'. Back: "Refugees---Jews" and 'Received Examiner Reference Library Sep 11 1947' in blue handstamp.
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Exodus 1947 Refugees at Poppendorf Camp, Germany
2014.1.367
Front: Two photos of Jewish refugees aboard the Exodus 1947.Text on top of image, 'NY580-9/9 - Luebeck-Kuecknitz, Germany - Shown at Poppendorf camp today (9/9) where they were brought for screening are Jewish refugees who were returned to Germany after unsuccessful attemt to enter Palestine aboard the Exodus 1947. (L) Old men read their bibles. (R) An old woman, on the verge of tears, sits ont he edge of her bed. ACME RADIOPHOTO via TELE PHOTO'. Back: Handwritten notes in red and a blue 'REF DEPT 9-26-47' hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
ACME wire photos of Jewish refugees from SS EXODUS 1947, Poppendorf Camp, Lubeck, Germany. Most of the surviving remnant of the Holocaust, the 250,000 post-war Jews confined to DP camps in Europe, wanted to make their way to Palestine. However, any immigration was constrained by the quotas set forth by the British in the White Paper of 1939. The ship Exodus 1947 became a symbol of the Aliyah Bet, or “illegal” immigration, when British authorities prevented it from landing in Palestine. With 4,515 immigrants on board, including 655 children, the Exodus was rammed and boarded near the coast of Palestine. The immigrants put up a fight against the British soldiers: 2 passengers and 1 crewman were killed and 30 were wounded. The British decision to return the passengers to Germany to two DP camps created a worldwide scandal. The fate of the Holocaust survivors in the Exodus affair became an important international symbol of the Jewish struggle for a homeland and the establishment of a Jewish state. Britain had conceded that it could no longer manage either the political instability in Palestine or the refugee crisis and submitted the matter before the United Nations. The Exodus, exemplar of the Aliyah Bet, became known as “the ship that launched a nation.”
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Certificate from Exodus 1947 for Leah Edelstein in Poppendorf Camp
2016.1.62
Cover: ‘Certificate exodus 1947’ underlined in bold print in English and Hebrew; Interior:‘Holder of this No. 2089 is a Maapil of “Exodus 1947”; he/she was brought by force to Germany from Haifa, and is in exile on his way back to Eretz-Israel.’ Issued in exile camp Poppendorf’; photograph stapled on right side with “Exodus 1947” handstamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Leah Friedman and Yehuda Edelstein had lived in Salg Tarj N in northern Hungary, near the border of Slovakia, before World War II. Prior to the German occupation, the city had a thriving Jewish community and was home to thousands of Jews. In May 1944, a ghetto was established and the Jews who had not already fled the city were forced to move there. On June 13, more than 2,300 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Leah and Yehuda were among the 120 who survived the camp, returned to Salg Tarj N, and were married in 1946. They relocated to the displaced persons camp Fohrenwald (Fernwald) in Germany. In July 1947, the Edelsteins boarded the SS Exodus 1947, originally named the President Warfield, fitted out for the Aliyah Bet to carry Jewish Holocaust survivors illegally to Palestine, at this time still under the British mandate and Britain’s quota of Jewish immigrants. The Exodus carried 4,515 immigrants, including 655 children. Yehuda Edelstein was a member of the crew. On July 18, 1947, the Exodus was intercepted by the British cruiser Ajax and a flotilla of destroyers. Undaunted and unwilling to withdraw, the passengers resisted British incursions. The Exodus was rammed, and in the struggle that ensued, several passengers and a crewman were killed – including an American volunteer – and many were injured before the Exodus was finally seized and towed to Haifa. The passengers were placed on deportation ships bound for France, but refused to debark, and the French government would not force the passengers off the ship. Remarkably, they were sent back to Germany, forcibly removed from the ships, and placed in DP camps. The Edelsteins were sent to the Poppendorf DP Camp. After almost a year in these camps, most of the passengers were able to leave for Israel, including the Edelsteins and their daughter, who had been born on the ship. The fate of the Holocaust survivors in the Exodus affair became an important international symbol of the Jewish struggle for a homeland and the establishment of a Jewish state. Britain had conceded that it could no longer manage either the political instability in Palestine or the refugee crisis and submitted the matter to the United Nations. The Exodus, exemplar of the Aliyah Bet, became known as “the ship that launched a nation”.
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Haganah Ship SS Exodus 1947
2015.2.45
Front: Black and white photograph of a ship with many people standing on the deck. Includes a sign for "Haganah Ship Exodus 1947." Hebrew text on the upper right corner and in the bottom middle. Back: Blank postcard lines. Star of David on the upper left.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Shana Tova photo postcard of the Haganah Refugee Ship SS Exodus 1947.
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First Day Cover Commemorating Clandestine Immigration Operations to Palestine
2016.1.50
Image of ship on water filled with lines of Hebrew text at bottom left, circular stamp with date over rectangular postage stamp at right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
This First Day Cover commemorates clandestine immigration or operations of the Aliyah Bet designed to bring immigrants to Palestine, with the depiction of SS Exodus 1947 in the port of Haifa. Cover year of 1997 is the 50th anniversary of the Exodus. While clandestine immigration operations to Palestine existed before World War I, they increased dramatically with the Holocaust. The most famous of the immigrant ships to bring the surviving remnant to Palestine was the Haganah ship Exodus 1947, pictured on the stamp at the port of Haifa, prior to its passengers being deported back to France and then to Germany.
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Excerpt from Exodus by Author Leon Uris
2012.1.26
Excerpt from novel with signature.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Signed page of Leon Uris’ historical novel about the birth of Israel, turned into 1960 film with Paul Newman.
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Engagement and Marital Contracts between Yehuda Edelstein and Leah Friedman
2016.1.63ab
a: Hebrew handwriting on ¾ of graph paper page, hole at center from fold marks; b: Hebrew handwriting on entire face of page, hole at center from fold marks
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Leah Friedman and Yehuda Edelstein had lived in Salg Tarj N in northern Hungary, near the border of Slovakia, before World War II. Prior to the German occupation, the city had a thriving Jewish community and was home to thousands of Jews. In May 1944, a ghetto was established and the Jews who had not already fled the city were forced to move there. On June 13, more than 2,300 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Leah and Yehuda were among the 120 who survived the camp, returned to Salg Tarj N, and were married in 1946. They relocated to the displaced persons camp Fohrenwald (Fernwald) in Germany. In July 1947, the Edelsteins boarded the SS Exodus 1947, originally named the President Warfield, fitted out for the Aliyah Bet to carry Jewish Holocaust survivors illegally to Palestine, at this time still under the British mandate and Britain’s quota of Jewish immigrants. The Exodus carried 4,515 immigrants, including 655 children. Yehuda Edelstein was a member of the crew. On July 18, 1947, the Exodus was intercepted by the British cruiser Ajax and a flotilla of destroyers. Undaunted and unwilling to withdraw, the passengers resisted British incursions. The Exodus was rammed, and in the struggle that ensued, several passengers and a crewman were killed – including an American volunteer – and many were injured before the Exodus was finally seized and towed to Haifa. The passengers were placed on deportation ships bound for France, but refused to debark, and the French government would not force the passengers off the ship. Remarkably, they were sent back to Germany, forcibly removed from the ships, and placed in DP camps. The Edelsteins were sent to the Poppendorf DP Camp. After almost a year in these camps, most of the passengers were able to leave for Israel, including the Edelsteins and their daughter, who had been born on the ship. The fate of the Holocaust survivors in the Exodus affair became an important international symbol of the Jewish struggle for a homeland and the establishment of a Jewish state. Britain had conceded that it could no longer manage either the political instability in Palestine or the refugee crisis and submitted the matter to the United Nations. The Exodus, exemplar of the Aliyah Bet, became known as “the ship that launched a nation”.