Yitzhak "Ike" Aronowicz (August 27, 1923 – December 23, 2009) was an Israeli sailor, best known as the captain of the immigrant ship SS ''Exodus'', which unsuccessfully tried to dock in British-era Palestine with

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

survivors on July 11, 1947, after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His surname was later spelled as Ahronovitch.Fox, Margalit. "Yitzhak Ahronovitch, ''Exodus'' Skipper in Defiant '47 Voyage of Jewish Refugees, Dies at 86," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, December 24, 2009.
/ref> Born in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, he grew up in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and came to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

at the age of 10. Aged 23, he was the captain of the SS ''Exodus'', on its trip from the port of Sète, France, a fishing town on July 11, 1947, carrying 4,515 passengers which was intercepted by a fleet of British war ships led by the British

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 ...

cruiser ''Ajax'' and a convoy of destroyers trailed the ship from very early in its voyage. Two British destroyers rammed the ship. After several hours of hand-to-hand combat between passengers armed with smoke bombs trying to prevent British sailors from boarding the ship, the British opened fire. Two immigrants and a crewman were killed, and many passengers seriously wounded. The ship was towed to

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 ...

, where it was abandoned. The passengers were deported to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and then to Lübeck, Germany. In late 1947, he served as the captain of the ''Pan York'', another ship attempting to bring Jewish refugees to Palestine past the British blockade. He was a highly experienced naval officer and had sailed with many ships. In 1949, following the establishment of the State of Israel, he went to study in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He took an officers course in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

– for third, then second, and then first officer. At this time, he also married Irene, an American woman from

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

who was not Jewish. In Israel, Aronowicz entered the shipping business. In 1951, he led a sailors' strike which was broken up by the Israeli government. In 1958, Aronowicz went to study in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, earning a BA in international relations from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and an MBA in economics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. While studying in the United States, he worked as a driver for the Israeli Embassy. After completing his studies, he returned with his family to Israel and eventually establishing his own shipping company, running lines to China,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Death

Aronowicz died in Israel on December 23, 2009, aged 86. He was survived by two daughters, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. In a statement after his death Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said Ahronovitch had "made a unique contribution to the state which will never be forgotten".Shimon Peres' eulogy for Aronowicz
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronowicz, Ike 1923 births 2009 deaths Israeli sailors People from the Free City of Danzig Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Columbia Business School alumni Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Israeli businesspeople in shipping Aliyah Bet activists