German settlers in Palestine who were interned as enemy aliens after the outbreak of war are refusing to be exchanged for Palestinian citizens interned in the Reich, and have expressed the desire to remain in isolation camps here rather than to be repatriated to Germany.
A poll taken by the Spanish Consul, who is protecting the interests of German nationals in Palestine, established that the German internees prefer to await the end of the war on Palestine soil. Most of the Germans refrained from giving any explanation of why they did not wish to return. Some of them stated, however, that they are not prepared to abandon the property which they have in Palestine.
The majority of the internees had lived in Palestine many years before the war, but retained their German citizenship. They resided chiefly in the settlement of Sarona, a German colony on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Others lived in Bethlehem and in Wilhelma. Several groups of interned German settlers have been transported to Germany in exchange for Jews holding Palestine passports who were stranded in the Reich by the outbreak of the war. No further exchanges will be possible, apparently, now that Nazi Germany has lost its attraction for those of its citizens in Palestine.
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.
