The 600 Jewish refugees intercepted on the vessel Palmach Sunday and transferred to the British freighter Ocean Vigor for the journey to Cyprus, disembarked here this morning after a quiet crossing. The landing, which passed without incident, was completed within two hours.
The visaless immigrants declared that 40 persons were burned and injured when the British naval vessel used high speed jets of oil and tear gas shells to subdue the Palmach’s passengers. According to the refugees, Yechiel Schwartz, who was killed during the attempt to board the refugee craft, was struck by a tear gas shall and hurled into the sea. The British made three attempts to storm the vessel before 100 armed marines succeeded in overpowering the weary Jews.
When the 405 men and 193 women prepared to land this morning they removed the khaki clothes issued to them in Haifa harbor and returned them to the British, preferring to enter the internment camp in the ragged clothing they wore on the 12-day journey across the Mediterranean.
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.
