The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami Presents: The Second Exodus - The Clandestine Jewish Immigrants to Palestine Prior to Israel Independence

Description

This presentation will focus on clandestine immigration immediately before, during, and after World War II, as persecuted Jews in Europe tried to make their way into the British Mandate of Palestine, often deemed illegally by the British authorities who controlled the region. This journey was dangerous and failed more often than it succeeded. These immigration restrictions, many of which were laid out in 1939’s British White Paper, became the subject of international debate after images of Jewish refugees being forced off ships at gunpoint and incarcerated in camps in Cyprus emerged in the media. Conspiracy theories around whether the Jews were truly refugees began to emerge, and Jewish leaders around the globe, members of the United Nations, and the Truman administration found themselves embroiled in a fight to have these restrictions lifted and the prisoners in Cyprus released. By 1948, increased Jewish immigration to Palestine increased regional tensions, and as the state of Israel was established, the situation exploded into a continued refugee crisis and all-out war.