The liaison office here of the Allied Commission today denied the allegation that a squad of Royal Marines posted machine-guns on the deck of the “Fede” in an effort to cow the passengers into agreeing to a transfer to a camp at Chiavari, near the port.
Major Kane, of the British Army, said that a squad of sailors armed only with pistols boarded the ship, intending to sail it to Chiavari, but that when the Jewish refugees informed the officers that they were determined to “remain and die,” unless permitted to proceed to Palestine, the sailors departed.
Major Kane also explained that Chiavari, where the authorities had offered the refugees temporary asylum, has never been a fascists concentration camp, but consisted of a group of comfortable villas which until recently was used as a rest camp for British troops.
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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.