Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., July 24, 2008 Tamuz 21, 5768 | | Israel Time: 17:51 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Frances Rosenberg (far right) in a dark dress seen on the Jewish refugee ship Exodus in this 1947 photo. (AP) Last update - 23:10 22/07/2008 'Exodus' passenger makes aliyah 6 decades after being turned away By The Associated Press Tags: Holocaust, Jewish World  When 88-year-old Frances Greenberg walked off an El Al passenger jet and into an air-conditioned terminal on Tuesday, it was her second time trying to move to Israel. The first was in 1947, on the Exodus, a rickety ship crowded with Holocaust survivors who were turned back by the British and returned to war-ravaged Europe. "The last time I was alone, the last survivor of my family," said the tiny, white-haired Greenberg. She was 27, and the Jewish state did not yet exist. Advertisement When, under British guard, she steamed back toward Europe and saw the shores of Palestine recede behind her, Greenberg remembered being heartbroken. But she married soon after being returned to the continent she had tried to flee, and followed her husband, Isak, a fellow Holocaust survivor, to the United States. Six decades later, there were no British to stop her. Instead, she was greeted at the airport by her daughter, who has lived in Israel since the 1970s, and three of her grandchildren. An Israeli lawmaker was on hand to present her with a new Israeli passport. In 1947, Greenberg and 4,500 other refugees were packed on board the creaky Exodus 1947. The ship was an old American passenger steamer that had been converted to a military transport during the war and then purchased by the pre-state Jewish authorities in Palestine to bring Jews to the country. Many of the passengers were their families' sole survivors. When they arrived off the shore of Palestine, the ship was seized by British sailors. The British, who controlled Palestine and were cracking down on illicit Jewish immigration, transferred them to three other ships and sent them back to Europe, where they eventually ended up back in detention camps in Germany, home of the Nazis who killed 6 million Jews during World War II. Greenberg said her parents, her two sisters and brother were killed by the Nazis. She said she did not know how or when they died. She survived the Nazi onslaught by fleeing east from her hometown of Sierpc, Poland, into the Soviet Union. The Exodus incident shocked the world and came to symbolize the plight of Jewish survivors in Europe after the war. It deeply embarrassed the British and helped galvanize support for the establishment of a Jewish state. It also inspired a best-selling novel by Leon Uris and a 1960 movie starring Paul Newman. The British pulled out and the state of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, triggering a war between Arabs and Jews. Before departing for Palestine on the Exodus, she had met Isak Greenberg in a displaced persons camp. He loved her, she said, but they parted ways because she was a Zionist and dreamed of going to Palestine, while he planned to go to America. When she arrived back in Germany after her ordeal, he came to see her, and this time she agreed to join him. After Isak died last year, she revived her old dream of living in the Jewish state. This time, she left her home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flew to Israel on a flight arranged by Nefesh B'Nefesh, a group that helps Jews from Western countries move to Israel. More than 200 other American immigrants were on the plane. Loudspeakers at the airport blared Israeli folk songs, and children waved Israeli flags. America was good to me, Greenberg said. I hope Israel will be good, too. Related articles: Commander of legendary Jewish immigrant ship Exodus dies at 90 60 years later, veteran rues loss of 'Exodus spirit' Documents: U.K. tried to ship Holocaust survivors back to Germany 'A hero who did not seek acts of heroism' Bookmark to del.icio.us   A hero or a pharaoh? An Iranian film praising Sadat's assassin has touched off a row between Egypt and Iran. Primary colors Barack Obama looks to reassure Jews of his commitment to Israeli security.   1.   `Exodus` Passenger 05:52  |  UD 23/07/08   2.   Culture shock at her age. 09:36  |  Benjamina 23/07/08   3.   Exodus 10:03  |  Muhyddine Ayoubi 23/07/08   4.   Muhyddine Ayoubi 12:02  |  ChanahS 23/07/08   5.   detention camp in 1947 ! 15:07  |  Robin 23/07/08   6.   Robin, a history lesson for you ! 15:19  |  Benjamina 23/07/08   7.   Did anybody notice? 17:39  |  Tamar 24/07/08

Read & React Sen. Joe Lieberman praises pastor who said Holocaust was God's work Responses: 100 Obama tells Haaretz: Two states for two peoples Responses: 88 Ashkenazi in U.S.: All options are on the table regarding Iran Responses: 43 Editorial: We need a U.S. leader unfettered by the Israel lobby Responses: 58 Israel Harel: Shalit must be made a burden for Hamas, rather than an asset Responses: 19 Rosner's Domain The Lebanese are undercutting goodwill in Washington (WTR) Is Jimmy Carter 'tone-deaf' to Jewish sensibilities? (WTR) Will Lebanon pay the price for the prisoner swap deal? What will Obama look for in Jerusalem (and Ramallah)? More Headlines 14:37 Palestinians: Settlers rampage through West Bank village 14:11 Barack Obama tells Haaretz: Two states for two peoples 09:31 Ashkenazi in U.S.: All options are on the table regarding Iran 14:53 Terror victims' relatives file NIS 450m suit against PA, Barghouti 13:36 MKs okay new West Bank homes, despite vow to freeze settlements 14:41 Study: Tel Aviv more expensive to live in than New York 15:36 Jewish World/Unwilling flag wavers? 16:47 Another delay in Katsav sex crimes indictment as case transferred 06:53 After 40 years, Israel braces for return of the bedbug 16:05 Egypt shuts Iranian TV office in Cairo amid spat over Sadat film 14:51 Haredis likely behind vandalism of Jerusalem ads featuring actress 09:27 ADL condemns anti-Semitic cartoons of Obama, McCain 13:34 VIDEO / Musician Idan Raichel woos Arabs in Al-Jazeera interview 13:33 Pop singer Aviv Gefen pens new ballad calling to free Shalit Previous Editions Select Day 23 jul 22 jul 21 jul 20 jul 18 jul 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul 10 jul

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