Holocaust survivors took a great risk in in 1947 to board the SS Exodus and make an illegal voyage to re-establish a Jewish homeland in the British-occupied Palestine. Their brave and treacherous journey soon will be immortalized on the silver screen.
Screenwriter Mark Friedman will adapt John Grauel's self-titled autobiography for the film's script, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Grauel, a Baptist minister from Massachusetts, joined the ship's mostly American crew after the death of his wife and child. The SS Exodus secured more than 4,500 passengers, most of them Holocaust survivors, for the trip between Sete, France and Haifa, a city on the Palestinian coast on July 11, 1947.
Grauel told his story to Eleanor Elfenbein for the book published in 1983. He died three years later. Crystal City Entertainment (CCE) and Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures will produce the film adaptation.
"We've always been drawn to inspirational stories about selfless individuals who give of themselves for something greater and this story certainly has those characteristics," CCE co-founder Stuart Avi Savitsky told The Hollywood Reporter. "Being able to show Rev. Grauel's 'coming of age' through this story makes for a compelling character that we are excited to share with audiences."
The British government intercepted the ship before it made landfall in Palestine. The country did not want the responsibility to accommodate the massive amounts of refugees in their colony. The emigrants were shipped back to France and eventually interned back in Germany until the official establishment of Israel in May 1948.
In addition to his service on the SS Exodus, Grauel also helped persuade the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine to create the State of Israel as part of its Partition Resolution in November 1947.
Paul Newman starred in an earlier movie about the historic journey in 1960. He co-starred in with Sal Mineo in the fictional account of the real voyage, directed by Otto Preminger. The movie was based on the book Exodus by Leon Uris.
