American Christian Zionist leader: Born in Worchester, Massachusetts, he completed his education in 1941 graduating from the Bangor, Maine, Theological Seminary as a Methodist Minister. Reverend Grauel became very aware of the European Holocaust and the Zionist movement in 1942 through his close friendship with Judge Joseph Goldberg of Worcester. Rev. Grauel joined the American Christian Palestine Committee in 1942. The Committee was dedicated to the establishment of a Jewish state. In 1943 he gave up the local ministry to assume a position as a director of the Committee's Philadelphia office. In 1944, attending his first Zionist meeting he met David Ben Gurion, the Zionist leader and future prime minister of Israel. Grauel learned of the Jewish underground army in Palestine, the Haganah, and the longtime humanitarian efforts of the Haganah to save Jewish lives from the Holocaust by smuggling Jews into Palestine. Reverend Grauel enlisted in the effort immediately, leading a double life working for the American Christian Palestine Committee and the Jewish underground. March 23, 1947, he sailed aboard the famed illegal refugee running ship the Exodus under the cover as a foreign correspondent for the Episcopal journal, "The Churchman." In Europe he organized and transferred refugees from the DP Camps to the ship acting in multiple capacities as an administrative executive, quartermaster, cook and liaison for the crew and the refugees. The Exodus, heavily overburdened with 4554 refugees, was intercepted and captured by British destroyers off the coast of Sinai in a brief violent assault that left two refugees and one crew member dead. Grauel was arrested by the British. He escaped, with help from the Haganah, and gave direct testimony before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. His first hand testimony was extremely effective in eliciting sympathy and understanding for the cause of unrestricted Jewish refugee immigration to Palestine. Golda Meir, a later Prime Minister of Israel, observed that Reverend Grauel's testimony and advocacy for the creation of the Jewish State fundamentally and positively changed the United Nations' to support the creation of Israel. Throughout his life he maintained close associations with Jewish concerns. In the 1950's and 1960's he led investigations into the terrible conditions of Jews living in Morocco and Algeria. In 1975 he led one of the first Jewish youth tours of the Nazi Concentration camps in Europe. Reverend Grauel was drawn to numerous humanitarian efforts including the American Civil Rights and Native American struggles. The State of Israel recognized Rev. Grauel through the Humanity Medal, the Fighter for Israel Medal and the Medal of Jerusalem. He died in Roosevelt, New Jersey and was buried with full Israeli Naval Military honors in Jerusalem,Israel.(Biography – Grauel: An Autobiography As Told to Eleanor Elfenbein." Ivory House, 1982)
American Christian Zionist leader: Born in Worchester, Massachusetts, he completed his education in 1941 graduating from the Bangor, Maine, Theological Seminary as a Methodist Minister. Reverend Grauel became very aware of the European Holocaust and the Zionist movement in 1942 through his close friendship with Judge Joseph Goldberg of Worcester. Rev. Grauel joined the American Christian Palestine Committee in 1942. The Committee was dedicated to the establishment of a Jewish state. In 1943 he gave up the local ministry to assume a position as a director of the Committee's Philadelphia office. In 1944, attending his first Zionist meeting he met David Ben Gurion, the Zionist leader and future prime minister of Israel. Grauel learned of the Jewish underground army in Palestine, the Haganah, and the longtime humanitarian efforts of the Haganah to save Jewish lives from the Holocaust by smuggling Jews into Palestine. Reverend Grauel enlisted in the effort immediately, leading a double life working for the American Christian Palestine Committee and the Jewish underground. March 23, 1947, he sailed aboard the famed illegal refugee running ship the Exodus under the cover as a foreign correspondent for the Episcopal journal, "The Churchman." In Europe he organized and transferred refugees from the DP Camps to the ship acting in multiple capacities as an administrative executive, quartermaster, cook and liaison for the crew and the refugees. The Exodus, heavily overburdened with 4554 refugees, was intercepted and captured by British destroyers off the coast of Sinai in a brief violent assault that left two refugees and one crew member dead. Grauel was arrested by the British. He escaped, with help from the Haganah, and gave direct testimony before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. His first hand testimony was extremely effective in eliciting sympathy and understanding for the cause of unrestricted Jewish refugee immigration to Palestine. Golda Meir, a later Prime Minister of Israel, observed that Reverend Grauel's testimony and advocacy for the creation of the Jewish State fundamentally and positively changed the United Nations' to support the creation of Israel. Throughout his life he maintained close associations with Jewish concerns. In the 1950's and 1960's he led investigations into the terrible conditions of Jews living in Morocco and Algeria. In 1975 he led one of the first Jewish youth tours of the Nazi Concentration camps in Europe. Reverend Grauel was drawn to numerous humanitarian efforts including the American Civil Rights and Native American struggles. The State of Israel recognized Rev. Grauel through the Humanity Medal, the Fighter for Israel Medal and the Medal of Jerusalem. He died in Roosevelt, New Jersey and was buried with full Israeli Naval Military honors in Jerusalem,Israel.(Biography – Grauel: An Autobiography As Told to Eleanor Elfenbein." Ivory House, 1982)
