The Jews' longing for a homeland of their own is a story some thousand years old. But there were few who could foresee the astonishing manifestation of that longing. Stringent immigration laws enforced by the Brit¬ish Mandatory authorities of Palestine kept the figures of Jewish immigrants extremely low pre¬cisely during the years when Nazi extermination activities were at their height. This policy was not relaxed at the end of World War II, when for the Jewish survivors of the concentration camps emigration to Palestine meant the only possible hope for starting a new life. After the end of the Second World War, tens of thousands of Jewish ''displaced persons" and survivors of Nazi concentration camps tried to reach the shores of Palestine in defiance of the British policy of limited immigration. They were all very anxious to leave Europe as quickly as possible. An amazing organization developed. This organization channeled refugees to Mediterranean ports, char¬tered vessels and succeeded to a very great extent in breaking the British blockade of Palestine. Tiny, often unseaworthy, ships were filled with hundreds of Jews who were ready to suffer any hardship in order to reach the shores of Palestine. They were "illegal immigrants" only according to the rules and regulations of the Mandate Government, whose authority ceased on May 14, 1948, when the Jewish State was established. Since then, every Jew in the world is entitled to settle in Israel, and "illegal immigration" no longer exists.