The physical condition of the Jewish deportees in Eritrea is satisfactory, and the exiles lead a “full cultural and religious life,” chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog of Jerusalem told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today on his turn here from a visit to the deportees’ camp at Asmara. He added that he had “much to say” about the Palestine Government’s deportation policy, but that he preferred to by it in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Herzog reported that the internees have a synagogue, in which services were held daily, and that they issue a regular newspaper called “The Asmara Exile.” He did that most of the men are taking correspondence courses from the University of London and that many are trying to win an engineering degree.
An internees’ committee welcomed Rabbi Herzog and hailed his two five-hour sits, as evidence that “this ends the Yishuv’s apathy towards us.” The men also expressed their appreciation of the helpful attitude of the camp commander, Brigadier J. Greenfield, who received the visiting rabbi and escorted him around the camp. Herzog did that he was “deeply moved” by the exiles’ farewell song to him. As he left the tire camp they sang “How shall we sing a song of Jehovah on foreign soil”–Psalm 137.
He also reported that the men were eating kosher food and that each man was receiving the equivalent of the British soldier’s ration. Exercise is provided on an athletic field within the camp grounds. After his return to Cairo, Rabbi Herzog was received by General Sir Bernard C. Paget, British commander in the Middle East.
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.
