A new first-of-its-kind museum will be built in a ship near Haifa, creating a virtual experience of the 1940’s Ha’apalah period – that of anti-British illegal immigration to the Land of Israel before the establishment of the State.
The ship, an old, 250-ton Russian derelict, is to become a state-of-the-art virtual museum in the port city of Atlit, depicting a critical period in the establishment of the Jewish National Home in Israel. The old trading ship, named Galina, was brought to Israel from Riga after an extensive search, and is scheduled to be opened to the public in its new form in six months' time.
Visitors will be treated to a half-hour real-life tour throughout its floors and rooms, exposing them to a virtual experience very similar to that undergone by the clandestine Jewish immigrants as they attempted to evade the British and return “home.”
Plans for the new project were shown this week to Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser. The Council for Preservation of National Sites, which hosted the presentation, will soon mark its 25th year in action.
Among the “experiences” that the visitors will undergo as they walk through the ship are: A violent storm and rough seas, lightning hitting the ship, a baby's on-ship funeral, a wedding, spontaneous singing, and more – accompanied by three-dimensional photos of real immigrants who made Aliyah to Israel in just that fashion.
Possibly the highlight of the tour will be an “encounter” with a British destroyer, including not only a siren and dramatic captain’s announcement, but also images through the “windows” of a British fighter jet approaching and hitting – or missing – the ship.
At the end of the “trip,” the visitors will experience reaching dock, watching injured comrades being taken ashore, participating in the raising of the Israeli flag, and singing HaTikvah together.
“I believe that we will be able to bring thousands of tourists to this boat,” the Tourism Minister said, “and tell them in the most genuine way the story of the State of Israel. The ma’apilim were the builders of the Land, arriving here after the Holocaust on a long and torturous journey, and it is important that the whole world knows their story. This exhibit won’t be just another movie, but a real-life adventure.”
The show and boat are being designed by David Gafni, designer of some of Israel's most famous museums. He was the in-house Designer and Director of Exhibition Workshop of Tel Aviv's Museum of the Diaspora for 14 years, renovated the Yad Mordechai Museum and reconstructed a Warsaw Ghetto uprising bunker there, served as in-house Designer of the Western Wall Cavern Museum for 16 years, designed and established the Herod's House model display with a giant pneumatic model, fiber optics and artistic lighting, and more.