A fantastical propaganda play depicting an armed revolt financed the purchase of the yacht
Abril
and its conversion to an “illegal” immigrant passenger ship renamed the
Ben Hecht
. The plan was to evade the British naval blockade and bring Holocaust survivor refugees to Palestine.
Henry Mandel volunteered aboard the
, a converted yacht that challenged the British blockade of Jewish immigrants to pre-state Israel. Captured and detained in Acre Prison, Mandel aided the efforts of prisoners planning an escape. After release, Mandel helped set up a secret bazooka shell plant in New York, which he helped to reassemble in Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Mandel was an Orthodox Jew whose reminiscences provide a uniquely illuminating perspective on the creation of the Jewish state. Mandel’s story is explicated in a running commentary that includes the personal narratives of other members of the
crew as well as historical background.