French Press Reports Horrors of Anti-jewish Persecutions in Syria, Egypt

First-hand reports of the desperate plight of Jews in Syria who are afraid to leave their homes, and of daily beatings, torture and sexual degradation of Jews imprisoned in Egypt, were published here today.

The conditions that Jews endure in Syria, whence they are forbidden to emigrate, were described in a letter published in Le Monde, which detailed official repressions and persecutions reminiscent of those suffered by Jews in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s. Syrian Jews, the writer said, are forbidden to travel more than three miles from their homes and must carry special identity cards stamped with the word “Jew.” They have been summarily dismissed from jobs, cannot dispose of their assets, and are confronted by a Government-imposed boycott of Jewish shops by state employees and military personnel.

Their situation is aggravated by the fact that Syrian Jews generally live in the same neighborhoods as Arab refugees. The worst conditions, the letter said, are in the border town of Kamechli, where Jews are afraid to leave their homes. Assets belonging to Jews abroad have been confiscated.

A tale of horrors suffered by the Jewish inmates of Axouzaabel Prison, in Egypt, was told in a nine-page article in the weekly Express, by a former inmate who remains anonymous so as not to further jeopardize the prisoners who remain. The Chief Rabbi of Alexandria, he wrote, received especially severe treatment, being trussed up on cell bars in the manner of a crucifixion. As many as 70 prisoners are packed into cells meant to hold no more than 30, he reported. Jews are subjected to almost daily beatings and there were several cases of torture and forced sodomy, he claimed. There were 350 Jews imprisoned last June, the article stated, and 200 still remain. The others were expelled from the country after being forced to renounce their Egyptian nationality and leave all of their property and assets behind.