John Stanley Grauel (December 12, 1917 – September 6, 1986, also nicknamed "John the Priest" after
Prester John
Prester John ( la, Presbyter Ioannes) was a legendary Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian nation lost a ...
from the June 2009 Edition of the Jewish Magazine, presented on the Palyam Aliyah Bet Org.) was a Methodist minister and American
Christian Zionist
Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with Bible prophecy. The term began to be used in the mid-20th century in ...
leader. He was a crew member of the
Aliyah Bet
''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany, and later Holocaust sur ...
ship ''1947'' and a secret
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
operative. Grauel is credited with being the key individual who persuaded the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine to recommend for the Partition Resolution of November 1947, creating the State of Israel. In a speech to the
Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
,
Golda Meir
Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...
, referred to his testimony as the first appeal by a “priest, a perfectly worthy gentile, a priori, no Jewish witness was to be believed.”
Early life and education
John Stanley Grauel was born in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, in 1917. His mother was deeply religious and impressed her son with her beliefs. The family became a migrant family during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
until settling in Virginia. Grauel studied at the
Randolph–Macon College
Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continu ...
as a pre theological student.
His father died from cancer in 1936 and Grauel supported the family doing various jobs.
In 1941, he completed his education, graduating from the
Theological Seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, in Bangor, Maine, as a Methodist minister. During his final year he got married, but his wife and son died due to complications at childbirth.
In Haganah and ''Exodus 1947''
Grauel became very aware of the European Holocaust and the Zionist movement in 1942 through his close friendship with Judge Joseph Goldberg of Worcester. Also in 1942, he joined the
American Palestine Committee
The American Palestine Committee was a political lobby group in the United States founded in 1932 to influence American policy towards the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, an aim achieved in 1948 with U.S. support for the Part ...
, which was dedicated to the establishment of a Jewish state. In 1943 he gave up the local ministry to assume a position as a director of the committee's Philadelphia office. In 1944, attending his first Zionist meeting he met
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...
, the Zionist leader and future prime minister of Israel. Grauel learned of the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
, the Jewish underground army in Palestine, and the longtime humanitarian efforts of Haganah to save Jewish lives from the Holocaust by smuggling Jews into Palestine. Reverend Grauel enlisted in the effort immediately, leading a double life working for the America Palestine Committee and the Jewish underground.
Grauel became part of the
Mossad LeAliyah Bet
The Mossad LeAliyah Bet ( he, המוסד לעלייה ב', lit. ''Institution for Immigration B'') was a branch of the paramilitary organization Haganah in British Mandatory Palestine, and later the State of Israel, that operated to facilitate Je ...
and sailed aboard the illegal refugee ship ''Exodus 1947'' on March 23, 1947. Haganah put him aboard as a secret operative, under the cover of a foreign correspondent for the Episcopal journal, ''The Churchman''. Grauel's mission was to get the story of ''Exodus 1947'' out to the World. In Europe he organized and transferred refugees from the
displaced persons camps
Displaced may refer to:
* Forced displacement, the involuntary movement of people from their home
* Displaced (2006 film), ''Displaced'' (2006 film), a 2006 British feature film produced by Skylandian Pictures
* Displaced (2010 film), ''Displaced ...
to the ship. Filling multiple roles, he acted as an administrative executive, quartermaster, cook, and a liaison for the crew and the refugees. ''Exodus 1947'', heavily overburdened with 4,515 refugees, was intercepted and captured by
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
destroyers off the coast of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, Palestine, in a brief violent
boarding
Boarding may refer to:
*Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a:
** Boarding house
**Boarding school
*Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...
that left two refugees and one crew member dead. Grauel was arrested by the British. He was put under house arrest at the Savoy Hotel. Learning that the hotel lobby was filled with journalists from around the world, he got in to tell them about ''Exodus 1947'' and answer all their questions. With help from Haganah, he escaped before the police arrived. quoting the Baltimore Jewish Times from July 25, 1947
Testimony to UNSCOP
After his escape, Haganah helped bring Grauel to meet
Jorge García Granados
Dr. Jorge García Granados (21 April 1900 – 3 May 1961) was a politician and diplomat from Guatemala, a grandson of Miguel García Granados, the leader and philosopher of the liberal revolution in the 19th century.
Granados was the ambassador ...
, a member of the
United Nations Special Committee on Palestine
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future govern ...
and give firsthand testimony, emphatically declaring that there were no weapons aboard ''Exodus 1947'' during the violent boarding. He was brought later to give a direct testimony before the
United Nations Special Committee on Palestine
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future govern ...
. His firsthand testimony was extremely effective in eliciting sympathy and understanding for the cause of unrestricted Jewish refugee immigration to Palestine.
Golda Meir
Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...
, a later Prime Minister of Israel, observed that Reverend Grauel's testimony and advocacy for the creation of the Jewish State fundamentally and positively changed the United Nations to support the creation of Israel. Grauel said that his testimony before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine was given more credence because he was a Christian, rather than a Jewish crew member.
Later humanitarian efforts
Throughout his life he maintained close associations with Jewish concerns. In the 1950s and 1960s he led investigations into the terrible conditions of Jews living in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. In 1975 he led one of the first Jewish youth tours of the
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
in Europe. Reverend Grauel was drawn to numerous humanitarian efforts including the American Civil Rights and Native American struggles.
The State of Israel recognized Rev. Grauel through the Humanity Medal, the Fighter for Israel Medal, and the Medal of Jerusalem.
He died at his home in
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...
, members of Aliyah Bet and fellow crew members of ''Exodus 1947''.''The Jerusalem Post'' Sept. 17, 1986
References
Further reading
*
* Uris, Leon 1958, ''Exodus'' Doubleday Press, Chapter 27 specific to the Exodus true story.
* Gruber, Ruth, 1999. ''Exodus 1947: the ship that launched a nation''. New York: Times Books. . OCLC 4095423
* Hochstein, Joseph M.; Murray Greenfield. ''The Jews' Secret Fleet''. Jerusalem: Gefen. . OCLC 19030133
* Holly, David C. 1969. ''Exodus 1947'', Little Brown and Co., Boston
* Schwarz, Leo, 1953. ''The Redeemers, a saga of the years 1945–1952''. New York : Farrar Straus and Young
* Fahlbusch, Jan Henrik; et al. (1999) (in German). Pöppendorf statt Palästina: Zwangsaufenthalt der Passagiere der "Exodus 1947" in Lübeck : Dokumentation einer Ausstellung. Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz. . OCLC 50638651
External links
Exodus1947.com PBS Documentary Film focusing on the secret American involvement, narrated by Morley Safer
exodus1947.org Hebrew website dedicated to the ship. Includes images and recordings.
John the Priest By Jerry Klinger from the June 2009 Edition of the Jewish Magazine, presented on the Palyam Aliyah Bet Org.
* Testimony of Grauel before UNSCOP
John Stanley Grauel papers at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...