UJA Detainees Recount Their 10 Hours in Egyptian Hands

The members of the United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Cabinet returned here last night safely and in good spirits after 10 hours’ captivity in Egypt. Allan Nachman, of Detroit remarked that it had been “a queer trip.” Dr. Warren Sachs, of Norfolk. Va. said the Egyptian soldiers who captured them in western Sinai yesterday seemed embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. Joseph Merbick. a Philadelphia industrialist, told how they were blindfolded and driven in their bus across the Suez Canal to headquarters of the Egyptian Second Army in Ismailia where they were interrogated for four hours.

The Egyptians were intensely curious about the UJA, all members of the group agreed. An Egyptian colonel wanted to know “how is the UJA constructed, how do you raise money for Israel, how does the campaign work?” reported Howard Stone of New York. Nachman said he was asked, “Why have I come to Israel and why am a Zionist?” The Egyptian officers also wanted to know “how many Jews are coming from Russia” and “who do you think won the Oct. war and who do the Israelis think won it?”

The UJA leaders, their Israeli military escort, guide, press photographers and several civilian guests–a party of 40–were captured by the Egyptians at noon yesterday on the Tassals mailia road after their bus was permitted to pass a UNEF checkpoint in order to make a Uturn and accidentally entered Egyptian-held territory. They were released after dark at a joint Israeli-Egyptian-UNEF command post and were flown by Israeli military transport to an airstrip in Tel Aviv. In the early hours of this morning the Americans were reunited with their wives at the Dan Hotel and told the story of their adventure.

They told how the bus driver was advised by Finnish UNEF officers to proceed a short distance into the UN zone in order to make a turn without bogging down in the sand dunes. “We advanced and suddenly we saw a military Jeep approaching us. The soldiers made signs for us to stop and in a moment it was apparent we were held by Egyptians,” Nachman said. He said the Egyptians seemed as surprised as the people they captured. “They simply did not know what to do. They awaited instructions from higher quarters.”

Dr. Sachs said the Egyptians ordered the passengers out of the bus but did not display force. He said the entire party milled around outside the bus for about two hours while the soldiers awaited instructions. When lunchtime came, the Americans and their Israeli escorts ate their box lunches as the Egyptians looked on.

When orders came “We were told to mount the bus and to cover our eyes.” Merbick recalled. “I put a handkerchief over my eyes and others pulled their jackets over their heads,”he said. He said they were driven across the canal by way of an earthen bridge constructed by Israeli engineers but did not glimpse the waterway They were taken to a large museum-like building in which were hanging pictures of President Anwar Sadat and the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Dr. Sachs reported.

He said the only time they were apprehensive was when the Egyptians separated the Americans from their Israeli escorts for questioning. Nachman said the Americans were concerned over their Israeli companions and agreed not to leave without them. But they were relieved when, after four hours of questioning, the entire party was assembled in one hall. Nachman said the Egyptians behaved correctly, offered them soft drinks, coffee, cheese and bread. After dark they were put back on the bus, blindfolded and driven to the tripartite command post where they were released.

The adventure ended with a champagne supper at the Dan Hotel in the early hours of the morning. The wives of the UJA leaders listened with interest to their husbands’ stories. Their “busy day” had consisted of visits to a deaf children’s school, vocational schools and a stop at Kfar Silver. Women are not permitted to make the trip to Sinai.

In addition to Nachman. Dr. Sachs and Merbick, the others were identified as: Harold Siegel. Allen Rothenberg and Gene Waldman, all of Philadelphia; Robert Copeland, Dr. Kenny Albinder, Dr. Allan Jaffe and Warren Karesh, all of Norfolk, Va.; Irwin Alterman and Dr. Sheldon Sonkin of Detroit; Michael Bryan, Rabbi Fred Neulander and Sam Lear, all of Camden. NJ; Stephen H. Cohen and Neil Ginguld of Syracuse, NY; Robert Gerber and Marshall Grossman of Los Angeles; Paul Fierstein of Newark; Marcus Hirsch of Baton Rouge, La.; Leonard Wein Jr. of Miami Beach; Howard Stone of New York; and Sherwin Weinstein of Rochester, NY.

Three others, believed to have been guests, were identified as William Milgrom, Howard Sherman and Leon Miller. Their addresses were not immediately available.