Memory

It always amazes me that there are still new and powerful Holocaust stories being uncovered.  Today I had an amazing experience watching the documentary film, Waves of Memory, directed by Gad Aisen.  It tells a story of the Ma'apilim, the Mossad's extensive smuggling of Holocaust survivors into Palestine after World War II.  These survivors are often called illegal immigrants -- because they were trying to enter Palestine illegally (since the British who ruled Palestine at that time had closed the doors to Jewish immigration).   

Waves of Memory is the story of a ship named Rafiah, carrying close to 800 individuals, which sank in the waters off a barren and rocky Greek Island in 1946.  It is also the story of some of the individuals who were on that ship on that stormy and fateful night, including the stories of two special individuals -- Shlomo, now 66 years old, who was then an infant,  and the Mossad operative whose ingenuity enabled him to arrange for the rescue.

Much of the voice-over is from a report found in the archives which was filed by that same Mossad operative.  Since there are no photos of the ship or of the entire enterprise, the film uses extraordinary animation as it retells the story and even uncovers new details. 

This is a film of much drama, emotion and international intrigue, with an emphasis on the human side of the story. 

Waves of Memory (documentary, 75 minutes, 2013) is available from Ruth Diskin Films.