PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The story of a covert bullet factory and the young workers who had a hand in helping to establish the state of Israel in the 1940s has been picked up by PBS.
The documentary, called "Code Name: Ayalon," was created by a Philadelphia film crew. Executive producer Laurel Fairworth spent 10 years making it. It tells the real story of 45 teenagers who worked in an underground ammunition factory in Rehovot leading up to Israel's war of independence in 1948.
At the time of the British occupation, those who lived in Palestine had guns but no bullets.
"So covertly, this small band of teenagers went under a laundry facility on a fake kibbutz," Fairworth explained. The Haganah — the precursor to the current Israeli army — "realized before the war happened that if Israel became a state … that they might have to fight, which is in fact what happened.
"Without any experience, [they] went underground in secret and manufactured and then smuggled the ammunition needed during Israel's war of independence."
Fairworth was inspired to create the film after visiting Israel's Ayalon Institute bullet factory museum in 2013.
"I said to myself, if I could find any of the original people — at the time it was 65 years after they actually worked there — if I could find any of that original cadre, the original 45 by hook or by crook, I was going to make a documentary film," she said.
She found 10 of them. The documentary is the first time they publicly shared their story. They said they were told for years not to speak about it, but as time passed, they realized the significance of sharing their story.
"It was important what they did to remind others that you too could do something important," Fairworth added. "The film is, in my mind, about the fact that a few people can change the world."
"Code Name: Ayalon" will run on PBS on Thursday at 9 p.m. It is also available to watch on-demand on PBS' website.
