In 1940, over 3,400 Jews from central Europe tried to reach Palestine with an "illegal" transport on three ancient Greek steamers, the Atlantic, Pacific and Milos. When the Pacific and Milos arrived in Haifa in early November, the British government decided to deport the whole lot and transferred the passengers to the liner Patria.

After the arrival of the Atlantic and before the passengers from this ship had been transferred to the Patria, the ship exploded and sank, with the loss of about 250 of the refugees. The Patria had been sabotaged by the Haganah, so as to prevent the deportation, but something went wrong. The bomb was intended to disable the engines but was too powerful and blew a hole in the side of the ship, which then capsized.

After this disaster, the British government, because of the personal intervention of Winston Churchill, decided to allow those refugees who had been on the Patria to remain in Palestine, but the 1,700 passengers of the Atlantic were still deported to the island of Mauritius — an island in the Indian Ocean — a British colony at the time.

The refugees stayed in a camp on the island until the end of the war, and were then allowed to return to Palestine. During the war years, 127 died in the camp and were buried in the Jewish cemetery on the island. A number of the detainees volunteered for some of the allied armies, including the Jewish Brigade Group, a British unit.