All Jews in Norwegian Hospitals Held Under Arrest; Anti-jewish Acts Termed Illegal

All hospitals in Nazi-held Norway have received orders from the police authorities not to permit any of their Jewish patients to leave the institutions without a special authorization in each individual case from the state police, it is reported in the Swedish press today.

The report states that the Nazi-appointed chief of police of Norway issued instructions to all hospitals in the country to compile lists of their Jewish patients and to verify that all of them had their identity cards stamped with the letter “J” signifying they were Jewish. The hospitals must inform the police a week before the Jews are to be discharged and no Jew can leave until the state police grant him permission to do so, the instructions provide. The measure is aimed at preventing Jews who have not as yet been interned or expelled because of their illness remaining in any of the cities.

The Svenska Dagbladet reports today from Oslo that the Jewish internees in the Norwegian camps are forced to do hard labor and are frequently punished if they do not perform their tasks quickly enough. Among the internees are Jews aged 70 who are also being driven to work. The aged Jewish prisoners are so exhausted that their lives are in danger, the Oslo report states.

A letter by the pro-Nazi Attorney General of Norway, which was intercepted, states that the anti-Jewish measures violate the Norwegian laws. Attorney General Nordvik, who is a member of the Nazi party, emphasizes in his letter that “the Jewish deportations from Norway were not carried out in accordance with any Norwegian law or at the instigation of the Norwegian authorities,” but were initiated by the German occupation administration.