Police authorities here continued to investigate today details surrounding an incident aboard an Israeli vessel, the SS Theodor Herzl, which resulted in the death of a Brazilian civil servant and the wounding of another man. The incident took place as the ship, carrying 570 persons, including 66 Jewish emigrants from this country going to Israel for permanent settlement, was about to leave this port.
While the police have not yet disclosed the details, it was learned authoritatively that 10 or 12 Brazilian civil servants boarded the vessel just as it was about to sail, stating that they had received reports that some of the sailors intended to smuggle gold from this country. The Brazilian officials insisted on searching the crew’s quarters. They found no gold but did find a few small articles, like American cigarettes, a couple of transistor radios and some eyeglasses which members of the crew had bought here as gifts to relatives and friends.
When the officials tried to confiscate these trinkets without issuing a receipt, a fight broke out between the Brazilians and the sailors. At that point, it was learned, some of the Brazilians went ashore and came back with machineguns. In the ensuing fracas, one of the guns was fired. One member of the boarding party was killed. The wounded man had acted as an interpreter.
Police officials here have said they do not put credence in this version of the incident suspecting that the search of the ship resulted from a provocation. The ship departed safely for Haifa, but the investigation is will proceeding.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
