In a village near Vilna. Lithuania. five Jewish survivors were found murdered. Found in their pockets was a message written in Polish stating that "this will be the fate of all surviving Jews." While many Holocaust survivors. including myself and my wife. were fortunate to be welcomed into this wonderful country. not all refugees were blessed with this option. Due to xenophobia and fears of Communist infiltration. even the existing legal immigration quotas were not filled. In other nations. outright bigotry prevented Jewish resettlement. Most Jews remained in Europe. locked behind the gates of DP camps or wandering amidst the remains of their prewar lives. looking beyond the horizon for a land of their own. a homeland where they would be free from the struggles that had so painfully burdened them and their ancestors. They longed to create an independent Jewish state in their biblical mandate of Palestine. "The Long Way Home" tells the beautiful and inspiring story of the achievement of the Zionist dream. With exceptional archival footage and gripping firstperson interviews. it recounts the struggle from the concentration camps to the kibbutz. from Auschwitz to Jerusalem. It stirringly documents the attempts of refugees to enter Palestine. and the unyielding British opposition to the Zionist movement. which showed itself in the Royal Navys interception of refugee ships and its deportation of their occupants to camps located in the 100degree heat of Cypress. To the great credit and pride of the American people. it also documents the courageous and unabated support which President Harry S. Truman exhibited in his support of the Jewish people and their future State of Israel.
Keywords matched
immigration refugees refugee xenophobia deportation