The port of Sète in south-western France commemorated on Sunday 70th anniversary of the departure of the Exodus, the boat which transported 4,554 Holocaust survivors to Israel.
On the night of July 11, 1947, the survivors of the concentration camps secretly embarked on a ship which was only meant to hold up to 700 passengers.
After many difficult days at sea and just 30km from the coast of the British Mandate of Palestine, the Exodus was seized by the British Navy.
The passengers were put on prison ships and sent back to southern France and Hamburg where they were yet again sent to camps. Their inhumane treatment moved public opinion and helped contribute to the end of the British Mandate and the creation of the State of Israel.
On Sunday, a special plaque remembering the disembarkment was set up on the quay at Sète.
