A story of personal strength and national dignity, this new documentary film reveals one of the best-kept secrets of the British Mandate. In 1944 251 Etzel and Lehi prisoners were exiled to Eritrea. The new State of Israel was yet to be born – and a struggle was underway in British Mandatory Palestine. 60 years later the secret of how five of the gang leaders were able to escape their English captors in Africa and return to Israel is still a mystery. The Etzel and Lehi were pre-State militant groups who waged an armed struggle against the British who controlled the land. Five of the imprisoned group leaders went on to become leaders of the new Jewish State – including Yitzhak Shamir, the former prime minister and Meir Shamgar, a president of the Israeli Supreme Court. Back to Eritrea is their story – and the story of their British captors. The film will follow many of the original prisoners as they travel back to Eritrea with their families. In Asmara they search for their prison camp – and for the tunnels that they dug as part of their escape plan – and which have never been found till this day. The voyage to Eritrea is dramatic and intense –and a rare encounter in London where the former prisoners meet British generals who oversaw them in the Eritrean camps, is powerful and affecting.  A story of heroism and dark secrets, The Underground in the Tunnel of Time is a powerful journey.


The Underground in the Tunnel of Time

Doc, 80 min, 2010

Written & Directed by: Benjamin Ohry
Produced by: S.Y. Production – Yehuda Bitton
Sponsored by: IBA-Channel 1 & Rabinowitz Foundation - Cinema Project
Languages: Hebrew & English with English subtitles

DVD - For Home Use Only :
$29.90

Synopsis


 A story of personal strength and national dignity, this new documentary film reveals one of the best-kept secrets of the British Mandate. In 1944 251 Etzel and Lehi prisoners were exiled to Eritrea. The new State of Israel was yet to be born – and a struggle was underway in British Mandatory Palestine. 60 years later the secret of how five of the gang leaders were able to escape their English captors in Africa and return to Israel is still a mystery. The Etzel and Lehi were pre-State militant groups who waged an armed struggle against the British who controlled the land. Five of the imprisoned group leaders went on to become leaders of the...

Festivals

  • Premier at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, 2010

Additional info

Gallery

Festivals

  • Premier at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, 2010

Educational

  • Smith College
  • Boston College
  • A Wider Bridge, USA
  • Calgary Public Library, Canada
  • Library of Congress
  • UCLA
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Princeton University
  • Harvard University
  • Arizona State University