The situation of the Jewish deportees at Cyprus “needs a lot of improvement,” according to a report from Rabbi Isidor Gruenfeld, a representative of the Chief Rabbi’s Emergency Council, who is now visiting the camps at Famagusta, which was made public today by the Council.
The report states that there are over 5,100 prisoners in three camps, all of whom live in tents furnished only with camp cots–without linen “Family tents” are shared by three to five married couples, while girls and boys are segregated in other tents. There are two communal kitchens, one for the Orthodox and one for the non-Orthodox Jews. Breakfast usually consists of milk and rice, while the internees receive a piece of bread, a bowl of soup and a piece of meat for dinner. Bread and tea are furnished for the evening meal.
Dr. Gruenfeld says that the Jews appear to be healthy, but complain of being hungry. On behalf of the Council, he agreed to defray half the cost of additional food for the prisoners. The Joint Distribution Committee will furnish the remainder. The authorities have also agreed to permit the Jews to receive mailed parcels. Rabbi Gruenfeld disclosed that the internees will need a quantity of warm clothes to with-stand the rigors of the approaching winter.
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