By Jerry Klinger
HAIFA, Israel — She was an American ship, largely American crewed and American funded. Every American on board the Exodus 1947 knew, if they were captured, they faced years in a British prison and the loss of their American citizenship. Yet, they went. They had to do what they had to, even if it meant paying with their lives to save the lives of others.
British Mandate Naval forces recently declassified ship to ship communications confirmed the worst. They were prepared to sink the old Chesapeake Bay tub and drown all 4,500 Holocaust survivors on board.
The old tub surrendered and the British were the ones defeated.
The crew of the Exodus, except for a few, returned to America to begin their lives separate from Israel. Holocaust survivors from the Exodus were again in the concentration camps of Europe with nowhere to go; many eventually made the State of Israel their home. They built families and lives while facing war after war for survival.
Ten years later the dramatic story of the Exodus faded. Phoenix like it rose from the ashes of the past by American writer Leon Uris, fictionalized book, Exodus, loosely based on the ship but dramatically linked to the rebirth struggle of Israel. Uris’ book touched a nerve. 50,000,000 copies would be sold. The story reached as far as the Gulags of the Soviet Union. The story gave hope to an obscure Jewish political prisoner – Natan Sharansky.
The book was quickly followed with an emotional retelling by American movie maker Otto Preminger. American film writer Dalton Trumbo wrote the script. American actor Paul Newman starred. American composer Ernst Gold and singer/ lyricist Pat Boone combined to embed the theme music into millions of hearts. For the first time in world popular culture the Holocaust and the birth of Israel became one.
Memorials to the Exodus were created in Germany, France, Italy and the U.S. Ironically, nothing was ever done in Israel. Nothing was ever done in Israel to memorialize the iconic story that was central to the rebirth of the Jewish state after 2,000 years. The Israeli perspective was different. They did not need to remember the Holocaust is the way the rest of the world did. They were the living embodiment of the legacy.
July 18, 2017, exactly to the day when 70 years earlier, “The ship that launched a Nation” arrived and changed world history, the first ever Memorial to the Exodus was dedicated in Israel. It was a special project of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, which conceived, organized and funded the effort.
More than 700 people attended the Exodus Memorial dedication. The dedication opened with a ceremonial raising of the flag of Israel. The assembled sang the Hatikvah. Historic echoes floated out of the mist of memory, the Hatikvah had been sung by the Exodus refugees as the ship pulled into Haifa’s harbor. Today, everyone was free, then, the refugees were to be prisoners again. Speeches, videos, and songs; Shuli Natan sang “Jerusalem of Gold”. Tears flowed from many eyes, especially the Maapilim, the survivors of the Exodus – forgotten no longer.
The Memorial is located outside the International Cruise Ship Terminal. Designed by fifth generation Jerusalemite, and noted sculptor Sam Philipe, the memorial is a bronze 9’ foot map of Israel, mounted on a base of rose Jerusalem stone. An anchor, modeled after the anchor of the Exodus is firmly embedded vertically near Haifa on the map. Sam pointedly observed, “The Land of Israel is an Anchor of the Jewish People.”
Carved in gold lettering on the base are the logos of World Machal, the Haganah and the American Veterans of Israel Legacy Corporation. A simple line near the base reads, “Exodus 1947, the Ship that Launched a Nation”, forever enshrining the descriptive observation of American reporter Ruth Gruber as she watched the Exodus pull into Haifa that fateful day long ago.
In attendance; Cabinet Minister Yoav Galant, his mother had been on the Exodus. Political Counselor Michael Snowden represented American Ambassador David Friedman who had become very ill the day before, British Ambassador David Quarry, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, Mayors, Members of the Knesset, Exodus and Holocaust survivors, Israeli Army and Navy units, Christians and Jews, international representatives, families of the Exodus crew and many more.
The future: The Exodus Memorial will be seen by between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people annually. The interpretive signage will explain the multi-tiered story behind the iconic ship and how people from many backgrounds, faiths and life experiences came together in the birth story of Israel. Approximately 20% of the people who will see the story of the Exodus for the first time are Arabic speakers. Historical interpretive signage has been created in Hebrew, English and Arabic.
Not many who were present knew the true story of the Exodus. Even fewer in Israel and even fewer in the world.
The story of the Exodus:
1928 a new steamer was built for the Baltimore Steam Ship Company owned by Maryland entrepreneur Solomon Davies Warfield. Unfortunately, Warfield died just before the ship was launched. They renamed her in his honor – The President Warfield.
She was a magnificent ship, 330’ long, designed to easily float in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay. She was white, with polished teak, cabins arranged to carry 430 passengers in luxurious comfort. For the next 14 years she sailed between Baltimore and Norfolk, Va. earning her an amorous nickname – the Honeymoon cruise.
By 1942, much of Europe had fallen to the Nazi war machine. Britain clung to life by a thread. She needed ships. The President Warfield became part of the British Navy. Two years later, 1944, The President Warfield joined the American Navy participating in the D-Day landings as a support ship.
A world away in the Pacific, 22 year old Ensign, Bill Bernstein, stood his watch on another American support ship – The Merrimac. He, like over 550,000 American Jews, did their duty in Service to their country.
After the war Bernstein knew he had one more duty to perform, for his people, the Jewish people.
For the surviving remnants of European Jewry, desperate in Displaced Persons camps, suffering did not end. They could not return to their former countries. Returning Jews were murdered in Pogroms. They had no homes; no one wanted them except for a tiny, piece of land promised to them as a homeland by the British in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, validated by the Versailles Treaty and Codified by the San Remo agreement of the League of Nations – the British Mandate for Palestine.
As before the War, Britain valued Arab oil more than Jewish life. Britain denied even surviving Jews entry to Palestine.
A secret fleet was organized to smuggle survivors past the British blockade. They called themselves the Aliyah Bet.
July 1945, The President Warfield returned to the James River, as part of the Ghost Fleet. She was badly beaten up, rusting. Late 1946 she was eventually sold to the Weston Trading Company, an Aliyah Bet front.
Taken to Baltimore, the old Warfield was repaired for her mission as a rescue ship.
After discharge, Bill joined the Aliyah Bet. He was assigned to The President Warfield as the second mate. He was one of the very few onboard with any Maritime experience.
Bill wrote his brother Moe about the Warfield.
January 30, 1947, Baltimore
Dear Moe,
As I wrote you in my previous letter, the general atmosphere surrounding the ship is very difficult to describe. We have Mexicans, Poles, Germans, Palestinians, Americans and Frenchmen aboard…The Mexicans can’t speak English but since Jewish and Hebrew are the prevailing languages, they have no trouble….
As far as capture is concerned, I don’t harbor any fears over that. As crew members, we dress exactly like the people we’re transporting and if capture is imminent, we just mingle with the crowd and go to Cyprus. Once we get to Cyprus, the “Palmack” will get us out….
So far, this is the largest ship to be sent over for this kind of work. The Chief mate figures this tub is good for 5,000-8,000 passengers. If they do put that many on board, the air will certainly be a bit clammy but I’m sure those people have held their breath for a lot longer than three days. After those three days, they’ll be able to breathe their own free Jewish air- – we hope…
Regards, Bill
Bernstein did not tell his mother what he was doing. He brother did. Alarmed, His mother wrote to Bernstein, imploring him to return home “ four and half years of soldiering was enough.”
Bernstein tried to get his mother to understand.
You ask me to stay in America and go to school, settle down… but one doesn’t find happiness by continually telling himself he’s happy.
Don’t you think that I’d like a nice wife and children and a good job? Of course I would but I can’t do that now”
Early march the Warfield headed for the Azores. En-route Bernstein wrote to his brother.
Dear Moe,
The crew…we have everything aboard except sailors. Everyone has a different reason for making the voyage… the gentile sailor shipping with us as an ordinary seaman to Palestine, I referred to him as a sailor but actually in civilian life, he’s a priest…
To hear orders given in Yiddish is certainly strange
The British were hard at work in the Azores. They prevented the Warfield from legally refueling. After a few days, the Warfield crew secretly refueled, illegally, and headed to Marseilles.
Bill wrote to his brother…the motley mass of philosophers, mathematicians and assorted intellectuals have begun to shape up into some sort of half-baked crew…
Sailing past Gibraltar at night, a signal light flashed out demanding identification.
The President Warfield responded, “Go to Hell”.
April 21, 1947
Dear Moe,
Today is our last day in Marseille… we sail tomorrow for Italy. From what I understand we will pull into some small port in Northern Italy and remain there for about 5 weeks while berthing facilities are put up. Our people have only one burning desire – – the second deliverance to Eritz Israel. The first migration was supposedly the handiwork of God; the second one, we fight for!!
Three days ago, the Jews here in Marseille and aboard our ship, celebrated the fourth anniversary of the resistance of the Warsaw Ghetto. Every one of the 60,000 Jews were massacred there, defending a street with small arms against the German army. We held it for five days… only five days of resistance in 4,000 years of persecution! Something we should be ashamed of. However, the time isn’t far off when we’ll redeem our honor. Perhaps you and I won’t be around when it happens but I can see it taking shape…
I was at the refugee camp on the outskirts of Marseille yesterday. I saw practically all young men and women… They all speak Jewish; some speak Hebrew and all will eventually be in Eritz raising “sabras” on good communal farms…. A good many of these kids have numbers tattooed on their arms as proof of the life they have lived for four years.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to mail any letters in my next port so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a few weeks. I’m feeling fine – – – say hello to everyone. Bill
The British dogged them.
From Portovenere, Italy, the Warfield escaped the British again heading for Sete, France.
In motion since – Mid-June – 70 heavy trucks made their way across Europe to Sete. The trucks were carrying survivors from the Bergen Belsen and Buchenwald German concentration camps, many were children – orphans.
July 10, 4,515 refugees were crowded safely on board the Warfield. The ship slipped into the Mediterranean. A British Battle Fleet, four destroyers, the light Cruiser Ajax and two minesweepers were waiting.
July 17, off the coast of Sinai, a British destroyer pulled close and ordered the Warfield to stop. She refused. The Warfield’s crew opened their sealed orders. They were to steam towards Tel Aviv and beach themselves. The British battle fleet could not follow them in the shallow coastal waters.
Radioing the world, the Warfield shed her phony skin; She was the Haganah Ship, Exodus 1947. They flew the Flag of Israel defiantly, proudly, from her mast.
July 18, 2:30 a.m, in international waters, two British destroyers rammed the Exodus. Her wooden super structure shattered under the impact but her hull held. The Exodus increased speed. Bill Bernstein manned the helm aiming her toward the shallow waters. The British rammed her again. Suddenly, the two destroyers veered away, huge gashes had ripped open their thin sides.
The British could not see in the dark that the Exodus had steel rub rails jutting out beyond her iron hull. The rub rails sliced the destroyers open.
Two new destroyers delicately put up against the unarmed Exodus. Boarding parties were thrown over only to be repulsed by the Jews using water hoses, cans of food expertly aimed and sheer force of will.
British Marines boarded again, guns drawn, steel tipped clubs flailing at anyone. Their first objective was the wheelhouse where Bill Bernstein intently steered the Exodus. The British broke in. A vicious steel tipped club came down. Bill Bernstein’s skull was crushed. Another crewman was shot point blank in the face. The British took control.
They demanded the Exodus surrender. It was very plain, if the Exodus did not surrender, the British were willing to sink the Exodus and murder all 4,515 people on board. The Exodus had resisted for five hours. On board, three were dead and 147 injured. The Exodus surrendered and was escorted into Haifa Harbor arriving about four in the afternoon.
Haifa Jews lined the shore as the Exodus limped into port. World media crowded the docks alerted by the Exodus’ radio. From the ship, thousands of voices could be heard singing. The traumatized survivors sang the song they sang in Bergen Belsen and Buchenwald, The Hatikvah.
Survivor feet barely touched the land before the British herded them onto three prison ships. The British government was going to make an example of them. The survivors were sent back to Germany, to the land of death.
The Press reported the tragic events in Haifa. World public opinion turned against the British.
In Jerusalem, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine deliberated the Palestine question. They declined to consider Holocaust refugee testimony. An eyewitness aboard the Exodus was American Methodist Minister Reverend John Stanley Grauel. The Haganah smuggled Grauel to Jerusalem to tell the Committee the story of the Exodus. The Committee agreed to go to Germany and consider survivor testimonies. That testimony changed the Committee’s recommendation to the United Nations from against to in favor of Partition.
Four months later, November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to end British control of Palestine setting the stage for the rebirth of a Jewish State alongside an Arab State. American journalist Ruth Gruber named the Exodus, “The Ship that Launched a Nation.”
A few days after the Exodus tied up in Haifa, a Western Union Cablegram arrived at the home of Sophie Bernstein.
We regret to inform you that your son Naval Officer William Bernstein was killed on the high seas in a brutal manner by sailors of the British Navy who were carrying out the ruthless policy of the British White Paper government. The Haganah stands at attention at his fresh grave and pays a last tribute of respect to this young American Jew who made the supreme sacrifice while helping to bring the remnants of our people to our homeland demonstrating unity in our efforts to build a Jewish National home.
Sept 7, 1947, the Exodus survivors were again behind barbed wire in Germany. .
Nahum Guttman, editor of the Histadrut wrote
“No British intrigue can stop the Yishuv from carrying on the fight for freedom. No British Navy can halt the march of Jews to their homeland. No evil inspired anti-Semitism in England can put fear into the hearts of Zionists the world over who back up the inalienable right of the Jewish people to life.”
August 1952, the Exodus was scuttled near the Haifa harbor after a mysterious disastrous fire. She lies there to this day.
The creation of the Exodus memorial in Israel was a challenge. In Israel, support for the Exodus was mixed. Israeli newspapers barely covered the story. Thousands of Israeli hearts were touched by the effort learned by word of mouth. Thousands would have come if the dedication could have physically accommodated them. Security consideration could not.
Israeli media was more concerned with the rioting in Jerusalem and the fresh murder of Israelis by terrorists than the meaning of the Exodus.
Outside of Israel, garnering support for the Exodus Memorial project was chipping ice from a growing iceberg of political separation. Many Jews do not know the true story of the Exodus. Many Jews do not know who Theodor Herzl was. If you ask American young people who were the Presidential visages carved on Mt. Rushmore, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln– few would know either.
To the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, doing the right thing is not meant to be easy. Doing the right thing is meant to be done, it is an opportunity to be taken, if even it is not always expedient or politically correct.
*
Jerry Klinger is president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation
Better late than never but too late for Ike.