When the American soldiers discovered the Jewish graveyard left by the Nazis

in Europe as well as the survivors of the concentration camps, they were unprepared
for what they saw and shocked by what they found. The surviving Jews had no homes
to return to, little or no family remaining and were suffering in dire poverty. The
Sephardic as well as the Ashkenazic Jewish communities of Europe were gone.
Looking back, they and their communities were devastated, and looking forward, the
challenges seemed insurmountable.
The film explores the remarkable determination that the survivors had to rebuild
their lives. It also explores their faith during and after the Holocaust. For the many of
survivors, the Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland was their anchor of hope. For others,
it was their determination to rebuild their lives with material security and safety. And yet
for others, the faith that had sustained them through their darkest days, became the
building block of re-creating a Torah life wherever they could. For example, the
communities of the Chassidic dynasties such as Sanz, Bobov, Satmar and the Torah
institutions and communities of Ponevich, Mir, Telze, just to name a few.
The antisemitism by local Europeans continued even after World War II,
especially among the Poles. There were pogroms and Jews were killed, often by people
they knew. Emigration to other non-European countries was often not an option, as the
quota system instituted against Jews before World War II was still in effect, even after
the Holocaust. Only 1500 Jews per month were allowed by the British to enter
Palestine, as England did not want to antagonize the Muslim world. The vast majority of
survivors were classified as Displaced Persons and were placed in DP camps. Once
again, they were living under armed guard, in poverty and unwanted. When U.S.
representatives saw the situation in the DP camps, they pressed the British to let in
100,000 Jews to Palestine, to no avail. The American JDC and British JRC led the way
in supplying these people with food, medicine and schools.
The sympathy for the Jews in general and for Zionism in particular grew
markedly as a result of what the Jews suffered under the Nazis. The British ignoring
their legal obligation under the terms of The Mandate illegally restricted Jewish
immigration into Palestine. The political situation was reaching a breaking point. The
British occupiers were unpopular to both the Arabs and Jews. The Jews were split as
to how to deal with the British in Palestine. Some, led by David Ben Gurion and Chaim
Weizman believed in negotiations and political pressure, while others led by Menachem
Begin believed the only way to create the State was to fight for it and drive the British
out.

The route through and from Europe was treacherous for the Jewish refugees seeking to
enter Palestine. Thousands braved the elements and made it to the shores of Palestine,
only to see 62 of 63 immigrant ships be turned away by the British blockade. The most
famous of these ships, the Exodus, created a standoff between its 4,500 Jewish
survivors and the British. Eventually the British sent the refugees back to France, and
when the Jews refused to disembark they shipped back to the death land Germany.
The inhumanity of the action and the iron will of the survivors swayed world public
opinion.
In 1946, the British attempted to defeat any Jewish opposition by arresting 5000
Jews in Palestine, including the leaders of the Hagannah and the Jewish Agency. The
Irgun reacted by bombing the headquarters of the British forces at the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem.
From 1945-1948, there was a groundswell of public support for the State of Israel
by Jews world-wide, and in the United States in particular. Meanwhile, in Palestine,
bombings and retaliatory murders are daily occurrences, as the British were
unsuccessful at keeping the peace between Jew and Arabs. Eventually British Prime
Minister Bevin decided that England would give up its rule over Palestine and handed
the problem over to the United Nations to solve.
At the same time, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the Free World
escalated. Stalin closed the doors on Soviet emigration which prevented 3 million Jews
from leaving. Furthermore, with the official policy of atheism, being enforced, Jews were
forbidden from practicing their religion.
UNSCOP, The United Nations Committee on Palestine, held hearings on
September 1, 1947, to decide what course of action to recommend to the UN regarding
Palestine. Remarkably it was 50 years to the day (September 1, 1897) that Herzl wrote
in his diary, in 50 years, a Jewish State would be created.
UNSCOP recommended to partition Palestine into two states one Jewish and
one Arab. This Partition Plan was rejected by all the Arab states. The resolution was
passed in the United Nations with a vote of 33-13. Amazingly, both the United States
and the Soviet Union supported the resolution, at the height of the Cold War. Russia
believed that a Jewish state with many Socialist and Communist ideals would lead it
eventually become part of the Soviet sphere of influence. This passing of the Partition
Plan negatively affected over 1 million Sephardic Jews living in Arab lands, where the
Muslims began turning against their Jewish citizens.

Since there was no U.N. provision to implement the Partition Plan, the Jews and
Arabs were let to resolve the conflict themselves. Arab violence escalated and war
quickly became the norm. By May of 1948, 1256 Jews, mostly civilians, had been killed
by Arabs. As the war for Jewish survival increased, thousands of local Palestinians fled
to neighboring Arab countries believing that when the Jews were defeated they would
return home.
On May 14, 1948, the British officially left Palestine and on the same day, the
State of Israel was immediately declared by David Ben Gurion, acting as its provisional
Prime Minister.
America was the first country to officially recognize the new State of Israel
eleven minutes after it was declared. U.S. President Harry Truman signed the letter of
recognition despite the objections by The United States Secretary of State George
Marshall and the entire State Department.
Immediately after the declaration an all-out war broke out between the Jews and
Arabs. Seven Arab armies attacked the new Jewish State but were not united both
militarily and politically. For example, the Arab League was established in order to
counter The Grand Mufti of Jerusalems ambition to secure domination of Arab
Palestine. At the same time, King Abdullah of Jordan wanted to merge Palestine with
his kingdom. Eventually, the Arab forces began to lose the war.
As the war was raging the Jewish leadership begged the local Palestinian Arabs
not to abandon their homes but the Arab leadership forbade the Arabs to return or live
in areas under Jewish rule.
Unfortunately, in one form or anther, the war and battles that began in 1948 have
continue to this day.
How different the situation in the Middle East would have been today if the Arabs
had opened their hearts to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors and had accepted
the UN Partition Plan, which so favorable to them.