The Patria disaster on 25 November 1940 was the sinking by the Haganah of a French-built ocean liner in the port of Haifa, in which 260 people were killed and 172 injured.
At the time of the sinking, the Patria was carrying around 1,800 Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe who were being deported by the British to Mauritius, because they did not possess entry permits. The deportation was opposed by Zionist organizations including the underground paramilitary Haganah group, which planted a bomb with the intention of disabling the ship to prevent it from leaving Haifa.
However, the Haganah miscalculated the effects of the explosion and the bomb caused the ship to sink in less than 16 minutes, trapping hundreds in the hold. The survivors were subsequently permitted to remain in Palestine on humanitarian grounds. Who was responsible and the true reason why the Patria sank remained controversial mysteries until 1957, when Munya Mardor, the person who placed the bomb, published a book about his experiences.
Read more about Patria Disaster: Background, Disaster, Aftermath
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