60th anniversary of the Jewish refugee ship Ben Hecht
A special event will be held in Silver Spring, Maryland this week to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the voyage of the S.S. Ben Hecht, an unusual Jewish refugee ship that not only tried to crash the British blockade of Palestine, but also brought down the barriers of racial segregation in Baltimore, and played a role in one of the most spectacular prison breaks in history.
The commemoration will take place at the Silver Spring Jewish Center, 1401 Arcola Avenue, on Sunday evening, February 25, 2007, at 7:00 pm. There is no admission charge.
The event, which is sponsored by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, will feature remarks by:
David Miller of Silver Spring, a nephew of the ship’s captain, Bob Levitan.
Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the Wyman Institute, on the “Hollywood coalition” (Marlon Brando, Milton Berle, and others) that backed the ship.
Jeffrey Weiss, Esq., of Potomac, author of Am I My Brother’s Keeper?, a book about American volunteers in the Israeli War of Independence.
Rabbi Herzl Kranz of the Silver Spring Jewish Center, who will --for the first time in public-- discuss his involvement, as a teenager, in surreptitious efforts to aid the Jewish fighters in Palestine.
A rare video interview with Captain Levitan will be shown.
To coincide with the anniversary, the Wyman Institute will next week unveil an online photo exhibit, “The Voyage of the S.S. Ben Hecht: A Jewish Refugee Ship That Changed History.” The exhibit will be posted at: www.WymanInstitute.org
The commemoration will take place at the Silver Spring Jewish Center, 1401 Arcola Avenue, on Sunday evening, February 25, 2007, at 7:00 pm. There is no admission charge.
The event, which is sponsored by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, will feature remarks by:
David Miller of Silver Spring, a nephew of the ship’s captain, Bob Levitan.
Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the Wyman Institute, on the “Hollywood coalition” (Marlon Brando, Milton Berle, and others) that backed the ship.
Jeffrey Weiss, Esq., of Potomac, author of Am I My Brother’s Keeper?, a book about American volunteers in the Israeli War of Independence.
Rabbi Herzl Kranz of the Silver Spring Jewish Center, who will --for the first time in public-- discuss his involvement, as a teenager, in surreptitious efforts to aid the Jewish fighters in Palestine.
A rare video interview with Captain Levitan will be shown.
To coincide with the anniversary, the Wyman Institute will next week unveil an online photo exhibit, “The Voyage of the S.S. Ben Hecht: A Jewish Refugee Ship That Changed History.” The exhibit will be posted at: www.WymanInstitute.org