By Carol Britton Meyer 

Temple Beth Sholom and Hadassah South Coastal will present a documentary entitled “The Dewey Stone Connection: From Exodus to Independence” about the creation of Israel on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 11 a.m. at the temple.

The film centers around the efforts of a local man from Brockton, Dewey Stone, to help achieve this goal. Tandee and Paul Newman – whose father, Walter Newman, produced the documentary in 2013 – will introduce the film and provide background on its creation. 

“The Dewey Stone Connection” details Stone’s incredible life story and his instrumental, uncredited role in the struggle for the creation of Israel.

 “The film is relevant today because 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel,” Paul Newman told The Hull Times. “It tells the story of a selfless man who risked everything to provide a homeland for Jewish people.”

Growing up in Brockton following World War II, Walter Newman’s imagination was sparked by rumors of his neighbor Dewey Stone’s involvement in secret activities on behalf of the Jewish cause.

Six decades later, after unintentionally stumbling across new information, Newman began his investigation, performing his work anonymously. The film pieces together personal accounts from his extensive research. The documentary run-time is 47 minutes, followed by a question and answer period.

Newman, who grew up in Brockton and raised his family in Sharon, was an environmental engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Upon his retirement, he pursued his passion of undiscovered history,” according to his son.

Newman came across the name Dewey Stone as the person who utilized a holding company to purchase the famous ship “Exodus” that set sail from France to Palestine in July 1947, carrying more than 4,000 Jewish refugees, most of them Holocaust survivors.

“Growing up in Brockton in the 1940s, my father heard rumors around town that Dewey Stone, a successful entrepreneur and Jewish philanthropist, was involved in clandestine activities to help the Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and assist in establishing a homeland for the Jewish people,” Paul Newman explained.

After conducting his research, Walter Newman solicited donations and hired a filmmaker to create this film to tell the story of Dewey Stone.

“Due to the sensitive nature of Dewey Stone’s activities at the time, the story was never told,” Paul Newman said. The film was completed in 2012, and it was the closing film in the 2013 Boston Jewish Film Festival.

“Sadly, my father passed away in 2013 at the age of 76. My sister, Nancy Hall, and I have showed the film to historical societies, synagogue congregations, and community groups,” he said. “At each showing. there are folks in the audience who have similar stories of relatives who were involved in the same cause, but it was never documented. I expect the same will be true at the showing in Hull.”

The entire community are invited to attend the event, which is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $10 for the film and light refreshments; the screening is a fundraiser for Hadassah. Temple Beth Sholom is at 600 Nantasket Ave.

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