Four hundred Jewish refugees en route from Yugoslavia to Italy, apparently in the hope of eventually emigrating to Palestine, were detained at Trieste, it was reported here today. The refugees were taken to a camp at Bologna which is under the jurisdiction of the Allied Control Commission.
Meanwhile, the 1,040 passengers aboard the “Fede” at La Spezia have decided to postpone their departure for Palestine until April 26. Their decision was taken following receipt of a cable from Harold Laski, chairman of the British Labor Party, stating that the British Government would announce its decision within a week. Laski said that he had met with Foreign Secretary Bevin, and the latter “showed great interest” in the case.
The cable arrived as the leaders of the would-be immigrants received word that another Italian vessel, the “Fenice,” would join the “Fede” in case the British objected to the trip on the grounds that the first vessel was overcrowded. It was read to the assembled Jews as they gathered on the dock to commemorate the third anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto battle.
“We are impatient to leave — and we will leave,” one leader stated, “but we believe in Prof. Laski’s good-will and sympathy for our cause, and that is the reason why we decided to wait another week. At the same time, we are preparing to sail if a favorable decision is not reached by the British by next Friday, or if that decision is one that we consider negative.”
He explained that a negative decision would include one splitting the group into two — one to leave now and the second next month, a move which has been reported as the probable British solution. The spokesman emphasized the refugees’ determination to resist any British attempt to hinder the voyage by the exercise of force, adding that “the tragic consequences of any such attempt would be on the heads of the British.”
LEADER HINTS REFUGEES MIGHT BLOW UP SHIP IF DETAINED
He hinted that the immigrants might even go so far as to blow up the ship with themselves, explaining that “our lives don’t matter. What only matters is our cause — immediate immigration to Palestine for all Jews left alive in Europe who want to go.”
There is definite evidence that the group is planning an early departure. The water tanks are being refilled while scores of men and women, clad in shorts and shirts, are disinfecting all parts of the ship. There are no police — either British or Italian — around the dock area and, so far as this correspondent can tell, there is no British force in town sufficiently strong to restrain the vessel from departing.
The police originally stationed on the deck of the ship departed after Prof. Laski obtained from the refugees their pledge not to try to escape. Two members of the British Field Security Service – one a sergeant and the other in civilian clothes – are spending most of their time sun-bathing or in the lobby of La Spezia’s only major hotel, bemoaning the fate which ordered them here to keep watch on developments, such as the arrival and departure of American correspondents. The sergeant hinted darkly that “measures might be taken” if the ship attempted to leave. Told that the leaders intended to notify the press and the authorities when they were ready to sail, he said, “you mean when they think they’re ready.”
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.
