Reports from London that the Jews in the Bergen-Belsen camp for displaced persons had gone on strike to protest an alleged order instructing them to move to new quarters were incorrect, a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent who arrived here this week to check on the status of the displaced Jews was told.
What actually occurred was that the camp was put under a curfew following a wave of crimes committed by Polish DP’s. The Jews, protesting that they were in no way responsible for the crimes, broke the curfew and clashed with Polish guards.
According to UNRRA camp director W.R. Wheatman, a former British army officer, the displaced Poles will be transferred to Brunswick to make room for the British army’s projected training school at Belsen. UNRRA officials consider it unlikely that the Polish guards, who have been accused of being anti-Semitic, will be moved with the other Poles.
Wheatman attributed the cause of the local difficulties to the size of the camp and its overcrowded condition. There are now some 5,000 Jews in Bergen-Belsen, he said. He asserted that the Jews were receiving 2,000 calories daily, but admitted that the quality of the food was not as good as in the American zone.
Joseph Rosenzaft, head of the Jewish Central Committee in the British zone, has addressed an open appeal to the British and American Governments urging immediate emigration of the Jews from Germany. “Our people cannot live any more in camps or in Germany and the moment is approaching when our patience will run out,” he declared. “Then we will fight for complete freedom which means emigration.”
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.
