![](https://cdn.fedweb.org/cache/fed-116/2/SS%2520Exodus%2520July_Hagana__523313_resize_990__1_.jpg)
During and after World War II, tens of thousands of Jews sought refuge in British-controlled Palestine. Many were turned away. Today we mark a tragic moment in Israeli history: In 1947, more than 4,500 Jewish passengers on the SS Exodus—the majority of them Holocaust survivors—were forced to turn back from the port of Haifa and return to Europe.