The Exodus was a ma'apilim (illegal immigrants) ship that set off from Southern France headed for Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) on 11 July 1947, carrying some 4,500 Jewish refugees. British destroyers following the Exodus rammed the ship when it entered Eretz Israel's territorial waters, and British soldiers came on board. In the violent struggle that ensued between the soldiers and the refugees, three passengers were killed and many were injured.
The Exodus reached Haifa port, and on 20 July the passengers were forcibly taken off and made to board three deportation boats. They were ferried to Port-de-Bouc in France, but once there the Jews refused to disembark. Ultimately, the British decided to return them to camps in Germany. On 8 September 1947, British soldiers forced the refugees to disembark at Hamburg port. Most of them were interned in German camps for over a year, and only reached Israel after the establishment of the State. The story of the Exodus was widely covered in the international press, and eventually became emblematic of the Jews' struggle for the right to immigrate to their homeland.
Two of the ma'apilim aboard the Exodus were Mala and David Hatkewitz. Born in Łomża, Poland, David served in the Red Army during World War II. Mala née Wissleder was born in Tomaszów Lubelski, and during the war her family made their way across the USSR until they reached Arkhangelsk. Mala and David met in the Sedan Kaserne DP camp in Germany, where they got married on 31 March 1947. Shortly after their wedding, they left for Marseille with the help of the Bricha organization, and then made their way to Port de Sète, Where they boarded the Exodus. At the time, Mala was pregnant with their first son. After being forced off the ship in Germany, the couple was taken to the Am Stau camp and then transferred to the Sengvarden camp, where their son Zvi was born and David taught Hebrew. They finally reached Israel on the Caserta in October 1948.