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Friday, September 12, 1947
THE JEWISH NEWS
Exodus Saga Ends in Reich Prison Camps
British Use Truncheons
To Drive Jews Off Vessels
Heil. Bevin!
Special Cable to The Jewish News
The saga of the 4,400 passengers of the "Exodus 1947",
who were captured by the British off Palestine, returned to
France where they went on a sit-down strike and refused to
leave the British prison ships, ended Monday in Hamburg,
Germany, when the first 1,206 Jews returned to German soil,
from which they had tried to escape, while the rest were
disembarked Tuesday.
Clubs, truncheons and water hoses were used by the
British to forcibly remove the prisoners from the vessels,
while an indignant world sent cries of protest over this treat-
ment accorded the survivors of Hitler's death camps.
Hundreds of troops cordoned
off the dock area, and evenlGer- International Relief Organization,
man police were used to enforce
will provide medical assistance
the disembarkation of the ref-
during the first few weeks of the
ugees.
efugees' internment in the camps.
The landings began early in
They will extend material aid
the morning and correspondents
only after clarification of the
saw at least 50 Jews manhand-
status of the Jews. The agencies
led on the gangplanks. The ref-
which participated in the confer-
ugees coming off the boats ence with the British are the
shouted defiance and denounced
Joint Distribution Committee, the
the British who forced them to
Jewish Agency and British Jew-
come to "this land which is a
ish Relief Organization.
bloody graveyard of millions of
The agreement reached with
Jews."
The first train carried approx- the British adopts the view point
imately 700 refugees to Camp of the Jewish groups.
Poppendorf in iron-barred coach- The camps to be occupied by
es. The unloading there took the refugees were inspectRd ear-
place without.incident. her by Robert Gary, Jewish Tele-
The next task, the British an- graphic Agency Correspondent,
nounce, will be to screen the ref- who reports that they are the
ugees for the purpose of "rooting worst he has seen during two
out agitators" among them. years in the American zone Ger-
many.
Relief Agencies Go To Work
Camp With Rat Holes
Earlier, Jewish relief organiza-
tions had reached an agreement Poppendorf, he writes, located
with the British occupation auth- in the forest of the same name,
orities on extending aid to the consists of 56 small Nissen huts,
Exodus Jews, after defying a 35 by 16 feet, each of which is
British ultimatum either to coop- intended for the use of 25 per-
erate unconditionally with them sons. There are also 14 big huts,
in the refugees' disembarkation, accommodating 60 persons each,
or else "leave the British zone of 125 huts holding 10 people, which
Germany". are eight feet in diameter, and
The agencies, together with the five huts planned to hold six peo-
Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
The Role of 5708 — It May Well be for The Good
Six million Jewish lives sacrificed on the altar of Nazism, the
tragedies of anti-Semitism throughout the world and the complexes
which have affected our existence in a world too sick to heal itself,
long agohave earned respite and the beginning of a new era of peace
for our people.
It may well be that the year 5708 is destined for the role of seeing
the end of evil and the beginning of better days for Jewry.
The world needs to be guided to decency. The United Nations
Special Committee on Palestine may have shown the way for decency
the
world.
in
UNSCOP's recommendations for the establishment of a Jewish
State and its proposals that the doors to other lands be opened for
the settlement of displaced Jews in Europe are steps in the direction
of a return to humanitarian practices.
The direction is good. It remains to be seen how it will be fol-
lowed by a calloused world that needs to be stimulated for a return
to normal living.
•
•
•
Jews Find Basis for Unity in UNSCOP Plan
In spite of the many flaws in the UNSCOP plan, we hope that its
acceptance will not be delayed and that the United States Govern-
ment will fight to a finish for its adoption.
We would be blind to reality if we failed to recognize the ob-
stacles in the path of its being approved. British authbrities, refusing
to sacrifice power, are against it. The Mufti-controlled faction among
the Arabs threatens war.
For the first time on record, the Jewish communities, with
only a fractional exeception, are in agreement that the recom-
mendations of the UNSCOP majority are the most acceptable
ever proposed as a solution to the Palestine problem.
The battle in support of the recommendation has begun. If our
government takes the lead in urging its speedy adoption, there is the
possibility that the new year will be written down in history parallel
with the rule of Cyrus and the first return of Israel to Eretx Israel.
If the United States compromises, there will be endless debates and
squabbles and we may have more tragedies on all fronts and a
resumption of despair in Jewish
Victory for Jewish State Idea
One thing is clear, as a result of the activities of the United
Nations Committee in dealing with the Palestine problem:
The idea. that only a Jewish State can solve the Jewish
problem definitely has triumphed.
Arthur Krock, brilliant New York Times Washington corres-
pondent, writing for his newspaper from the nation's capital, sum-
marizes it in these words:
"An aspect of the two reports to the United Nations by its
Special Committee on Palestine that has impressed high officials
here is that both the majority and the minority groups concede
great merit to the case for a Jewish homeland.
"This is implicit in three recommendations that are common
to both reports: that a Jewish state be established; that a liberal
quota of Jewish immigration into the area be authorized; and
that, after a transition period, the British mandate over Pales-
tine shall terminate."
By its acceptance of the principle that Jews have a right to a
State of their own, where they will be able to control their own
immigration and be masters of their own destiny, the world—assum-
ing that the UN will approve and enforce the majority UNSCOP
opinion—is about to right a 2,000-year-old wrong against Israel.
At the moment, we must fight for the implementation of the
UNSCOP report. If it is fully adhered to, we shall indeed have a good
year in 5708.
THIS IS BEVIN
Britain's Foreign Secretary
Ernest Bevin, upon whose shoul-
ders blame is being placed by
people everywhere for the hor-
rible Exodus incident, is being
greeted by correspondents and
radio commentators with the sal-
utation: "HEIL BEVIN!"
Two years after the end of
World War II, the survivors from
Nazism are not only languishing
in detention camps but are forced
to endure indignities at the hands
of German police in Germany.
Now, truncheons and fire hoses
are used to send them back to
Nazi-land after failing to reach
the Jewish National Home.
Hence, the salutation: "HEIL
BEVIN!"
ple. In all, about 3,000 of the
refugees will be sent here.
Potato sacks filled with straw
cover the steel stretchers in the
huts which have been sprayed
with DDT. Rat holes are visible
inside and outside the huts. The
only good point which can be
made for these barracks - is the
fact that, because they have been
newly painted, their appearance
from the outside is satisfactory.
Barbed wire barricades and
watch towers are now under con-
struction by a staff of - Germans
and Yugoslays. Contradictory to
the statement issued last week by
Maj. Gen. William Bishop, deputy
commander of the British zone,
that no Germans would be used
in the centers, this correspondent
learned from the German super-
intendent of the camps that there
will be more than 100 Germans
working as maintenance men.
The medical staff, including six
doctors, will be completely Ger-
man.
Unfit for Humans
The superintendent expressed
the opinion that *he camps were
not fit for human beings. One
official serving as a guide de-
clared that Poppendorf was worse
than Oswiecim, where he had
been, except for the gas cham-
bers.
The other camp, AmStau, al-
though a little better than Pop-
pendorf, contains double-decker
metal beds covered with potato
sack mattresses which seem ready
to collapse momentarily. It is
expected to house 1,500 of the
refugees.
According to a JTA cable from
Jerusalem, the Jewish National
Council has called a nation-wide
strike to protest the landing of
the Exodus refugees in Hamburg.
Whereas Palestine, as a whole,
was quiet, two young Jews in
Tel Aviv who said they represent-
ed the Stern group, called on 18
Jewish officials of the govern-
ment's Income Tax Department
in their homes and warned them
that unless they resigned within
four days "the consequences
would be drastic". The officials
will ignore the threats, and it is
believed that the warnings are
the first in a psychological war-
fare campaign to scare Jews em-
ployed in the administration to
resign en masse, thus crippling
the Palestine government.
In a Hamburg radio broadcast,
Dr. Norbert Wollheim, president
of the Jewish community in the
Refugees Protest Landing
On Soil of Nazi Murders
British zone, said that the de-
portees "would have every assist-
ance and every help" from Jew-
ish organizations in Germany,
but "only if they ask for it ex-
pressly. ,
Hamburg Jews Promise Aid
-"We know that Gen. Sir Alan
Cunningham, Palestine H i g
Commissioner, is now in London
appealing to the British Govern-
ment against disembarking the
Jewish immigrants in Hamburg,"
Dr. Wollheim said. "We hope
with confidence that the British
government will do everything
at this hour to alter the fate of
our unhappy brothers and sisters.
"As far as we know, the Jews
will be taken to two camps which
have been prepared like prison-
ers' camps, surrounded with barb-
ed wire and guarded by armed
sentries. The accommodation it-
self, as well as the sanitary con-
ditions, are entirely insufficient.
We will refrain from everything
which cotild create the impres-
sion that we agreed with the
treatment as prisoners of these
men, women and children."
The British Foreign Office an-
nounced that the parents of 13
Hungarian Jewish children who
are believed to be among the
Exodus refugees have appealed to
the British Embassy in Budapest
to assist in the repatriation of
the children.
A spokesman said that the
screening of the Exodus Jews
might reveal 200 cases in which
the "families were deliberately
broken up by Zionists." He re-
vealed that preparations were be-
ing made to repatriate all such
children.
The spokesman also accused
Hungarian Zionists of a deliber-
ate campaign to traffic in chil-
dren in which "the Marxist Zion-
ist youth movement, Hashomer
Hatzair" was mainly involved.
The Foreign Office statement
went on to enumerate particulars
of individual cases of children
Who were allegedly taken to em-
barkation c en t e r s without the
knowledge of their parents, on
the pretext of being trained for
legal immigration to Palestine.
Disguested Briton Resigns
A British purser on the Runny-
mede Park, one of the three pris-
on ships carrying the Exodus ref-
ugees to Germany, announced
that he is resigning as "a moral
protest against the conditions un-
der which the immigrants are be-
ing transported to Germany," the
Reuter correspondent aboard the
vessel reports.
The purser, Peter Seamen, a
Briton, said: "I am in no way
qualified to criticize the British
government's policy, but I intend
to have no further part in this
degrading treatment of homeless
refugees. It most certainly re-
-fleets no credit on us."
A Foreign Office spokesman re-
vealed that two ships "believed
to be carrying visaless Jewish
immigrants to Palestine" are be-
ing closely watched on the high
seas. The ships left Bayonne,
France, in August, and are flying
the Panamanian flag, the official;
said.
"It is known that a party of
Jews was assembled in Romania 1
with Uruguayan passports des-1
pite the fact that there is no
Uruguayan diplomatic represent-.
ative in Romania," the official
continued, disclosing that one of
the ships is now at Varna, Bul-
garia, after passing through the
Dardanelles.
The British press reports from
Italy that a mine blew a large
hole in the forepart of a ship be-
lieved to be destined to carry
Jewish immigrants to Palestine.
The 4,500 ton vessel. was moored
in the Biudecca Canal, Venice. A
letter signed by an underground
Arab organization, received by
Reuter's in Rome, claimed that
the ship had been mined by this
organization.
Protests All Over The World
AMSTERDAM (JTA)—A meet-
ing called by the Dutch Zionist
Federation sent a telegram to
the British Ambassador at The
Hague asking that the Exodus
Jews not be returned to Germany
and appealing to the British gov-
ernment to "open the gates of
the National Home to all Jews
wishing to enter."
MONTEVIDEO (JTA) — The
Jewish Agency office in Uruguay
has appealed to the Foreign Min-
istry to intervene with the Brit-
ish authorities to prevent the re-
turn of the Exodus refugees to
Germany, it was announced here.
HELSINKI (JTA) — The Jew-
ish communities of Helsinki and
Abo attended special services for
the 4,400 Exodus refugees.
SYDNEY (JTA)—The Execu-
tive Council of Australian Jewry
appealed to the Secretary of
State for Commonwealth Rela-
tions in London that the Exodus
Jews be allowed to enter Pales-
tine.
Heard in the Lobbies
.
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1947, Independent Jewish Press Service, Inc.)
Washington Wire
People in the know advise against over-optimism regarding the
American representatives' attitude towards the UNSCOP majority
report when it is brought up for discussion at the General Assembly
this month.
It is true, as Arthur Krock reported to the New York Times,
that even Loy Henderson's boys have come around to the view that
the U. S. cannot do less than ten of the eleven UNSCOP members
have done—support some form of Jewish sovereignity. But remem-
ber, there is quite a gulf between the recommendations submitted by
the minority and those submitted by the majority. Despite its seem-
ing endorsement of Jewish sovereignty, the minority proposal
actually proposes an Arab state with Jews freezed as a permanent
minority. There is no true indication where the State Department's
heart belongs, whether with the majority or minority report. We
can be certain, however, that the State Department, perhaps not
openly, perhaps behind-he-scenes only, may propose, however, a
compromise merging the so-called "best features" of both plans.
The State Department has always shown a predeliction for
anti-Jewish compromises. You will recall President Truman's
statement of a year ago, implying endorsement of partition, but
also implying a compromise between the bambini Morrison Fed-
eralization Plan and the Jewish Agency's viable state plan. The
Jewish Agency's viable state plan was the absolute minimum on
which the Jews could agree, and yet President Taman implied
that it might serve as a basis for further comptomise and did not
realize that the Agency's plan and the Morrison plan were irre-
concilable. The same thing may very well happen again.
The Loy Henderson lads may advise the President that it would
be in order to point out to the Jews that since they have
always described immigration as the crux of the, problem, it should
not be overlooked that the UNSCOP recommendations offer the Jews
50,000 more immigrants than had been approved by the Anglo-
American Inquiry Committee and by the President himself in his
letter to Prime Minister Attlee. They might further argue, the
Henderson lads, that an autonomous region, for that is what a state
in a smaller area than that proposed by UNSCOP would mean, is
better than the international trusteeship proposed by the Anglo-
American Committee.
In other words, there are many possibilities for a grand
double-cross, and Jewish leadership and U. S. public opinion will
have to be on guard. The U. S. must go on record for the imple-
mentation of the UNSCOP report as is, without any deletions ex-
cept such as would involve exchanging Jaffa for western Galilee.