By , Special to JTNews
On May 28, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle presents the exclusive Seattle screening of the epic film “Exodus.” The film has been remastered with enhanced sound and color for its 40th Anniversary World Tour.
Originally released in 1961, “Exodus” will be shown in Seattle on a large screen for the first time since its release. This event coincides with a particularly trying time in Israel’s history, so the Jewish Federation has decided to designate all funds raised by this event to the IsraelNOW Emergency Fund. For most viewers under the age of 50, this will be a rare opportunity to see this masterpiece on a large screen, and for all the rest, a wonderful and timely opportunity to bring all generations together for a fund-raising event in support of Israel.
Limited tickets will be sold for $100 per seat. The Majestic Bay Theatres have donated the use of their theatre for this event to help ensure that significant funds can be raised. The theatre is located at 2044 N.W. Market Street in Ballard. Tickets can be purchased online at the federation’s secure Web site at www.jewishinseattle.org or by calling or e-mailing Brenda Siegrist at 206-774-2246 or [email protected]. When the film was shown in Portland as a fund-raiser for IsraelNOW, Bill Millman, the helmsman of the Exodus 1947, told the true story of that ship’s attempt to run the British blockade of Palestine. While he called the film “Exodus” a great movie, he said, “It’s just a movie; I’m telling you the real story.”
Millman was one of the four original crewmembers of the ship recruited in the United States. He said that shortly after he got out of the service (he was a WWII Navy veteran), he was approached by a man who asked, “How’d you like to go to Palestine and blow up some tanks?”
Millman and three other Americans soon found themselves on board the President Warfield, “a piece of scrap,” where they were later joined by a “young, inexperienced crew.” The American crew sailed to the Azores to get fuel, and when the Portuguese refused to sell it to them, “we stole it.” After a stop in France to pick up supplies, the ship made port in Italy.
When they were told to strip it clean and build bunks for 4,500 people, Millman realized for the first time that their job was to run the British blockade of Palestine.
When refugees from the displaced persons camps began to board the boat, Millman said that the first 500 had passports for South America. He said crewmen collected the passports from the first 100 people on board and distributed them to others waiting in line. The French stamping the passports “looked the other way,” he said.
But once the ship was out in open waters, British navy destroyers soon shadowed it.
“On the fifth day, we had a mitzvah and a tragedy,” said Millman. “A baby was born and the mother died.”
Millman said he thinks the woman was the first casualty under the Jewish flag.
On July 18 at 2:30 a.m., the British rammed the Exodus and began boarding her. After seeing one of his crewmates clubbed over the head, Millman said he picked up a British marine, intending to throw him overboard.
“Then I got shot on the left side of the jaw,” he said. “I was more or less out of the fight. At 6:30 a.m., we surrendered.”
Millman and 4,500 passengers were taken to Hamburg, Germany, and forcefully put ashore.
However, Millman said publicity about the Exodus’s interrupted voyage did three things: It helped change immigration laws in the United States, it helped bring down the British blockade and it helped create the state of Israel.
(The information about Millman’s experience was reprinted, with permission, from The Portland Jewish Review.)