Seven chalutzim (Jewish youths in training for Palestine pioneer work) were arrested yesterday morning by the Nazi police and by nightfall six of them had been released without explanation being given either for the detention or release The seventh, Berl Eisenstadt, a Danzig laborite Zionist, was held for an alleged violation of passport regulations.
Simultaneously, the Gestapo, secret state police, notified S. Adler Rudel, head of the Emigration Department of the Berlin Palestine Office and a Polish citizen, that he must leave the country within two weeks. Adler-Rudel is a laborite Zionist who has been active as a Jewish communal leader and social worker here for many years. He has held important posts in the Reich representation of Jews and in the Central Board of German Jews.
The arrest of the chalutzim coupled with the expulsion order aroused fears among Jewish leaders that the Nazis are launching a campaign against the Hechalutz movement, which seeks to train Jewish youths for Palestine pioneer work and then transfer them to the Holy Land. The movement has been identified with the laborite wing of the Zionist movement.
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.