On board the Exodus
Creator(s)
- National Center for Jewish Film
- Bill Bernstein (Camera Operator)
Scope and Content
Video copy of Bill Bernstein's 8mm color home movies aboard the ship Exodus 1947. Exodus 1947 carried 4,500 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who sought to illegally immigrate into Palestine. Even before the ship reached Palestine's territorial waters, British destroyers surrounded it. Bill Bernstein, the Exodus's second officer and a Jew, was clubbed to death trying to prevent a British soldier from entering the wheelhouse on the ship. The remaining passengers were eventually transferred to DP camps in Germany. Exodus ship at sea, flag on ship. 01:03:20 MSs, snow on board steamship (probably docked in Baltimore). 01:04:04 CU, Bill Bernstein, showing how deep the snow is. 01:04:46 Bill walks toward camera, various CUs. 01:06:11 Ship at sea. VAR shots of ship deck, flags, and smoke. 01:12:29 Filming sea at night. 01:13:30 Ships at sea, daytime. 01:13:42 back to nighttime filming. 01:15:06 Pan of other ships (possible docked near Haifa or in France). Camera follows Bill on the boat, he smiles, waves, and holds flashlight. Smoke from ship in BG. 01:16:41 CU, US flag. CUs, puppies.
Note(s)
See the documentary "Exodus 1947" by Elizabeth Rodgers and Robby Henson (in the Film and Video Archive Wild Collection) for an extensive account of the Exodus and prominent use of Bill Bernstein's home movies.
Subjects
- PALESTINE
- EXODUS (SHIP)
- HARBORS
- SHIPS
- JEWS
Places
- , Palestine
- , United States
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.