Acco prison wall after the jail break. Photo source: Jewish Virtual Library
Irgun fighters dressed as British soldiers, preparing for the attack. Photo source: Jewish Virtual Library
Acco Prison Break
Acco, May 4, 1947
Looking to free Irgun and Lehi fighters imprisoned by the British in the fortress in Acco, the Irgun staged a daring and dramatic jail break. Having smuggled information and explosives to prisoners inside the prison, and staged a simultaneous attack from the outside by fighters dressed as British soldiers, the Irgun breached the prison for only the second time in its 800-year history.
By the end of the operation, 27 of the 41 escaped Jewish prisoners made it. Six were killed and eight captured. Of the Irgun attack force, three were killed and five captured; one British soldier was killed. The New York Times hailed it as one of the biggest jail breaks in history, Menachem Begin deemed it heroic, the Jewish Agency condemned it, the Yishuv loved it, and even the British acknowledged how bad it made them look.
The prison break was immortalized in the 1960 film Exodus, starring Paul Newman.
