Exodus Refugees Spend Night Jammed in Airless Holds; Driven from Decks by Storms

Driven from the decks of their three prison ships by violent thunderstorms, the 4,400 Exodus refugees, who are now in their third week at Port de Bouc, spent last night jammed into the airless holds of the vessels. To add to their discomfort, the Jews were forced to stand throughout the night because there was insufficient space in the holds for all of them to lie or sit down.

A letter of protest sent to the commander of one of the ships, signed by a “Haganah representative aboard,” pointed out that no preparations were made to protect the refugees from the storms. Ordinarily, the letter said, hundreds of Jews live on deck but because of severerains they were compelled to join those in the over-crowded holds. The letter warned that a record of all the “criminal means employed by Britain to force the Jews to disembark” was being kept.

A serious situation developed today when, at the urging of the British, French officials confiscated a motorboat used by relief organizations to transfer food from the mainland. The British said they needed the boat for a more “important task,” which turned out to be transporting soldiers on leave from ship to shore. Today, two of the three ships have not yet received food shipments, but it is hoped that representations to high French officials will result in emergency action to avert a shortage of supplies.

Three medical teams of the International Red Cross, which have been on the vessels, announced today they would have to leave and return to Geneva by Aug. 20. Although originally ordered to accompany the ships to their destination, the Swiss doctors said they were not aware that “it would be such a long affair,” and they hoped that replacements would be sent from Geneva.