Weizmann Makes Representations to Colonial Office over the Death of Strume Refugees

Representations over the tragic death of the 750 Jewish refugees from Rumania who were drowned this week when the freighter Strume went down in the Black Sea, after they had been refused admission to Palestine under the immigration quota, were made today to Lord Cranborne, the newly appointed Colonial Secretary, by Dr. Chaim Weizmann on behalf of the Jewish Agency.

Paying his first visit to Lord Cranborne whose appointment to the post of Colonial Secretary was made early this week, Dr. Weizmann told him of the statement issued yesterday by the executive of the Jewish Agency in which the Palestine Government and the Colonial Office in London were charged with responsibility for the death of the 750 Jewish victims.

Simultaneously, the Zionist Review, official Zionist organ, today carries the statement of the Jewish Agency on its first page framed in black. “If any justice is left in the world, then those who are responsible for the tragic death of the Strume victims will not remain unpunished. The cruel policy towards Jewish refugees is not worthy of the British administration,” the Zionist organ comments.

CHANGE IN PALESTINE ADMINISTRATION DEMANDED IN ENGLAND

A demand that the Palestine administration should either change its policy with regard to admitting Jewish refugees, or that there should be a change in the administration itself is voiced today in an editorial in the Manchester Guardian. Commenting on the sinking of the Strume, the paper appeals to Lord Cranborne to do something about the present policy of the Palestine administration.

Speaking in the House of Lords today, Lord Cranborne stated that the British ambassador in Turkey has been instructed to report immediately on the details of the Strume disaster. He added that the Government “deeply deplores the tragic loss of life” resulting from the sinking. His statement came as a reply to sharp criticism of the Colonial Office voiced by Lord Wedgwood.