NAVAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MUSEUM

This museum covers part of the history of Haifa and more broadly of the State of Israel. It is about the immigration of Zionist Jews during the time of the quotas set by the British, before 1948, and their attempts to force the British blockade. You can visit an authentic boat brought ashore, whose name is Af-Al-Pi-Chen, which means "in spite of everything". The 435 passengers on this ship, like many others before them, were intercepted by the British and sent to a detention camp for illegal immigrants in Cyprus. At the entrance, we will see the model of a more famous ship, the Exodus, which, loaded with Holocaust survivors, was boarded by the English and its passengers, brought to the port of Haifa before being sent back to Europe in prison ships. The deck of the model is covered with passengers and luggage. The museum has also reconstructed - with wax mannequins on a human scale - a scene from the Exodus as well as a scene from an English camp for illegal immigrants in Cyprus. You can also ask to see the very informative film From shore to shore, which traces the history of immigration and the lives of these "boat people" using archival footage. In the courtyard of the museum you can see the bridge of the submarine, the Dakar INS. A very interesting museum, but where many explanations and documents written in Hebrew have not yet been translated into English.