Starvation rations and inhuman treatment are the lot of 600 refugees interned in Vernet camp. in the Pyrenees, according to the “Daily Herald” correspondent in Lisbon. Many of these refugees are Jews.
“Nobody who has not seen the Vernet camp can imagine it,” says the correspondent. “The poor, half-starved devils eagerly search the kitchen garbage tins for the half-rotten cabbage leaves, carrots or turnip peelings. Rat-hunting has become a profession – and the rats are used to feed human beings. A fat rat fetchea quite a little sum of money on the camp ‘Black Bourse.”
Not only do the prisoners not receive the full official meagre rations-these are weighed out privately by guards who are also hungry – but they are robbed of parcels sent by relief organizations, the “Daily Herald” adds.
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.
