British Agree to Release 300 Rabbis and Yeshiva Students Interned in Cyprus Camps

The British Foreign Office and the Governor of Cyprus have agreed to release all rabbis and yeshiva students now interned on Cyprus, the headquarters of the World Agudas Israel announced here today. The British acted on a request by the Agudah.

There are about 300 rabbis and students on the island and together with their wives and children they number about 500 persons. The Colonial Office has authorized that arrangements for the release of these 500 and their selection be placed in the hands of Rabbi M. Semiaditsky, a member of the Agudah executive here who has been flown to the island. Meanwhile, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency have instructed their representatives in the camps to assist in the early transfer of the released internees.

Further inquiries into the alleged beating of seven Jewish refugees who were captured after an unsuccessful attempt to escape to escape from detention in Cyprus camps were today promised by Emanuel Shinwell, Secretary of State for War. Answering inquiries in the House of Commons, Shinwell asserted that as far as the government knew none of the apprehended internees was beaten with rifle butts, as charged, but that a new investigation would be made because of the charges.

He also stated that the guards were only allowed to use the minimum amount of force necessary to prevent escapes and that physical punishment of the internees was forbidden. He reported that since the Cyprus camps were opened 161 persons were known to have escaped and that all but five were recaptured. However, he pointed out that it is believed that others escaped, but that it was impossible to check since British troops only entered the prisoners’ compounds to quell disturbances and not to take a count of the refugees.