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Over 1,000 Reich Jewish Refugees Pass Aliens Tribunals Set Up in Big Camp

October 23, 1939
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Seven aliens tribunals are now conducting hearings at Camp Kitchener, the derelict training quarters of the last war which were rebuilt as a refugee center and now house 3,500 male exiles from Germany who are undergoing training for remigration. More than 1,000 refugees have already passed through the courts, freed of the “enemy alien” stigma and formally classified as “refugees from Nazi persecution.”

The refugees themselves rebuilt the camp, which had fallen into ruins in the past 20 years. They laid out gardens and recreation grounds and are now engaged in building workshops for training purposes. The camp has its own university, staffed mainly by refugee intellectuals. Classes in English are given daily. The camp also has its own newspaper, motion picture theatre and a theatrical company. Other features include a hospital and an Air Raid Precautions unit.

The refugees range in age from 17 to 35 and are scheduled to remain for two years, during which time they will have been prepared for re-emigration. Most of them came to England direct from Nazi concentration camps.

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