With 22 so far found dead, the survivors among the 1,771 Jewish refugees aboard the steamship Patria which was sunk by an explosion on Monday were being held in the Athlit internment camp today, happy in the belief that their nightmare of wandering for the past several months was over.
The survivors include 180 who were slightly injured either when leaping from the sinking ship into the water or when hit by luggage and debris while floundering in the waters of Haifa Bay. The relatively small number of fatalities was attributed to the fact that most of the refugees were on deck undergoing inspection when the blast occurred. Most of those killed were drowned when caught below decks.
The British provisions firm of Spinney, Ltd., sent bottles of cognac and other drinks for the victims suffering from exposure.
The first 13 dead to be identified were buried yesterday in the Haifa cemetery in the presence of a large crowd, including Moshe Shertok, head of the political department of the Jewish Agency, and the president of the Haifa Jewish community.
The Jewish community, which had been bitter over the decision to deport the refugees to a British island colony, today was warmly praising the British sailors and police who effected the rescues and the British nurses who rushed to the scene to extend first aid.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.