One of a group of some 700 Jewish refugees who were capture off Palestine’s coast last May aboard the Greek freighter Astir as illegal immigrants and subsequently admitted to the country has written to her mother her that British police fired on the ship while at sea and killed five of the passengers
“As we tried to get into Palestine, something awful happened,” the letter said “I did not write that in the letter because I was afraid it would not reach you We had a battle with the English police. They fired on us. Can you understand that? They fired hardheartedly at innocent people. In this battle five persons from our boat, all Jew; were killed and a dozen were injured.”
The refugees who were once barred from Palestine, returned to the Greek port from which they sailed and then crossed the Mediterranean again to attempt entry into Palestine, endured other hardships during their four-month odyssey, including epidemic. a fire lack of sanitary facilities and scarcity of food and drinking water, according to the letter
Two refugees were killed and a few others injured in a fight between the crew and the passengers, the letter said. Several attempted suicide when the ship was first barren from Palestine. “Almost every day somebody dies because old people could not stand” the undenurable conditions Several children were born on board the ship, two of whom died.
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