Exodus 1947

   The name of a ship bringing illegal immigrants (see ALIYA BET) to Palestine under the auspices of the Hagana in 1947. The ship, originally named the President Warfield, was purchased by the Hagana to transport immigrants (see ALIYA), mostly Holocaust survivors, to Palestine. It departed from France in July 1947 with a shipload of immigrants, but the British navy escorted the ship to Haifa and boarded it. The refugees were refused permission to enter mandatory Palestine because of the restrictions on Jewish immigration set by the White Paper of 1939 and were forced to return in British ships to Europe, mostly to Germany.

   See also British Mandate for Palestine.