EXODUS 1947

The name of a ship bringing illegal immigrants (see ALIYA BET) toPalestineunder the auspices of theHaganain 1947. The ship, originally named thePresident Warfield, was purchased by the Hagana to transport immigrants (seeALIYA), mostlyHolocaustsurvivors, to Palestine. It departed fromFrancein July 1947 with a shipload of immigrants, but the British navy escorted the ship toHaifaand boarded it. The refugees were refused permission to enter mandatory Palestine because of the restrictions on Jewish immigration set by theWhite Paper of 1939and were forced to return in British ships to Europe, mostly toGermany.

See alsoBritish Mandate for Palestine.