Deportation of Jews from Reich Halted; Trains Diverted to Czech Protectorate

Berlin correspondents of Swedish newspapers today reported that Nazi authorities in Germany suddenly issued an order during the week-end halting the deportation of Jews from the Reich to Poland and other occupied Eastern territories, which had been resumed during the past week. Transports of Jews on their way to Lodz, Riga, Minsk and Kaunas were held up and diverted to the Czech Protectorate.

The spread of epidemic diseases in Poland and the Baltic countries was given as the reason for stopping deportations of Jews, the correspondents stated. At the same time they also describe how the Jews, ordered to surrender their warm clothing for the army within twenty-four hours, were delivering their last coats and underwear last Thursday to receiving stations. The order originally issued for the Jews of the Reich has been extended to the Jews of all occupied territories, the Berlin correspondent of the Swedish newspaper Social Demokraten informs. Very severe penalties have been announced for non-compliance with this order.

The Swedish newspaper Tidningen reports today that the Nazi authorities in Poland have issued supplementary regulations to the Special Penal Code for Poles and Jews. These regulations provide for severe punishment for victims sentenced under the new code to so-called “punitive camps” where conditions are even worse than in ordinary prisons. The punishment includes the reduction of bread and water rations for the internees, longer hours at hard labor, and complete isolation from other prisoners.

JEWS IN POLAND ASSIGNED TO MANUFACTURE CLOTHING FOR THE GERMAN ARMY

The extent to which the Germans have depopulated Polish towns which formerly had large Jewish populations can be seen from an article in the Litzmannstaedter Zeitung, reaching here today.

In the town of Strykow in the Nazi-annexed section of Poland only 400 Jews remain of a pre-war Jewish population of 2,585, the Nazi paper reveals. These 400 are confined in a segregated quarter of the city and have been assigned to manufacture clothing for the German army. About 2,000 Jews were deported to the Government-General area shortly after the Nazis entered Strykow and about another 200 either died or were deported individually from the city, the article states.

Their places were taken by Volksdeutsche who now carry on all the trade and commerce in the city, while the Polish population has been put to work rebuilding roads and public and private structures, the German newspaper writes.

The Polish Legation in Stockholm today received a report confirming the fact that Jews in the ghettos are refused vaccination by the Nazi administration in Poland.